Change has definitely come to Japan. As expected*, Yukio Hatoyama is trying to do the right thing by puting an end to all sick nationalist revivals. And the new P.M. seems to be willing to act quickly, going at the root.
Imperialist nostalgists claim Kuril Islands and Dokdo as theirs ? "An unidentified senior Japanese government official" releases the proof that they don't belong to Japan**.
In the midst of an APEC summit, Japan decides to set the record straight and lead the region the most noble way.
As Barack Obama tours the continent, Japan rejects as false the choice between its own History and its own ideals.
blogules
2009 - initially published on Seoul Village : "According to Japanese law, Dokdo is not Japanese".
* see "A Common History", a dramatic change since "Claiming Dokdo as Takeshima equals claiming Seoul as Gyeongseong"
** see "Japanese Document Shows Dokdo as Foreign Territory" (Chosun Ilbo 20091116) : "Japan's Ministry of Finance issued a notice document numbered 654 on Aug. 15, 1946, a year after Korean independence, that says Dokdo is foreign soil along with Korea, Taiwan, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands and the South Sea Islands".
20091114
al Qaeda and Amerika on trial
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed goes on trial in NYC, and GOP hardliners are angry.
Make that "scared". Because this is the kind of justice they don't feel comfortable with : fair justice, public justice... Justice, period.
What will be exposed is the process that leads to abomination : on one hand terror, on the other torture.
Because Mr. Mohammed is now more famous for surviving over a hundred waterboarding sessions than for his responsibility in 9/11 attacks. The Bush administration added insult to murder, betrayed the families of 9/11 victims, disgraced America and the very values they were supposed to defend.
That administration was recently confirmed as "repugnant to the Constitution" by Republican appointed judges.
Obama, who rejected as false the choice between security and ideals, appointed Eric Holder to clean the mess. Both share the same vision of justice* : not the twisted tool of a corrupt administration, but an independent power able to reach any other power, particularly administrations going rogue.
blogules 2009
* see previous episodes, including "We reject as false the choice between our social security and our ideals"
Make that "scared". Because this is the kind of justice they don't feel comfortable with : fair justice, public justice... Justice, period.
What will be exposed is the process that leads to abomination : on one hand terror, on the other torture.
Because Mr. Mohammed is now more famous for surviving over a hundred waterboarding sessions than for his responsibility in 9/11 attacks. The Bush administration added insult to murder, betrayed the families of 9/11 victims, disgraced America and the very values they were supposed to defend.
That administration was recently confirmed as "repugnant to the Constitution" by Republican appointed judges.
Obama, who rejected as false the choice between security and ideals, appointed Eric Holder to clean the mess. Both share the same vision of justice* : not the twisted tool of a corrupt administration, but an independent power able to reach any other power, particularly administrations going rogue.
blogules 2009
* see previous episodes, including "We reject as false the choice between our social security and our ideals"
20091106
After Arafat, will Tel Aviv hawks terminate Mahmoud Abbas ?
Abandoned by the US, humiliated by Netanyahu, crippled by his own behavior during the destruction of Gaza, Mahmoud Abbas announced that he had "no desire to run in the forthcoming election".
The parallel with Yasser Arafat is clear, and Tel Aviv hawks used the same strategy. The main disapointment for "Abu Mazen" came from Obama, unable to deliver the goods and to prevent Israel from pushing its radical agenda (see "Israel accepted as true the choice between its security and its ideals").
Yet, it's not as if Abbas said he wouldn't run in 2010. There's still a chance, a thurst for "desire". But the message his clear : my "authority" is a farce, only Israel and the US can decide the future of Palestine. They were the ones who put the Hamas where it is, and the Fatah in this terrible shape. My failure is their failure, and I'm afraid the US will keep washing their hands on my martyrdom until I die.
Before this speech, Abbas didn't stand one chance to win in 2010. Now, he is provoking change : status quo or any further delaying from Washington would be be as lethal as if Hillary and Barack themselves hammered down the nails.
He's not as much saying "I quit" as asking "hey Barack, do you want our blood on your hands ?"
If Israeli moderates want to speak up, now is the time. J Street is gaining ground in Washington, the UN is pressuring for a follow up to Goldstone's report, and there is still room for peace. Palestinians need real, tangible hope. If Hamas wins, Netanyahu wins, Israel loses.
blogules 2009
The parallel with Yasser Arafat is clear, and Tel Aviv hawks used the same strategy. The main disapointment for "Abu Mazen" came from Obama, unable to deliver the goods and to prevent Israel from pushing its radical agenda (see "Israel accepted as true the choice between its security and its ideals").
Yet, it's not as if Abbas said he wouldn't run in 2010. There's still a chance, a thurst for "desire". But the message his clear : my "authority" is a farce, only Israel and the US can decide the future of Palestine. They were the ones who put the Hamas where it is, and the Fatah in this terrible shape. My failure is their failure, and I'm afraid the US will keep washing their hands on my martyrdom until I die.
Before this speech, Abbas didn't stand one chance to win in 2010. Now, he is provoking change : status quo or any further delaying from Washington would be be as lethal as if Hillary and Barack themselves hammered down the nails.
He's not as much saying "I quit" as asking "hey Barack, do you want our blood on your hands ?"
If Israeli moderates want to speak up, now is the time. J Street is gaining ground in Washington, the UN is pressuring for a follow up to Goldstone's report, and there is still room for peace. Palestinians need real, tangible hope. If Hamas wins, Netanyahu wins, Israel loses.
blogules 2009
20091104
European Court of Human Rights slams fundamentalists (a)cross Italia and Europe
"The State was to refrain from imposing beliefs in premises where individuals were dependent on it" : so Italy will have to stop allowing crucifixes in courts or worse, public schools.
To support its sound decision*, the European Court of Human Rights specifically mentioned arguments traditionnally used by religious conservatives : the right for the parents to educate their children according to their own beliefs, the right for the childre to freedom of religion.
The plaintiff, Mrs Soile Lautsi, a Finnish-born Italian mother, will receive EUR 5,000 in damages. But this is not about money, and all partisans of secularism across Europe should rejoice : mixing religious signs with public service clearly insults to the very essence of democracy and republican values. Judge Luigi Tosti also fought for this vital cause, putting his career in jeopardy because he refused to enter in court rooms featuring a crucifix.
Once again, this is not about atheism vs. religion, but about democracy vs. fundamentalism AND about religion vs. fundamentalism. Secularism is the only way to protect at the same time democracy AND religion from their common and most lethal enemy.
Needless to say, the Lega Nord, the Re-Reformed Church of Chief Fundamentalist Benedict XVI, and other fundamentalists from all confessions** didn't welcome such resistance before the probable inauguration of one of them at the first continental leader (see "Tony Blair : a newborn fundamentalist President of Europe ?").
Yesterday, Minister of "Education" Mariastella Gelmini tried to make crucifixes pass for "symboles of Italian tradition"... The usual neo-creationist trick : multiply smoke screens, ban from the vocabulary all religious reference, deny any hidden agenda / wedge strategy, and send coward, submarine strikes against science, education, and democracy (see cf "En finir avec l'Intelligent Design").
The battle is not over : Italy's Supreme Court revoked in 2004 a 2003 judgement banning crucifixes from schools and courts without bringing any legal justification, and the European Court of Human Rights must brace against furious attacks from fundamentalists, most likely using their usual proxies within European political spheres (i.e. Luc van den Brande).
This battle is not a new one, but it's now official and out in the open : like the US before, Europe fights for its very survival as a symbol of democracy against its worst enemies, imposters from within.
blogules 2009
also in French : "La Cour Européenne des Droits de l'Homme crucifie les fondamentalistes"
* "Communiqué du Greffier - Arrêt de chambre - Lautsi c. Italie (requête n° 30814/06)" - the English Version :
** I cannot imagine any better message for moderate Muslims struggling to eradicate fundamentalism across the world (i.e. most recently Al-Azhar University in Egypt banning the niqab, or the heated debate about "France, secularism and burqa").
ADDENDUM 20091104
I replaced the French version (below) by the English Version (above) :
To support its sound decision*, the European Court of Human Rights specifically mentioned arguments traditionnally used by religious conservatives : the right for the parents to educate their children according to their own beliefs, the right for the childre to freedom of religion.
The plaintiff, Mrs Soile Lautsi, a Finnish-born Italian mother, will receive EUR 5,000 in damages. But this is not about money, and all partisans of secularism across Europe should rejoice : mixing religious signs with public service clearly insults to the very essence of democracy and republican values. Judge Luigi Tosti also fought for this vital cause, putting his career in jeopardy because he refused to enter in court rooms featuring a crucifix.
Once again, this is not about atheism vs. religion, but about democracy vs. fundamentalism AND about religion vs. fundamentalism. Secularism is the only way to protect at the same time democracy AND religion from their common and most lethal enemy.
Needless to say, the Lega Nord, the Re-Reformed Church of Chief Fundamentalist Benedict XVI, and other fundamentalists from all confessions** didn't welcome such resistance before the probable inauguration of one of them at the first continental leader (see "Tony Blair : a newborn fundamentalist President of Europe ?").
Yesterday, Minister of "Education" Mariastella Gelmini tried to make crucifixes pass for "symboles of Italian tradition"... The usual neo-creationist trick : multiply smoke screens, ban from the vocabulary all religious reference, deny any hidden agenda / wedge strategy, and send coward, submarine strikes against science, education, and democracy (see cf "En finir avec l'Intelligent Design").
The battle is not over : Italy's Supreme Court revoked in 2004 a 2003 judgement banning crucifixes from schools and courts without bringing any legal justification, and the European Court of Human Rights must brace against furious attacks from fundamentalists, most likely using their usual proxies within European political spheres (i.e. Luc van den Brande).
This battle is not a new one, but it's now official and out in the open : like the US before, Europe fights for its very survival as a symbol of democracy against its worst enemies, imposters from within.
blogules 2009
also in French : "La Cour Européenne des Droits de l'Homme crucifie les fondamentalistes"
* "Communiqué du Greffier - Arrêt de chambre - Lautsi c. Italie (requête n° 30814/06)" - the English Version :
CRUCIFIX IN CLASSROOMS:
CONTRARY TO PARENTS’ RIGHT TO EDUCATE THEIR CHILDREN IN LINE WITH THEIR CONVICTIONS AND TO CHILDREN’S RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF RELIGION
Violation of Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 (right to education)
examined jointly with Article 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion)
of the European Convention on Human Rights
Under Article 41 (just satisfaction) of the Convention, the Court awarded the applicant 5,000 euros (EUR) in respect of non-pecuniary damage.
(...)
The State was to refrain from imposing beliefs in premises where individuals were dependent on it. In particular, it was required to observe confessional neutrality in the context of public education, where attending classes was compulsory irrespective of religion, and where the aim should be to foster critical thinking in pupils.
** I cannot imagine any better message for moderate Muslims struggling to eradicate fundamentalism across the world (i.e. most recently Al-Azhar University in Egypt banning the niqab, or the heated debate about "France, secularism and burqa").
ADDENDUM 20091104
I replaced the French version (below) by the English Version (above) :
CRUCIFIX DANS LES SALLES DE CLASSE : CONTRAIRE AU DROIT DES PARENTS D'ÉDUQUER LEURS ENFANTS SELON LEURS CONVICTIONS ET AU DROIT DES ENFANTS À LA LIBERTÉ DE RELIGION
Violation de l'article 2 du protocole n° 1 (droit à l'instruction) examiné conjointement avec l'article 9 (liberté de pensée, de conscience et de religion) de la Convention européenne des droits de l’homme.
En application de l'article 41 (satisfaction équitable) de la Convention, la Cour alloue 5 000 euros (EUR) à la requérante pour dommage moral.
(...)
"L'Etat doit s'abstenir d'imposer des croyances dans les lieux où les personnes sont dépendantes de lui. Il est notamment tenu à la neutralité confessionnelle dans le cadre de l’éducation publique où la présence aux cours est requise sans considération de religion et qui doit chercher à inculquer aux élèves une pensée critique".
20091103
Obama Season II
I hate to spoil the suspense, but here are the plots for key episodes of Barack Obama Season II :
- Prison Break : will Barack escape from Guantanamo ?
- Desperate Housewives : will Barack convince Israel to stop making a martyr of Palestine and a hero of Iran ?
- 24 Hours : will Barack arrive on time to prevent Jong-il from blowing up half Asia plus two thirds of Pearl Harbor ?
- Heroes : will Barack help Afghan women walk freely on the streets, without any mask nor costume, and without fearing attacks by fundamentalist supervilains ?
- Dexter : will Barack put in jail the serial killers guilty for the atrocities committed over the past few years (Gonzales, Cheney...) ?
- House : will Barack, in spit of his crippled bill, pass the health care reform and at which cost for midterm elections ?
- The Office : will Barack prevent W. from coming back (W as in W-shaped recession, not W as in Walker) ?
- ...
Season I set the bar at the highest levels, claiming two prestigious awards :
- Peace Nobel Prize for rejecting George W. Bush as early as January 20th, 2009
- Physics Nobel Prize for making George W. Bush invisible as early as November 4th, 2008
blogules 2009
- Prison Break : will Barack escape from Guantanamo ?
- Desperate Housewives : will Barack convince Israel to stop making a martyr of Palestine and a hero of Iran ?
- 24 Hours : will Barack arrive on time to prevent Jong-il from blowing up half Asia plus two thirds of Pearl Harbor ?
- Heroes : will Barack help Afghan women walk freely on the streets, without any mask nor costume, and without fearing attacks by fundamentalist supervilains ?
- Dexter : will Barack put in jail the serial killers guilty for the atrocities committed over the past few years (Gonzales, Cheney...) ?
- House : will Barack, in spit of his crippled bill, pass the health care reform and at which cost for midterm elections ?
- The Office : will Barack prevent W. from coming back (W as in W-shaped recession, not W as in Walker) ?
- ...
Season I set the bar at the highest levels, claiming two prestigious awards :
- Peace Nobel Prize for rejecting George W. Bush as early as January 20th, 2009
- Physics Nobel Prize for making George W. Bush invisible as early as November 4th, 2008
blogules 2009
20091030
Korea needs even more Truth and Reconciliation
In its 2009 International Symposium (see program below*), the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Republic of Korea (TRCK) collected priceless insights, very comforting for the future of Transitional Justice in Korea and, beyond, for the future of democracy itself.
This country is about to decide which model to follow, with the unique opportunity to not only follow but lead, and even become a role model for all Asia. The Commission has already accomplished a terrific job, and Korea needs it more than ever, not only because more truth needs to come out. But for reconciliation to succeed, Korea needs its government to play its role, to fully support transitional justice as a whole (i.e. beyond the TRCK, the settlement foundation has yet to be established according to the law), and to guarantee the success of national reconciliation. Any failure to do so would definitely send the wrong message to the world about the level of democracy in Korea.
Hopefully, this simply can't happen in this century.
Yesterday, among the cases from Africa, Americas, Africa, and Europe, I expected the most from Rwanda and indeed, ITCR Judge PARK Seon-ki delivered a comprehensive presentation, including precious insights about the local context (i.e. the Gacaca justice system). I only wish he had more time to raise the "national reconciliation" issues, critical in a country where genocide survivors often live in the same village as their torturers.
Dr. Martin Salm (Germany) put the human factor centerstage, and that's a necessity when all you can give to people who lost 3 years of their lives as forced laborers is 500 euros... not much at the micro level, but his EVZ foundation eventually distributed about 5 billion euros to 1.6 million victims across Europe, and that's not petty money. Korea and Japan can learn a lot from this impressive publicly and privately funded international effort, but also from the importance of the care given to grieving individuals often suffering from isolation. Reconciliation is also about replacing bitterness and anger with peace, recognition, and confidence in the future. Strenghtening society and lifting the whole nation instead of letting it rot it in a nationalist dead end. For chaebols often perceived as distant from the people, contributing to this national cause would not only be the high road, but an easy one at that if they want to enhance their own image.
In Korea like everywhere else, victims first need to be officially, and if possible legally, recognised as victims. This usually comes before financial reparations. Condemning methods (beyond potential political / ideological sensibilities) is also essential : the most powerful sentence ever pronounced by Barack Obama is "we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals". Punishing the criminals is yet another level, and Korea will probably fine tune its amnesty / trial ratio. But if much truth remains to be uncovered, the time of reconciliation has come, and that will require pedagogy, sensibility, a lot of work on memory, with visible, tangible, shared elements to not only honor and remember, but also strengthten society and its future.
Honoring the great Latin American literary tradition, former Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission President Salomon Lerner submitted a brilliant text with a universal reach. One can only subscribe to his beautifully crafted focus on the power of words and the clarity of the vision, the importance of "a prudent approach to social expectancies (...) which demands, in turn, a fine and responsible crafting of the discourse and messages", and the need to prolong this writing with "memory, that, in becoming social life and in being fecundated by ethical motivations, becomes a true transformer of history".
I wish Dr. Leigh Payne used a more "responsible crafting of the discourse and messages" in her own conclusions, particularly since those were only temporary conclusions following the first part of her very interesting research on 91 national cases of Transitional Justice. She did use all the right precautions in her speech, but "verba volant, scripta manent", and the slide bluntly singled out TJ systems featuring only truth commissions as potentially "harmful". Such a message could be misunterpreted and thus maybe "harmful" to transitional justice, particularly in countries where truth commissions very existences are threatened... It can be misunderstood and almost sounds like blaming a thermometer for fever : of course, what is "harmful" is the abuses perpetrated, and certainly not the doctor examining the wound and recommanding ways to cure and prevent further damage - what is also "harmful" is the lobby trying to silence the doctor, or to discredit him by depriving him of his most essential tools. TRCs are not into reopening wounds : they are an essential part of the healing process, the guarantee for a better future.
That said, I'm not exactly a model in "fine and responsible crafting of the discourse and messages", and I naturally agree with Dr Payne's results, which look totally logical : Truth Commissions simply cannot work as stand alone tools precisely because they are not meant to work as stand alone tools... except in those countries where they are set up as smoke screens (or rather, as Dr. Payne finely and responsibly put it, "facades"), by governments who want to appear as mature democracies facing their own pasts. That is, fortunately, not the case of Korea, where the TCR was really meant to help the country move to a higher level.
But the TCRK was given a relatively limited reach, and key elements of the Basic Law for the Settlement of Past Incidents have yet to be implemented. Furthermore, the success of the whole system depends on the full support of a government which, these days, can at times appear uncomfortable with transitional justice : as I pointed out earlier**, ultra-conservative die harders keep lobbying against the TCRK, undermining not only Korea's efforts to emerge as a leading nation on the international stage, but also Japan's efforts to at last face its own dark chapters regarding Korea.
Every voice should be heard in the process : as reminded yesterday, that is the essence of democracy. It is not an easy task but there is no other way. The choice is simple : unity or division, reconciliation or hatred, healing or suffering, more democracy or less democracy. And it's binary : not doing anything, letting time pass and tensions rise is equivalent to killing transitional justice altogether.
So the pressure is certainly not on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but on the Korean government, who is compelled to give it a total support. By the end of TRCK's mandate, the world will have an answer : either Korea decides to become a model for Asia, or its rulers decide to cast shame upon themselves.
Blogules 2009 (initially published on Seoul Village - Truth and Reconciliation : which model for Korea ?
---
* "The Global Trend of Past Settlement and the Task of Korea to Build National Reconciliation" (20091027) :
Opening Remarks (AHN Byung-ook, President, TRCK)
1. The Justice Balance: When Transitional Justice Improves Human Rights and Democracy (Presentation by Dr. Leigh PAYNE, Professor of Sociology, Oxford University - Questions from AHN Kyong-whan, Professor, SNU and former President of Naitonal Human Rights Commission of Korea)
2. Rwanda Genocide, United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and Lessons from Rwanda and Africa (Presentation by Judge PARK Seon-ki, ITCR - Questions from LEE Suk-tae, Lawyer, Duk Su Law Office)
3. Achievements and Tasks in confronting the Past in Peru and Latin America (Presentation by Dr. Salomon LERNER FEBRES, Rector Emerito, Pontifica Universidad Catolica del Peru and former President of the TRC in Peru - Questions from PARK Koo-byoung, Professor, Ajou University)
4. Will remembrance of National Socialist Crimes never end ? Meaning, tasks, and societal role of the Foundation 'Remembrance, Responsibility and Future' (Presentation by Dr. Martin SALM, Chairman of the Board of Directors, EVZ - Questions from SONG Chung-ki, Professor, Kongju National University)
Wrap up session : Evaluation and Proposal for the Past Settlement of Korea
** see "President Lee, keep digging" followed by "A Common History".
This country is about to decide which model to follow, with the unique opportunity to not only follow but lead, and even become a role model for all Asia. The Commission has already accomplished a terrific job, and Korea needs it more than ever, not only because more truth needs to come out. But for reconciliation to succeed, Korea needs its government to play its role, to fully support transitional justice as a whole (i.e. beyond the TRCK, the settlement foundation has yet to be established according to the law), and to guarantee the success of national reconciliation. Any failure to do so would definitely send the wrong message to the world about the level of democracy in Korea.
Hopefully, this simply can't happen in this century.
Yesterday, among the cases from Africa, Americas, Africa, and Europe, I expected the most from Rwanda and indeed, ITCR Judge PARK Seon-ki delivered a comprehensive presentation, including precious insights about the local context (i.e. the Gacaca justice system). I only wish he had more time to raise the "national reconciliation" issues, critical in a country where genocide survivors often live in the same village as their torturers.
Dr. Martin Salm (Germany) put the human factor centerstage, and that's a necessity when all you can give to people who lost 3 years of their lives as forced laborers is 500 euros... not much at the micro level, but his EVZ foundation eventually distributed about 5 billion euros to 1.6 million victims across Europe, and that's not petty money. Korea and Japan can learn a lot from this impressive publicly and privately funded international effort, but also from the importance of the care given to grieving individuals often suffering from isolation. Reconciliation is also about replacing bitterness and anger with peace, recognition, and confidence in the future. Strenghtening society and lifting the whole nation instead of letting it rot it in a nationalist dead end. For chaebols often perceived as distant from the people, contributing to this national cause would not only be the high road, but an easy one at that if they want to enhance their own image.
In Korea like everywhere else, victims first need to be officially, and if possible legally, recognised as victims. This usually comes before financial reparations. Condemning methods (beyond potential political / ideological sensibilities) is also essential : the most powerful sentence ever pronounced by Barack Obama is "we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals". Punishing the criminals is yet another level, and Korea will probably fine tune its amnesty / trial ratio. But if much truth remains to be uncovered, the time of reconciliation has come, and that will require pedagogy, sensibility, a lot of work on memory, with visible, tangible, shared elements to not only honor and remember, but also strengthten society and its future.
Honoring the great Latin American literary tradition, former Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission President Salomon Lerner submitted a brilliant text with a universal reach. One can only subscribe to his beautifully crafted focus on the power of words and the clarity of the vision, the importance of "a prudent approach to social expectancies (...) which demands, in turn, a fine and responsible crafting of the discourse and messages", and the need to prolong this writing with "memory, that, in becoming social life and in being fecundated by ethical motivations, becomes a true transformer of history".
I wish Dr. Leigh Payne used a more "responsible crafting of the discourse and messages" in her own conclusions, particularly since those were only temporary conclusions following the first part of her very interesting research on 91 national cases of Transitional Justice. She did use all the right precautions in her speech, but "verba volant, scripta manent", and the slide bluntly singled out TJ systems featuring only truth commissions as potentially "harmful". Such a message could be misunterpreted and thus maybe "harmful" to transitional justice, particularly in countries where truth commissions very existences are threatened... It can be misunderstood and almost sounds like blaming a thermometer for fever : of course, what is "harmful" is the abuses perpetrated, and certainly not the doctor examining the wound and recommanding ways to cure and prevent further damage - what is also "harmful" is the lobby trying to silence the doctor, or to discredit him by depriving him of his most essential tools. TRCs are not into reopening wounds : they are an essential part of the healing process, the guarantee for a better future.
That said, I'm not exactly a model in "fine and responsible crafting of the discourse and messages", and I naturally agree with Dr Payne's results, which look totally logical : Truth Commissions simply cannot work as stand alone tools precisely because they are not meant to work as stand alone tools... except in those countries where they are set up as smoke screens (or rather, as Dr. Payne finely and responsibly put it, "facades"), by governments who want to appear as mature democracies facing their own pasts. That is, fortunately, not the case of Korea, where the TCR was really meant to help the country move to a higher level.
But the TCRK was given a relatively limited reach, and key elements of the Basic Law for the Settlement of Past Incidents have yet to be implemented. Furthermore, the success of the whole system depends on the full support of a government which, these days, can at times appear uncomfortable with transitional justice : as I pointed out earlier**, ultra-conservative die harders keep lobbying against the TCRK, undermining not only Korea's efforts to emerge as a leading nation on the international stage, but also Japan's efforts to at last face its own dark chapters regarding Korea.
Every voice should be heard in the process : as reminded yesterday, that is the essence of democracy. It is not an easy task but there is no other way. The choice is simple : unity or division, reconciliation or hatred, healing or suffering, more democracy or less democracy. And it's binary : not doing anything, letting time pass and tensions rise is equivalent to killing transitional justice altogether.
So the pressure is certainly not on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but on the Korean government, who is compelled to give it a total support. By the end of TRCK's mandate, the world will have an answer : either Korea decides to become a model for Asia, or its rulers decide to cast shame upon themselves.
Blogules 2009 (initially published on Seoul Village - Truth and Reconciliation : which model for Korea ?
---
* "The Global Trend of Past Settlement and the Task of Korea to Build National Reconciliation" (20091027) :
Opening Remarks (AHN Byung-ook, President, TRCK)
1. The Justice Balance: When Transitional Justice Improves Human Rights and Democracy (Presentation by Dr. Leigh PAYNE, Professor of Sociology, Oxford University - Questions from AHN Kyong-whan, Professor, SNU and former President of Naitonal Human Rights Commission of Korea)
2. Rwanda Genocide, United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and Lessons from Rwanda and Africa (Presentation by Judge PARK Seon-ki, ITCR - Questions from LEE Suk-tae, Lawyer, Duk Su Law Office)
3. Achievements and Tasks in confronting the Past in Peru and Latin America (Presentation by Dr. Salomon LERNER FEBRES, Rector Emerito, Pontifica Universidad Catolica del Peru and former President of the TRC in Peru - Questions from PARK Koo-byoung, Professor, Ajou University)
4. Will remembrance of National Socialist Crimes never end ? Meaning, tasks, and societal role of the Foundation 'Remembrance, Responsibility and Future' (Presentation by Dr. Martin SALM, Chairman of the Board of Directors, EVZ - Questions from SONG Chung-ki, Professor, Kongju National University)
Wrap up session : Evaluation and Proposal for the Past Settlement of Korea
** see "President Lee, keep digging" followed by "A Common History".
20091016
ReOpenReOpenReOpen911 - the Pentagony continues
I'm still being harrassed by self proclaimed "Truthers" (see "9/11 Truthers Knockin' At Your Door"). These guys are at the same time very stubborn and very inconsistent : after all these years you would think they eventually found their own "official version" but it keeps changing, moving from one hot air bubble to another.
I tried to figure out their non-euclidian-non-darwinian versioning path for the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon, and It goes like this :
1. Nothing happened on September the 11th, 2001 at the Pentagon.
2. Witnesses and cameras did see a plane crash on the Pentagon, causing a major explosion, but they were all victims of an optical illusion.
3. Plane debris and passenger bodies were found, but they actually were material sent from Hollywood - probably stuff from the Weinstein brothers or that Katzenberg guy, I guess...
4. Right. There WAS an explosion but it was caused by a missile. There NEVER was any plane that day in the vicinity of the Pentagon.
5. To be more accurate, there was not ONE plane but TWO : besides the Boeing, a military aircraft shot the missile.
6. No one testified for the military plane ? Precisely ! It definitely proves the DoD did it : stealth aircrafts have their fingerprints all over' em.
7. Granted, there was a Boeing, and it gave the illusion that it crashed on the Pentagon, but that was a hologram.
8. The CIA hired David Copperfield on that one. He never succeeded in large scale mass illusions, and the sky was totally cloudless that day, but this miraculous hologram establishes the superiority of US innovation. The sound hologram was particularly spectacular.
9. Still not convinced ? I'll play it again, then : the plane did exist and did crash on the Pentagon. Happy now ? What you don't get is that it was a drone remotely operated like a missile. You see, doesn't everything fit ?
10. The 9/11 victims ? They never existed. Or rather : 125 names were picked in the DoD files, 64 among passengers and crew having used American Airlines 77 between September 1991 and August. They all died or disappeared under strange circumstances within hours after the so called attack on the Pentagon.
11. We're getting closer now. To wrap it up : flight American Airlines 77 did take off, with these 64 people on board. But it never landed, because its GPS went berserk : programmed to crash on WTC 7, the plane eventually destroyed the AZF factory near Toulouse, France, on September 21.
12. Anyway, the probability for these very 64 people to meet that very day in this very plane and in this very place is close to zero, so this flight simply cannot have existed. By the way, prove me that God never existed if you dare.
13. The Pentagon doesn't exist. It's a hologram.
14. The United States of America are a hologram created by the KGB.
15. Barack Obama is a hologram remotely operated by Lyndon LaRouche.
16. I'm a hologram programed to reopen each time I'm sent back the image of my own vacuity.
blogules 2009 - see the original on blogules in French ("Truthers : la Pentagonnade continue"), not this mere hologramme
I tried to figure out their non-euclidian-non-darwinian versioning path for the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon, and It goes like this :
1. Nothing happened on September the 11th, 2001 at the Pentagon.
2. Witnesses and cameras did see a plane crash on the Pentagon, causing a major explosion, but they were all victims of an optical illusion.
3. Plane debris and passenger bodies were found, but they actually were material sent from Hollywood - probably stuff from the Weinstein brothers or that Katzenberg guy, I guess...
4. Right. There WAS an explosion but it was caused by a missile. There NEVER was any plane that day in the vicinity of the Pentagon.
5. To be more accurate, there was not ONE plane but TWO : besides the Boeing, a military aircraft shot the missile.
6. No one testified for the military plane ? Precisely ! It definitely proves the DoD did it : stealth aircrafts have their fingerprints all over' em.
7. Granted, there was a Boeing, and it gave the illusion that it crashed on the Pentagon, but that was a hologram.
8. The CIA hired David Copperfield on that one. He never succeeded in large scale mass illusions, and the sky was totally cloudless that day, but this miraculous hologram establishes the superiority of US innovation. The sound hologram was particularly spectacular.
9. Still not convinced ? I'll play it again, then : the plane did exist and did crash on the Pentagon. Happy now ? What you don't get is that it was a drone remotely operated like a missile. You see, doesn't everything fit ?
10. The 9/11 victims ? They never existed. Or rather : 125 names were picked in the DoD files, 64 among passengers and crew having used American Airlines 77 between September 1991 and August. They all died or disappeared under strange circumstances within hours after the so called attack on the Pentagon.
11. We're getting closer now. To wrap it up : flight American Airlines 77 did take off, with these 64 people on board. But it never landed, because its GPS went berserk : programmed to crash on WTC 7, the plane eventually destroyed the AZF factory near Toulouse, France, on September 21.
12. Anyway, the probability for these very 64 people to meet that very day in this very plane and in this very place is close to zero, so this flight simply cannot have existed. By the way, prove me that God never existed if you dare.
13. The Pentagon doesn't exist. It's a hologram.
14. The United States of America are a hologram created by the KGB.
15. Barack Obama is a hologram remotely operated by Lyndon LaRouche.
16. I'm a hologram programed to reopen each time I'm sent back the image of my own vacuity.
blogules 2009 - see the original on blogules in French ("Truthers : la Pentagonnade continue"), not this mere hologramme
20091015
As if
The Dow Jones Industrial hit the 10k mark, again.
This is not the same index : General Motors or Citigroup Incorporated have gone after September 2008 (AIG left the DJI a little bit earlier). And this is not the same Bank Of America either...
So basically a makeshift index passes a symbolic mark. So what ? This new bubble is simply not sustainable. And Mr Jones cannot make much dough out of industries which often have yet to evolve.
Asia is booming, again.
And real estate bubbles keep inflating in South Korea, Hong Kong, or China. Hu Jintao wants to secure positions for his friends before the 2012 regime reshuffle, and Beijing decided to sacrifice long term economic soundness for short term growth. Seoul also refuses to deflate the housing bubble for fear of accelerating the second dip. LEE Myung-bak knows the demand will grow during the construction of all programs launched before 2008, but hopes that the hard landing will not happen under his "sit and watch".
Financial institutions are racking up profits, again.
Part of their garbage has been collected, but they keep doing business as usual : destroying value in the long term to maximize short term gains, focusing innovation on ways of bending laws, sucking money from places where investments are really needed. Total crap.
...
Three years after the downturn, one year after The Crisis, we are somehow still in denial (see "This is not a financial crisis"), and the same diagnosis applies.
There's still a lot of greedy money out there : unable to find exciting guaranteed returns (closer to 5% than to the 15-20% they were used to - not enough to hedge inflation which is bound to come back with a vengence), investors keep fueling bubbles in stocks, commodities, gold, currencies, private equities, and even real estate.
Regulation remains a dirty word and everything is done to undermine collective and comprehensive efforts to reform the system.
The question is not if but when the next wake up call comes. Before the end of the year ? H1 2010 ? Will the illusion even last until 2011 ? Will everything collapse big time in 2012 ?
Yet I'm still confident : in the long term, we are to evolve from free market to fair market.
blogules 2009
This is not the same index : General Motors or Citigroup Incorporated have gone after September 2008 (AIG left the DJI a little bit earlier). And this is not the same Bank Of America either...
So basically a makeshift index passes a symbolic mark. So what ? This new bubble is simply not sustainable. And Mr Jones cannot make much dough out of industries which often have yet to evolve.
Asia is booming, again.
And real estate bubbles keep inflating in South Korea, Hong Kong, or China. Hu Jintao wants to secure positions for his friends before the 2012 regime reshuffle, and Beijing decided to sacrifice long term economic soundness for short term growth. Seoul also refuses to deflate the housing bubble for fear of accelerating the second dip. LEE Myung-bak knows the demand will grow during the construction of all programs launched before 2008, but hopes that the hard landing will not happen under his "sit and watch".
Financial institutions are racking up profits, again.
Part of their garbage has been collected, but they keep doing business as usual : destroying value in the long term to maximize short term gains, focusing innovation on ways of bending laws, sucking money from places where investments are really needed. Total crap.
...
Three years after the downturn, one year after The Crisis, we are somehow still in denial (see "This is not a financial crisis"), and the same diagnosis applies.
There's still a lot of greedy money out there : unable to find exciting guaranteed returns (closer to 5% than to the 15-20% they were used to - not enough to hedge inflation which is bound to come back with a vengence), investors keep fueling bubbles in stocks, commodities, gold, currencies, private equities, and even real estate.
Regulation remains a dirty word and everything is done to undermine collective and comprehensive efforts to reform the system.
The question is not if but when the next wake up call comes. Before the end of the year ? H1 2010 ? Will the illusion even last until 2011 ? Will everything collapse big time in 2012 ?
Yet I'm still confident : in the long term, we are to evolve from free market to fair market.
blogules 2009
20091009
Change has come to Japan.
Change has eventually come to Japan.
The country decided to face its own past, and to reach for its neighbors in a joint effort to restore tragic facts as parts of a common history : confirming the hopes raised by Hatoyama's election, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada called for joint history text books between Japan, China, and Korea*, and revived the courageous position of former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, who apologied for "damage and suffering" under colonial rule, called for an end to nationalism, and urged fellow Japanese citizens to face their own past.
Indeed, the time has come to set the record straight, and to silence for good ultra-nationalists from all sides, particularly after years of incessant provocations**.
From all sides ? Very much like Obama's speeches denouncing choices made by his predecessor sucked arguments out of warmongers overseas as well as in the US, Japan's call for justice upon itself will expose the impostors who needed such provocations to fuel their own nationalist agendas.
If China is more than eager to cope with say the Nanking Massacre, I'm not sure Beijing regime is willing to abandon its own outright revisionist programs : English scholars recently mocked at China's attempts of claiming (or rather "hanschlussing") Goguryeo civilization : as if England decided to claim Germany !
Korea itself hasn't yet fully come to terms with its own darkest moments but keeps, as it should, investigating and correcting past wrongdoings.
Yet, not everybody is happy with this, and diehard nationalists keep lobbying against the Truth and Reconciliation Commission***. Doing so, they are actually undermining the nation's efforts to emerge as a great nation on the international stage. Because contrary to what they pretend, more revelations won't bring shame but only pride, respect and praise from other nations.
As a French citizen, I've always felt at the same time an immense respect for Germany and the way post-WWII generations were educated about Nazi atrocities, and ashamed by how late France started admitting its own contributions to the genocide, or its wrongdoings as a colonial power.
As a country accepts its past weaknesses, it strengthens itself for the future, and sends the best message to its youth and to the world. A nation respecting lessons from history is a great and future proof nation.
As it welcomes an invitation for truth and reconciliation from Japan, Korea needs to support its own Truth and Reconciliation Commission more than ever.
And together, Korea and Japan must send the best message to the region and to the world, as role models for a new, peaceful Asia.
blogules 2009
see also "A Common History" on Seoul Village
* see "Japanese foreign minister suggests joint history texts" (JoongAng Daily 20091009)
** see too many previous blogules on Japan and China.
*** on Seoul Village : "President Lee, please keep digging".
ADDENDUM 20091012
This post was published in JoongAng Ilbo today under the title "Japan may face its history"
The country decided to face its own past, and to reach for its neighbors in a joint effort to restore tragic facts as parts of a common history : confirming the hopes raised by Hatoyama's election, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada called for joint history text books between Japan, China, and Korea*, and revived the courageous position of former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, who apologied for "damage and suffering" under colonial rule, called for an end to nationalism, and urged fellow Japanese citizens to face their own past.
Indeed, the time has come to set the record straight, and to silence for good ultra-nationalists from all sides, particularly after years of incessant provocations**.
From all sides ? Very much like Obama's speeches denouncing choices made by his predecessor sucked arguments out of warmongers overseas as well as in the US, Japan's call for justice upon itself will expose the impostors who needed such provocations to fuel their own nationalist agendas.
If China is more than eager to cope with say the Nanking Massacre, I'm not sure Beijing regime is willing to abandon its own outright revisionist programs : English scholars recently mocked at China's attempts of claiming (or rather "hanschlussing") Goguryeo civilization : as if England decided to claim Germany !
Korea itself hasn't yet fully come to terms with its own darkest moments but keeps, as it should, investigating and correcting past wrongdoings.
Yet, not everybody is happy with this, and diehard nationalists keep lobbying against the Truth and Reconciliation Commission***. Doing so, they are actually undermining the nation's efforts to emerge as a great nation on the international stage. Because contrary to what they pretend, more revelations won't bring shame but only pride, respect and praise from other nations.
As a French citizen, I've always felt at the same time an immense respect for Germany and the way post-WWII generations were educated about Nazi atrocities, and ashamed by how late France started admitting its own contributions to the genocide, or its wrongdoings as a colonial power.
As a country accepts its past weaknesses, it strengthens itself for the future, and sends the best message to its youth and to the world. A nation respecting lessons from history is a great and future proof nation.
As it welcomes an invitation for truth and reconciliation from Japan, Korea needs to support its own Truth and Reconciliation Commission more than ever.
And together, Korea and Japan must send the best message to the region and to the world, as role models for a new, peaceful Asia.
blogules 2009
see also "A Common History" on Seoul Village
* see "Japanese foreign minister suggests joint history texts" (JoongAng Daily 20091009)
** see too many previous blogules on Japan and China.
*** on Seoul Village : "President Lee, please keep digging".
ADDENDUM 20091012
This post was published in JoongAng Ilbo today under the title "Japan may face its history"
20090928
dragedies
My "dragédies" are now available on Amazon.com*.
What is a "dragedy" ?
You may have heard about "dragees", sweets you offer to somehow exorcise festive events - generally a wedding or a birth... dragedies basically and nonsensically announce death, which means they can be sweet and sour, sad and funny (my definition of humor being the ability to accept death in general and one's weaknesses in particular, in order to make life in general more acceptable, and one's existence in particular more bearable to others).
This excuse for a book proposes a handful of dragedies, and some definitions, along with a few Seoul crumbs which somehow fell into my lap or lens.
Worms in the city, books in the sky, trouble in the company... these 17 dragédies stretch over three decades and three continents :
Yup. That's in French. Or kindo. So luckily, it won't be as poorly written as my blogules.
And oh. That's fiction. I mean both the book and this last wishful comment.
Stephane 2009
* "dragédies (la mer amarrée et autres dragédies)" - ISBN:978-1449510916 - website : dragedies.com - Facebook group. Soccer nerds can still order my other book (also in French), "La Ligue des Oubliés, l'autre histoire du football" : "The League of the Forgotten / The Other History of Football" tells the tales of unlucky soccer players, personalities or events - they didn't even have the chance to exist.
see this post in French
---
ADDENDUM - FAQ ATTN NON-SPEAKING READERS
Q: What if I can't read French ?
A: No problemo : I can't WRITE in French. Besides, there are a few pictures in this excuse for a book.
Q: What on Earth is a dragedy ?
A: dragedy (noun, fem. - pl. dragedies) : bittersweet candy and preemptive death notice. Etym. dragée (tiny, hard confectionery) and "tragédie" (tragedy, or death's foreplay). i.e. "'If I read 'dragedies' ? I almost choked on them !"
Q: Why not "short stories" ?
A: First, I'm not much of a story teller. And to me, it sounds the same as if a painter exhibited his works under the title "40 x 60 in. frames".
Q: Why add a glossary ?
A: I felt the need to put down my vision on such essential concepts as "life", "death", "love", "footballer"...
Q: Why this pen name ?
A: It's not a pen name. MOT (noun, masc.) : French word for "word". 1 - significant unit. 2 - insignificant author.
What is a "dragedy" ?
You may have heard about "dragees", sweets you offer to somehow exorcise festive events - generally a wedding or a birth... dragedies basically and nonsensically announce death, which means they can be sweet and sour, sad and funny (my definition of humor being the ability to accept death in general and one's weaknesses in particular, in order to make life in general more acceptable, and one's existence in particular more bearable to others).
This excuse for a book proposes a handful of dragedies, and some definitions, along with a few Seoul crumbs which somehow fell into my lap or lens.
Worms in the city, books in the sky, trouble in the company... these 17 dragédies stretch over three decades and three continents :
- La mer amarrée
- de Vermis Seoulis
- Le Dévisseur
- Le regard d'un ami
- Brouillon
- La Bibliothèque de Babel II
- Neige Sale
- Paranoïa
- Etat de Grâce
- Nouvelles du front
- Le Salon de Lecture
- La Malédiction
- Comin'up next
- Si Paris m'était comptée
- Le blues de la grille
- Rendez-vous Rue Van Boo
- L'Année du Chien
Yup. That's in French. Or kindo. So luckily, it won't be as poorly written as my blogules.
And oh. That's fiction. I mean both the book and this last wishful comment.
Stephane 2009
* "dragédies (la mer amarrée et autres dragédies)" - ISBN:978-1449510916 - website : dragedies.com - Facebook group. Soccer nerds can still order my other book (also in French), "La Ligue des Oubliés, l'autre histoire du football" : "The League of the Forgotten / The Other History of Football" tells the tales of unlucky soccer players, personalities or events - they didn't even have the chance to exist.
see this post in French
---
ADDENDUM - FAQ ATTN NON-SPEAKING READERS
Q: What if I can't read French ?
A: No problemo : I can't WRITE in French. Besides, there are a few pictures in this excuse for a book.
Q: What on Earth is a dragedy ?
A: dragedy (noun, fem. - pl. dragedies) : bittersweet candy and preemptive death notice. Etym. dragée (tiny, hard confectionery) and "tragédie" (tragedy, or death's foreplay). i.e. "'If I read 'dragedies' ? I almost choked on them !"
Q: Why not "short stories" ?
A: First, I'm not much of a story teller. And to me, it sounds the same as if a painter exhibited his works under the title "40 x 60 in. frames".
Q: Why add a glossary ?
A: I felt the need to put down my vision on such essential concepts as "life", "death", "love", "footballer"...
Q: Why this pen name ?
A: It's not a pen name. MOT (noun, masc.) : French word for "word". 1 - significant unit. 2 - insignificant author.
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