Riflessioni sul Perdono, sulla Dignità e sulla Riconciliazione
Juan Guzmán
1. I negoziati di pace, generalmente, sono incentrati sulle dimensioni politica ed economica. Quale è la Sua percezione della necessità di toccare aspetti più profondi e genuini della riconciliazione e come si può ottenere questo?
Well, I don’t agree that political and economic issues are the only ones that can acheive reconciliation. Naturally, they help, but are absolutely insufficient. Through my experience, and analizing those of some countries of South America, I consider that the most important factors that may conduce us towards reconciliation are the discovery of truth and the fact of taking the persons responsible of the crimes to justice, and having them tried. Therefore, truth and justice are indispensable. It is also important when the persons responsible of the institutions that took place in the crimes beg forgiveness to the victimes and the victime’s relatives. It is also important that this forgivenes should be accepted by the victimes or their relatives.
2. Quali sono le condizioni nelle quali, al di là dell’assicurare gli interessi della parti in conflitto, può essere stabilito un processo incentrato su un senso di equità e dignità?
A process thats centered on a sense of fairness and dignity is essencial. Most of the victimes of a dictatorship or of state violence, generally have criminalized the victimes. They have been considered enemies of the State, traitors, terrorists, etc. while they were only agains the dictatorship, the policies of a State or thought differently. Therefore, its neccesary to reestablish their honour and dignity: to erect monuments with their names engraved in the bronze or granite, to honour their memory, to inform their real stories. Truth and justice are fundamental during this phase. Fairness is also established through justice.
3. Quanto il perdono è essenziale alla dimensione della riconciliazione? Alla radice della Sua cultura politica e/o della Sua fede religiosa quali sono i principi che implicano o escludono il perdono? Quali versi o detti che fanno parte del Suo personale patrimonio spirituale possono, nella sua opinione, avere un significato universale
Forgiveness is very important as a dimension of reconciliation. But it is very difficult to obtain. I would have to distinguish between the crimes commited in order to answer this question. Imprisonment, deportation and torture are easier to forgive than the assasination or dissaperance of people. Regarding these two last crimes, the relatives of the victimes generally are not willing to forgive. Truth, justice and reparation are not enough. In Chile, it has generally taken three generations to forgive.
Regarding the second question in this point, I think that Christ’s teachings are essencial to obtain forgiveness, but its difficult to compare the harm when it has been produced to the one that has suffered it, than when the harm has been produced to a loved person.
4. Il perdono richiede qualche forma di pentimento da parte di coloro a cui il perdono viene offerto? Il perdono ha condizioni o è senza condizioni?
It is difficult to really know when there has been repentance. Through, my own experience, I have known not more than 5 cases, in thousands of interrogations, that I have received from the agents that have commited crimes of the nature we are speaking of. Repentance is shown exteriorlly when these agents give a thorough deposition, giving the names of the others responsible of these crimes, recognizing their participation in them and explaining what made them perpetrate them, acknowledging that they were wrong and are very sorry to have been so blind.
I think that forgiveness has to be conditioned to repentance.
I would suggest adding the issues related with truth, justice and repatation to enrichen a universal council on reconciliation.