is transmitted from an individual to another, from a generation to another, which precedes each human being and survives him, in the time. There is effectively a spiritual legacy from the dead to the living, apprehended by the human conscience. (…) What survives us is only the creation of our spirit, to the effect of elevating the human condition. This is how I conceive the legacy of the dead, from a perspective of human rights.” (paras. 15-16) 18. In my Separate Opinion in the same case of Bámaca Velásquez versus Guatemala (reparations, 2002), I added that: “in my view, what we conceive as the human kind comprises not only the living beings (holders of the human rights), but also the dead (with their spiritual legacy). The respect for the dead is in effect due in the persons of the living. Human solidarity has a wider dimension than the purely social solidarity, in so far as it manifests itself also in the links of solidarity between the dead and the living.” (para. 25) IV. The Ripening of Time, Awareness, and the Quest for forgiveness 19. To the recognition of the duty of remembrance and the need for it, it looks like awareness of the importance of the quest for forgiveness for the perpetration of gross human rights violations is likewise being added these days. In a recent work, P. Ricoeur correctly points out that “c'est dans notre capacité à maîtriser le cours du temps que paraît pouvoir être puisé le courage de demander pardon;” 14 and evokes K. Jaspers’s reflections, for whom “l'instance compétente, c'est la conscience individuelle.”15 Indeed, if we look carefully at the world around us, we will find in it expressions of the universal human conscience which unequivocally acknowledge the significance of the quest for forgiveness. I will here go as far as to refer to examples of such expressions in different continents. 1. The American Continent (Colombia and Chile) 20. As pointed out by the Inter-American Court in the instant Judgment rendered in the case of Gutierrez Soler, in a memorable moment during the public hearing held on March 10, 2005, the members of the delegation of the respondent Government, when reiterating their acknowledgment of international liability in the cas d'espèce,16 stood and approached Messrs. Wilson and Ricardo Gutiérrez-Soler to apologize on behalf of the State of Colombia for the act whereby Wilson GutierrezSoler and his next of kin were victimized in the instant case, as a way to contribute, as expressed by the Government agents, to the “dignification of the victim and of his next of kin.”17 21. Another significant example may be found in the presentation of the results of the work carried out by the Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación de Chile (Chilean Truth and Reconciliation Commission). In March 1991, when releasing to the public the final Report of the Commission (in which the need to restore the good name of the victims was put forward), the President of Chile then incumbent (Mr. Patricio Aylwin) noted in his speech that it was time “for forgiveness and . P. Ricoeur, La mémoire, l'histoire, l'oubli, op. cit. supra n. (...), p. 630. . Cf. ibid., p. 616. . Previously acknowledged in its brief of March 9, 2005. . Paragraphs 104 and 59, and cf. para. 92(a) of this Judgment. 14 15 16 17