Public Apology as a Form of Reparation

Abstract

Public Apology is recognized as a form of reparation for victims of gross violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, alongside other measures, such as monetary compensation and restitution. This paper aims to analyze the effectiveness of public apologies as a form reparation and in doing so, discusses several cases and forms of public apologies. More specifically, this paper extensively analyzes the effectiveness of the public apologies made by the Netherlands to Indonesia, in respect of the post-independence atrocities committed by the Netherlands in Indonesia, during the period of 1945 – 1949. The cases discussed in this paper reveals that the effectiveness of a public apology as a form of reparation varies from cases to cases and depends on a host of factors. The past practice of States which had delivered public apologies for human rights abuses, however, shows that public apology alone is not enough to be an effective form of reparation for the victims of gross human rights violations. In most cases, public apologies must be accompanied by other types of reparations to give effective redress to the victims of human rights violations.