Justice Is Essential for True Forgiveness

Regarding the discussion of whether to "forgive and forget" those who were "just following orders" to engage in illegal methods of torture, it is important to remember that the issue of power is central.

Studies have shown that bystanders tend to side with the perpetrator and blame those with less power. In the public discussion of the torture memos, the obvious persons with power are the torturers, and the detainees are the victims.

However, there is a more subtle process going on as well -- one in which the powerful are those in government and those who confront that power are outraged Americans. In this parallel process, the government of the United States is recommending that Americans extend forgiveness and forego justice. Yet, as the peoples of Rwanda, South Africa, Liberia, Argentina, and other countries have shown, forgiveness is impossible until the perpetrators take responsibility. As Lisa Nastasi, an observer of the Gacaca court process in Rwanda noted, in that country and in other countries that have processes of restorative justice, perpetrators must "admit guilt, show remorse, ask for forgiveness, and demonstrate that they regret their actions" before they are re-instated in the community.

Rita Arditti, in her 1999 study of the Asociación Madres de Plaza de Mayo in Argentina, has pointed out that there are preconditions for forgiveness: "When the prerequisites for authentic reconciliation - truth and justice, acknowledgment of the crimes committed, and punishment - are not met, forgiveness is impossible." And Harvard psychiatrist Judith Herman wrote in a 2005 article on justice that "the virtues of forgiveness have always been especially recommended to [those with less power] whose justified resentment might make those in power uncomfortable." She has also pointed out that the pressure to "forgive and forget" "[allows] bystanders to satisfy themselves with the illusory sense of so-called closure . . . it is much more difficult for society to take on the task of confronting perpetrators."

Yet perpetrators must be confronted. This is not a matter of revenge or punishment; it is a matter of justice. And it is an essential step in healing communities and moving forward in healthier, wiser ways.

Dr. Herman has pointed out that the process of justice requires the community to expose the perpetrator and hold him/her accountable "as a rebuke to the offenders' display of contempt for [persons'] rights and dignity." For a nation to lead the world in valuing human persons, this is an essential first step. Then, the community must consider the future and ensure the safety of those who might be in danger from the offender(s). As human rights advocate, Arieh Neier, has said, it is "up to society to demonstrate respect for the victim, for the one who suffered, by rendering the victimizer accountable." In this case, those who tortured the detainees must be held accountable. And, in the parallel power process in play, those members of the United States' government who authorized these actions and those who refused to investigate them must also demonstrate respect for the citizens of this country by being held accountable to the American people for their actions. Only then will it be possible to move forward.

Accountability is the cornerstone of justice. And justice is essential for true forgiveness.

Comments

[Dap]

Dear Ms. Dilenschneider,

I was thinking the exact same thing, we are in the same stream of consciousness on this one. Thank you for writing this outstanding essay/post, Agape (Love in fellowship of our shared fragle humanity)