Experts mull subject of state apologies

Distinguished scholars representing far-off countries such as New Zealand, Germany, the Netherlands, England, Russia and Australia came to UNC-Chapel Hill this weekend to discuss whether countries should apologize for foreign-policy decisions.

The State Apologies Conference, hosted by the University Center for International Studies, brought participants from across the globe to discuss past examples of apologies, as well as future possibilities and trends.

"The purpose (of the conference) is to try to get a better understanding of this phenomenon of states apologizing," said Niklaus Steiner, executive director of the international studies center. "Does it matter anything? Is it only words? How do we measure the sincerity of a government?"

Mark Gibney, professor of political science at UNC-Asheville, and Rhoda Howard-Hassmann, a human rights expert at Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada, also helped organize the conference.

The scholars' papers, which were the topics of discussion, will be compiled into a book funded by the United Nations and published by the U.N. University Press.

The convention explored an international issue that scholars said has yet to be analyzed sufficiently.

"You think apologies should follow aberrations and not after normal course of foreign policy, when it is being played according to the rules of the game," said Carlos Parodi, professor at Illinois State University, during one of the open discussion sessions.

"I argue the opposite; really abhorrable things happen just because of foreign policy (and) treaties. Should a nation then apologize for its foreign policy?"

Participants discussed subjects ranging from the need for President Bush to properly apologize for abuse in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison to corporate apologies for apartheid in South Africa and the role of public apology in international law.

"It is certainly a most useful tool in resolving problems, but overall, when we have a serious incident, apologies may be a supplement remedy," said Richard Bilder, professor of law at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"War situation wants you to walk the walk and not just talk the talk."

Alfred Brophy, professor of law at the University of Alabama, explored his university's past connections with slavery and its recent apology for it.

Steiner drew links from Brophy's talk to UNC's Saunders Hall, controversially named in honor of William Saunders, a member of the UNC Board of Trustees and a leader of the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina during the late 1800s.

Participants said they benefitted immensely from the discussion.

Eleanor Bright Fleming, a graduate student at Vanderbilt University, said the conference was an opportunity to network with scholars and to publicize her own research about the different possibilities for atonement for black slavery instead of reparation.

"I move to the framework of human dignity. To me, dignity allows me to do that sense of work as opposed to making payments."

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