First the truth – then reconciliation
Europe and the world today are unfortunately shaped by violence and conflicts in many ways. When suppression or violence has ocucurred, the truth needs to be expressed and understood before any reconciliation is possible. The experience from a two-year investigation process in Norway might be useful for other similar reconciliation processes.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report shows the Norwegian authorities’ attitude to Sámi and Kvens/Norwegian Finns (indigenous and minority populations) in the past and reconciliation possibilities in the future in politics, society, schools and churches. On more than 658 pages, the experiences with the enforcement of Norwegianisation are described through historical investigations and personal stories.
The mandate describes the three tasks of the Commission:
- Perform a historical survey to map the Norwegian authorities’ policy and activities towards the Sámi and Kvens/Norwegian Finns locally, regionally and nationally.
- Carry out an investigation of the effects of the Norwegianisation policy. The Commission is to consider how the Norwegianisation policy has affected the majority population’s attitudes to the Sámi and Kvens/Norwegian Finns, and will investigate the consequences of Norwegianisation up until the present day.
- Propose measures to contribute to further reconciliation.
Several similar processes are being carried out worldwide and the Commission has familiarised itself with other truth and reconciliation processes that have taken place internationally. To get hold of the true story of loss of language and culture many public meetings were held, and more than 760 personal stories on the injustice were included in the report. A dissenting voice in the Commission expresses that the report does not adequately reflect the more general societal processes in history, processes that not are part of a conscious national policy. A result, according to this voice, is that the Sámi people are exclusively assigned a victim role in the report.
The logic in first the truth and then reconciliation is taught to us by Jesus in his meeting the Samaritan woman in John 4. “You have had five men”, Jesus said, and she was set free by hearing the truth about her life. This fundamental Christian principle is enshrined in criminal law in most European countries and is taken up and is visible in this Newsletter in several articles: Holocaust education (cf. IV-article), education for democracy (cf. Wergeland center) and education on the climate crises (cf. ECEN). All peacemaking measures after wars need to be based on the same principle:
First the truth, the reconciliation.
We wish you all a Merry Christmas and God’s blessing for the world in 2024!
Heid Leganger-Krogstad on behalf of
Dr. Tania ap Siôn and Heid Leganger-Krogstad (ICCS) and Michael Jacobs and Piet Jansen (IV)
English summary in the report on pages 76-90:
https://www.stortinget.no/globalassets/pdf/sannhets–og-forsoningskommisjonen/rapport-til-stortinget-fra-sannhets–og-forsoningskommisjonen.pdf