Judge Kevin Parker speaks about remorse and forgiveness, 2008

Transcript of sound recording

I have seen some people who were very gravely disturbed by what they had done and they were genuinely remorseful. Most of them, though, tend to continue to take the view that 'What we did was right. We were pursuing a great political cause, and what we did, we had to do'.

So that you don't see an attitude of genuine remorse for what's gone wrong, and of course when you're asking then of the other side, what you might call the victims, it's very hard for them to forgive, given the terrible harm that's been done to them or to their loved ones. So it's a very difficult atmosphere in which to deal with remorse or a sense of wrongdoing on one side and forgiveness on the other.

But it is the next generation and the generations that follow who can see that there has been great wrong done on one side, and that what they must do is to forgive and forget and let the whole of the community get on with trying to manage affairs much better in the future. That's what I certainly see in the former Yugoslavia. I see today the children and the grandchildren taking a much better view and a much healthier view of what has occurred and being concerned to try and put that right, and the tribunals are clearly helping in that process.