reconciliation,” for looking “toward the future that brings us together, rather than to the past that brings us apart,” and added that: "One must begin by specifying who are the offended parties called upon to forgive and who are the offenders to be forgiven. I cannot forgive on behalf of others. Forgiveness may not be imposed by decree. Forgiveness requires repentance from one of the parties and generosity from the other. When those who caused so much suffering were officials of the State and the relevant government authorities could not or did not know how to prevent or punish them, nor was there the necessary social reaction to avert it, both the State and society as a whole are responsible, whether by act or by omission. It is the Chilean society who is in debt to the victims of human rights violations. (...) Therefore, in my capacity as President of the Republic, I dare to speak for the entire nation and, in its name, apologize to the next of kin of the victims. I also solemnly request the armed forces and the to the law enforcement forces and to all those who have participated in the excesses committed to make gestures of acknowledgment of the pain caused and make efforts to lessen it.” 18 2. The Asian Continent (Japan) 22. Recently, at the Asian-African Summit held in April 2005 in Jakarta, Indonesia, the Prime Minister of Japan (Mr. J. Koizumi) apologized to those victimized (particularly to those from Asian nations) for the excesses perpetrated by the military of his country during World War II. In his speech of April 22, 2005 at the aforementioned Summit, he expressed, on behalf of the Japanese Government, his feelings of “deep remorse” and “heartfelt apology always engraved in mind.”19 This was not the first gesture of its kind insofar as similar statements of apology have been made by the Government of that country in the past. 20 23. As of December 1991, Japan embarked on a fact-finding operation on the issue known as “wartime comfort women,” the results of which were announced in July 1992 and August 1993. When announcing them, Japanese authorities expressed their “sincere apologies and remorse” for the “grave affront to the honor and dignity” of the women victimized during the war. Acknowledging its “moral responsibility,” Japan has undertaken several initiatives (since July 1995), such as the development of projects and funds to provide assistance to the victims (and their next of kin) in the Philippines, The Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Netherlands in order to “ensure that such an issue may never be repeated.” 21 3. The European Continent (Vatican) 24. In the year 2000, Pope John Paul II, in a historical document (entitled Memoria e Riconciliazione - La Chiesa e le Colpe del Passato), apologized for past faults of the Roman Catholic Church. He explained that: . P. Aylwin Azocar, "La Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación de Chile", in Estudios Básicos de Derechos Humanos - II (eds. A.A. Cançado Trindade y L. González Volio), San José de Costa Rica, IIDH, 1995, pp. 115-116, and cf. p. 113. 18 . 19 Speech reproduced at: www.infojapan.org/region/asia-paci/meet0504, on 22.04.2005, pp. 1-3. . To 25.05.1990, 15.08.1995, 08.10.1998, 17.09.2002, 20 wit: on 29.09.1972, 24 and 26.08.1982, 06 and 07.09.1984, 18.04.1990, 24 and 16 and 17.01.1992, 06.07.1992, 04 and 11.08.1993, 23.08.1993, 29.09.1993, 31.08.1994, 23.06.1996, 08.10.1996, 28.08.1997, 06.09.1997, 13 and 16.01.1998, 15.07.1998, 26.11.1998, 10 and 17.08.2000, 30.08.2000, 03.04.2001, 08.09.2001, 15.10.2001, 15.08.2003, 13.04.2005 and, finally, on 22.04.2005. . Constant data of a dossier (of March 2003, pp. 1-6), which I received from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Tokyo, during my academic visit to the country, as an official guest, in December 2004. 21