One of my company’s organizational customers is The Project on Soldier Testimony, a unique and fascinating site. I held off a bit from linking to it, until it began to flesh out. It is appropriate that it get mentioned today on Yom Kippur, a holy day where confession is seen as a central act for engaging in repentance. From the site home page:
“Information about human rights conditions throughout the world is assembled mostly from the testimony provided by victims and civilian witnesses. Much less information comes from soldiers, policemen and other state agents, who, because of legal and other constraints, are usually unavailable or unwilling to testify about events they participated in or witnessed.”
“When state agents do come forward, their testimony can have a major impact on the public perception of human rights issues. Before an international tribunal, a soldier can provide evidence of the command responsibility of senior officers in a way that victims cannot. Before a truth commission, the testimony of perpetrators can aid in a process of national reckoning and reconciliation during a period of political transition. And in a society still mired in a conflict, a public skeptical or hardened toward the testimony of victims can be moved to act when the same facts are related by members of its own security forces.”