Opinion Should countries apologize for past atrocities? Should they pay reparations?

[Islam Imamate]

I got to thinking about this after seeing this article on Reuters about the centenary of the Amritsar massacre. There was also a thread on here a few weeks ago about some Imam who asked for an apology from the Spanish Crown for the Inquisition

On April 13, 1919, some 50 British Indian army soldiers began shooting at unarmed civilians who were taking part in a peaceful protest against oppressive laws enforced in the Punjab region.

At least 379 Sikhs were killed, according to the official record, although local residents said in the past the toll was far higher. The massacre took place in the walled enclosure of Jallianwala Bagh, which is still pocked with bullet marks.

The massacre became a symbol of colonial cruelty and for decades Indians have demanded an apology from Britain, including during Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Amritsar in 1997.

On Wednesday, May told the British parliament that “the tragedy of Jallianwala Bagh in 1919 is a shameful scar on British Indian history”, but she did not issue a formal apology.

Germany is pretty much the exemplar on this issue, where both West and East(though much later) formally apologized and have paid billions to Israel and to Holocaust survivors in addition to getting German companies that used slave labor at the time to pay out to victims as well.

Turkey and Japan are on the other end as they don't even acknowledge the atrocities they committed during WWI and WWII respectively. The Brits are in between in that they acknowledge it was bad but have not issued a formal apology despite Indians asking for it for sometime. Which is kind of odd, I don't think I have ever admitted I did something wrong multiple times while not apologizing for it.

So should the Brits apologize for this and other atrocities committed during their empire along with the likes of the Turks and Japanese for their respect atrocities? What's the statute of limitations on this kind of thing? Asking for an apology for the Inquisition is picking at a pretty old wound but the Amritsar massacre and Armenian genocide were only 100 hundred years ago and the Rape of Nanking of course being even more recent. Should they pay reparations? If so who would be entitled to them? Only surviving victims or perhaps also their children or other descendants?

 

[NoDak]

Nah.

 

[EradiatedHaggis]

No. And if a nation demands it the older offending nation should either hold parades and other celebrations focused on those past "offenses" or go for broke and repeat history.

 

[bobgeese]

Nope.

 

[Sketch]

I'm Hungarian. Still waiting on reparations from the Ottoman Empire plus the Mongolians.

 

[Islam Imamate]

Nah.

Do you think Germany should not have apologized for the Holocaust? Or is that an exception?

 

[Islam Imamate]

I'm Hungarian. Still waiting on reparations from the Ottoman Empire plus the Mongolians.

Mongolians have lots of 'splainin' to do

 

[WarDosAnjos]

Tricky question. I think countries should at least apologize for and acknowledge their historical wrong doings. At this point I don't believe reparations are necessary unless a class of people is still suffering as a result of these past transactions.

For example I think in America there has been a systematic oppression of black people dating back to the time of slavery which has lead to many blacks living in the lower class today. I think as Americans we should do our part to help eliminate the underclass.

And not because any white people today is responsible for what our ancestors did. I don't believe that. But I also think it's the right thing to do as opposed to just saying it's not my problem.

There is no doubt the reason so many black people in America are in poverty today is a direct result of past segregation. They were never given a level playing field.

 

[nac386]

Sometimes. I think that every situation is different.

For example, Reagan paid $20,000 in reparations to each of the Japanese who were held in internment camps. If you are a citizen of our country, and your rights are stripped away from you by the government, then I fully support an apology and reparations being made. The acknowledgement of wrongdoing is very important to preventing it from happening again.

 

[Islam Imamate]

Sometimes. I think that every situation is different.

For example, Reagan paid $20,000 in reparations to each of the Japanese who were held in internment camps. If you are a citizen of our country, and your rights are stripped away from you by the government, then I fully support an apology and reparations being made. The acknowledgement of wrongdoing is very important to preventing it from happening again.

The US government has also paid billions in reparations to Native Americans.

 

[NoDak]

Do you think Germany should not have apologized for the Holocaust? Or is that an exception?

That's probably an extraordinary circumstance, and it's ultimately going to cost Germany a lot more than an apology and billions in reparations although I'd rather not get into that here. The NSDAP state is what happens when an industro-technik scientific superpower goes completely ape shit.

 

[Islam Imamate]

That's probably an extraordinary circumstance, and it's ultimately going to cost Germany a lot more than an apology and billions in reparations although I'd rather not get into that here. The NSDAP state is what happens when an industro-technik scientific superpower goes completely ape shit.

I think the Armenian genocide and the atrocities of the Japanese in Asia are of comparable scale and the latter happened during the same conflict.

 

[ObamaPhoneLady]

No.

Especially not shit from 100+ years ago.

 

[ObamaPhoneLady]

I think the Armenian genocide and the atrocities of the Japanese in Asia are of comparable scale and the latter happened during the same conflict.

Ironically you can deny the Armenian genocide even happened and still have moneyized youtube channel.

 

[LockardTheGOAT]

Most people are just looking for easy money. They probably care very little that their countrymen or ancestors were the victims of some atrocity.

 

[Sakurabaism]

This depends on the condition and impact of the colonized nation at the time, were they facing set backs as a result of colonization or was it actually helpful to the progression of their society as whole? Malaysia is one of the example of how the british rule brings change in economy and infrastructure for the better. Indonesia on the other hand faced almost 400 years of colonization with very little contributions to the intelligent well-being of the indigenous people until Netherlands setting up a bunch of schools in mid 1800 although it was reserved exclusively for the dutch and children of the Indonesian royal families who are servants to the dutch.

 

[Fawlty]

A lot of it depends on whether you can make people whole, or at least partially reimburse them. For example with American slavery and segregation, that's not really possible on a full scale. Plenty of us have "slave blood" in us and don't know it. But with Japanese internment it's much easier. And it's also possible with NA tribes who maintain their identity, have a formal structure, their own laws and lands, etc.

 

[BarryDillon]

I got to thinking about this after seeing this article on Reuters about the centenary of the Amritsar massacre. There was also a thread on here a few weeks ago about some Imam who asked for an apology from the Spanish Crown for the Inquisition


Germany is pretty much the exemplar on this issue, where both West and East(though much later) formally apologized and have paid billions to Israel and to Holocaust survivors in addition to getting German companies that used slave labor at the time to pay out to victims as well.

Turkey and Japan are on the other end as they don't even acknowledge the atrocities they committed during WWI and WWII respectively. The Brits are in between in that they acknowledge it was bad but have not issued a formal apology despite Indians asking for it for sometime. Which is kind of odd, I don't think I have ever admitted I did something wrong multiple times while not apologizing for it.

So should the Brits apologize for this and other atrocities committed during their empire along with the likes of the Turks and Japanese for their respect atrocities? What's the statute of limitations on this kind of thing? Asking for an apology for the Inquisition is picking at a pretty old wound but the Amritsar massacre and Armenian genocide were only 100 hundred years ago and the Rape of Nanking of course being even more recent. Should they pay reparations? If so who would be entitled to them? Only surviving victims or perhaps also their children or other descendants?

Absolutely yes.

 

[Islam Imamate]

A lot of it depends on whether you can make people whole, or at least partially reimburse them. For example with American slavery and segregation, that's not really possible on a full scale. Plenty of us have "slave blood" in us and don't know it. But with Japanese internment it's much easier. And it's also possible with NA tribes who maintain their identity, have a formal structure, their own laws and lands, etc.

That's fair and I agree.

How about just formally apologizing for something like the Armenian genocide or even something that was of a smaller scale like the Amritsar massacre? What should be the statute of limitations on expecting such an apology?

 

[Kaybee]

No, not unless it is done right away. Anything else and you are just attaching money to a mostly empty gesture that does nothing to really rectify what happened.

The current German regime isn't the Nazi Regime, and same goes with modern Japan and Tojo.

I dunno, imagine someone kills your dad and then 40 years later some kid walks by and is like "Sorry that my grandpa killed your dad" and hands you $20. It's pointless and does nothing