Despite the federal govenment's difficulty in issuing an apology to the Stolen Generation, they seem to have no problems offering their condolences to the people of Indonesia over the death of former dictator Suharto. This, of course, is a man who was extremely corrupt, purged nearly one million dissenters, and was responsible for the human rights violations in East Timor, arguably one of the worst genocides since the Holocaust. What of these atrocities? Well, Kevin Rudd described these as "controversial." Alexander Downer described Suharto's human rights record as "less than desirable."
My initial thoughts on these comments was that I was rather unimpressed by the lack of conviction our leaders had for such a despicable character. Granted, in a few weeks they will likely change their tune (As far as I remember, Pinochet got a similar treatment) . But it did get me thinking...when is it OK to speak ill of the recently deceased? Somehow I doubt that Hitler's treatment of the Jews in 1945 was described as "controversial," and I sure don't remember anybody in the west describing Saddam Hussein's treatment of the Kurds as being "less than desirable." True, most of the west was at war with these men when they died, but I'd guess the same is true of such figures as Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Joseph Stalin, or Slobodan Milosevic. Yet at the same time, historical figures like Mao Ze Dong or Che Guevara seem to have, to some extent anyhow, been forgiven for their transgressions.
There are a number of rulers alive today that history will likely remember as cruel despots. Fidel Castro has killed thousands of political opponents, and imprisoned tens of thousands more. Little is known of the civil rights existing within Kim Jong Il's North Korea, but I suspect there is quite a bit of information suppression going on there. Robert Mugabe is widely regarded as a generally not-nice guy. And I can see Hugo Chavez regime travelling down an even uglier path any day now. Perhaps I'm being overly morbid, but I wonder who history will forgive and who history will celebrate?
My initial thoughts on these comments was that I was rather unimpressed by the lack of conviction our leaders had for such a despicable character. Granted, in a few weeks they will likely change their tune (As far as I remember, Pinochet got a similar treatment) . But it did get me thinking...when is it OK to speak ill of the recently deceased? Somehow I doubt that Hitler's treatment of the Jews in 1945 was described as "controversial," and I sure don't remember anybody in the west describing Saddam Hussein's treatment of the Kurds as being "less than desirable." True, most of the west was at war with these men when they died, but I'd guess the same is true of such figures as Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Joseph Stalin, or Slobodan Milosevic. Yet at the same time, historical figures like Mao Ze Dong or Che Guevara seem to have, to some extent anyhow, been forgiven for their transgressions.
There are a number of rulers alive today that history will likely remember as cruel despots. Fidel Castro has killed thousands of political opponents, and imprisoned tens of thousands more. Little is known of the civil rights existing within Kim Jong Il's North Korea, but I suspect there is quite a bit of information suppression going on there. Robert Mugabe is widely regarded as a generally not-nice guy. And I can see Hugo Chavez regime travelling down an even uglier path any day now. Perhaps I'm being overly morbid, but I wonder who history will forgive and who history will celebrate?
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