የሐሰት ትርክት በመፍጠር የጀርመን ናዚዎች፣ የጣሊያን ፋሽስቶች እና የቀድሞዋ ሶቬት ኅብረት አምባገነን መሪዎች በአውሮፓና በዓለም ሕዝብ ያደረሱትን እልቂት ታሪክ መዝግቦታል። ነገር ግን እንደናዚዎች እና ፋሽስቶች ባይሆንም ታሪክን ማፋለስ በዲሞክርሲያዊ ሥርዓት በሚተዳደሩ የአውሮፓ አገሮችም የነበረና አሁንም ድረስ ያለ ችግር መሆኑን የአውሮፓ ኅብረት የባሕል ትብብር ምክር ቤት በ1999 ዓ.ም. ያስጠናው ጥናት ያረጋግጣል። በጥናቱ መሰረት በታሪክ ላይ ከሚሰሩ ሐጢያቶች ውስጥ የሚከተሉት ይገኙበታል፤ “የታሪክ ሐቆችን መካድ፣ የውሸት ታሪክ መፍጠር፣ ከአንድ የታሪክ ሁነት ላይ ተቸክሎ መቅረት፣ በድንቁርና እና በስንፈት የታሪክን ሐቅ መዝለል፣ ታሪክን ለፈለጉት ዓላማ ማዋል” (“abuse by denial of historical facts, by falsification, by fixation on a particular event, by omission, out of laziness or ignorance, by exploitation for extraneous purposes, to name but a few”)[1]።
በሁለተኛው ዓለም ጦርነት ለተከሰተው ውድመት መነሻ የሆኑ የሐሰት ታሪኮችን ለመሻር እና የታሪክ ትምሕርትን ለማሻሻል የአውሮፓ ኅብረት እና የተባበሩት መንግሥታት ድርጅት ትኩረት ሰጥተው ሰርተዋል። ከሁለተኛው ዓለም ጦርነት በኋላም በምስራቅ አውሮፓ ለግጭት ምክንያት የሆኑ በየጊዜው የተፈጠሩ ሐሰተኛ ትርክቶችንም በእውነተኛ ታሪክ እንዲታረቁ ከፍተኛ ስራ ሰርተዋል። የአውሮፓ ምክር ቤት የምኒስትሮች ጉባዔ እንደአውሮፓ አቆጣጠር በጥቅምት ወር 2001 ዓ.ም. በ771ኛው ስብሰባው ላይ የታሪክን ትምሕርት በሚመለከት የሚከተለውን ወስኗል፤ “የሐሰት ታሪክ መጻፍና ታሪክን ማዛባት በሕግ በተደነገገው ከአውሮፓ ምክር ቤት ዋና መርሕ ጋር አብሮ አይሄድም” (“the falsification and manipulation of history are incompatible with the fundamental principles of the Councils of Europe as defined in its statute”)[2]።
የተባበሩት መንግሥታት ድርጅት ግጭትን ለማስቀረት የተጠቀመበት አይነተኛ መሳሪያ ትምህርትን ነበር። ይህ የተባበሩት መንግሥታት ድርጅት መመሪያ “ትምሕርት ለሰላም” (“Education for Peace”) በመባል ይታወቃል። ይህ የትምሕርት መመሪያ ዓላማው “ለሰዎች ሙሉ የሰብእና እድገት ለማምጣትና ለሰብአዊ መብቶች እና መሰረታዊ ነፃነት መከበርን ለማጠናከር ነው” (“Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms”)[3]። በተጨማሪም የሰላም ትምሕርት አላማ ማህበራዊ ፍትሕን፣ በነገዶች መካከል መቻቻልን እና ወዳጅነትን ማስፈን ነው።
a) Australia was occupied by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who had settled for thousands of years, before British settlement at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788; and
b) Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders suffered dispossession and dispersal from their traditional lands by the British Crown;
c) To date, there has been no formal process of reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and other Australians; and
d) By the year 2001, the centenary of Federation, it is most desirable that there be such a reconciliation; and
e) As part of the reconciliation process, the Commonwealth will seek an ongoing national commitment from governments at all levels to cooperate and to coordinate with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission as appropriate to address progressively Aboriginal disadvantage and aspirations in relation to land, housing, law and justice, cultural heritage, education, employment, health, infrastructure, economic development and any other relevant matters in the decade leading to the centenary of Federation, 2001. [16]
In short, some people believe rights to ownership are natural rights and ought not to be reshaped with some idealized social contractors in mind. These rights must instead be protected; and where properties were stolen, they must be returned if possible, and if not possible, some suitable form of reparation must be offered. [20]
Instead, what matters is the means by which particular holdings were acquired—if properties were originally acquired from nature without injustice and have been transferred freely by their owners up until the present time, then those who now hold them have natural rights to do so. If holdings were expropriated at any point, on the other hand, then justice requires that these properties be returned to their original owners or (where this is not possible) to their heirs. [21]
[1]. Council of Europe, The Misuses of History (Strasbourg: Council of Europe, 2000), 5.]
[2]. Karina V. Korostelina, “Introduction Part 2: Peace Education and Joint History Textbook Projects,” in History Education and Post-Conflict Reconciliation: Reconsidering Joint History Textbook Projects, ed. Karina V. Korostelina and Simone Lässig (New York, Routledge, 2013), 20]
[3]. UN, Article 26, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, online at: www. Ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Pages/Introduction.aspx (accessed June 2020)]
[4]. Simone Lässig, “Introduction Part 1: Post-Conflict Reconciliation and Joint History Textbooks Projects,” in History Education and Post-Conflict Reconciliation: Reconsidering Joint History Textbook Projects, ed. Karina V. Korostelina and Simone Lässig (New York, Routledge, 2013), 7, 8 and 11]
[5]. Karina Korostelina, “Peace Education and Joint History textbook projects,” 19 ]
[6]. Korostelina, “Peace Education and Joint History textbook projects,” 21-22; E. A. Cole and J. Barsalou, Unite or Divide? The Challenges of Teaching History in Societies Emerging from Violent Conflict, USIP Special Report, Washington, DC.: USIP Press, 2006 (https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/resources/sr163.pdf); Council of Europe, Lessons in History: The Council of Europe and the Teaching of History, Strasburg, Council of Europe Publishing, 1999; Council of Europe, The Misuses of History, Strasburg: Council of Europe Publishing, 2000 (https://www.coe.int/en/web/history-teaching/the-misuse-of-history); L. M. de Puig (rapporteur), Recommendation 1283 (1996) on History and the Learning of History in Europe, Report of the Committee on Culture and Education, Strasburg, Council of Europe, 1996 (https://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-en.asp?fileid=15317&lang=en); C. Gallagher, History Teaching and the Promotion of Democratic Values and Tolerance—A Handbook for Teachers, Strasburg: Council of Europe, 1996.
[7]. Korostelina, “Peace Education and Joint History textbook projects,” 21-22.
[8]. Korostelina, “Peace Education and Joint History textbook projects,” 23.
[9]. Lässig, “Post-Conflict Reconciliation and Joint History Textbooks Projects,” 7.
[10]. Office of the United Nations High Commissioners for Human Rights, Rule-of-Law Tools for Post-Conflict States: Truth Commissions (New York/Geneva, 2006), 1-2.
[11]. Office of the United Nations High Commissioners for Human Rights, Rule-of-Law Tools for Post-Conflict States: Truth Commissions (New York/Geneva, 2006), 1-2.
[12]. Office of the United Nations High Commissioners for Human Rights, Rule-of-Law Tools for Post-Conflict States: Truth Commissions (New York/Geneva, 2006), 28.
[13]. Paul Keal, European Conquest and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: The Moral Backwardness of the International Society (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 114.
[14]. Keal, European Conquest and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 122-123.
[15]. Keal, European Conquest and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 124.
[16]. Damien Short, Reconciliation and Colonial Power: Indigenous Rights in Australia (Ashgate, 2008), 1-2; Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Act 1991, https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2004C03090, accessed 11 August 2020.
[17]. Keal, European Conquest and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 125.
[18]. Burke A. Hendrix, Ownership, Authority, and Self-Determination (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008), 30.
[19]. Hendrix, Ownership, Authority, and Self-Determination, 35-36.
[20]. Hendrix, Ownership, Authority, and Self-Determination, 42.
[21]. Hendrix, Ownership, Authority, and Self-Determination, 44-45.