A sweeping movement toward acknowledging state crimes against citizens has been one of the most striking signs of recent political statesmanship and broad-based efforts for social justice after the innumerable civil devastations of the twentieth century. In Argentina, the unofficial story in all its harrowing detail became the official story. Elsewhere, “following Australia’s official apology to Aborigines delivered by Paul Keating, Clinton made amends to Native Hawaiians, ex-PM Murayama apologized for Japanese war crimes, [and] Tony Blair expiated on behalf of the Irish potato famine.”1 All these national stories have their own specificity, but one element is common to all. In any process of national reconciliation, first-person testimonies from the victims are crucial.
