As nations have freed fhemselves from their tormentors, should they punish them or move on?  Hundreds of government employees in the Ukraine have been dismissed or banned from public service for ten years in a policy called ‘lustration,’ or cleansing.

Ukraine wants to distance itself from its past, join Europe and put Russia behind them. There is a baance to be struck between national reconciliation and retribution.  Laws should not cause further ruptures.  Iraq is an example of how wholesale justice without lenciency can sow the seeds fof future conflict.

A positive example is South Africa where people who told the truth were essentially forgiven.

Ukraine is correct to punish the irredeemable, but they must over compassion to those who admit their past transgressions.