Southern Experiences About Justice, Truth, and Memory Against State Crimes
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
w Authors: Cath Collins; Jo-Marie Burt; Raúl Olivera; Emilio Peluso Neder Meyer; Rafael Herrarte Méndez; Benjamín Cuéllar Martínez; Adriana Sonia Taboada; Iris Jave; Camila de Gamboa; Wilson Herrera Romero; Rosely Aparecida Stefanes Pacheco; Norma García Flores; Valeria Moscoso Urzúa. Coordination*: José Antonio Guevara Bermúdez and Lucía Guadalupe Chávez Vargas Editor: José Antonio Guevara Bermúdez Translator: Laura De Alba Publication and cover design: Gabriela Monticelli / Héctor Flores Carranco Taller de Sueños | [email protected] The electronic book can be found at: http://www.cmdpdh.org/publicaciones-pdf/cmdpdh-experiencias- sobre-justicia-verdad-y-memoria-frente-a-crimenes-de-estado.pdf ISBN: 978-607-97879-5-0 First edition, January, 2020. Made in Mexico. Partial or total reproduction is authorized, if the source is cited. Contact Tehuantepec #142, Col. Roma Sur, Del. Cuauhtémoc, C.P. 06760, CDMX Teléfono: +52 (55) 5564 2582 www.cmdpdh.org Social media @cmdpdh /cmdpdh /cmdpdh /cmdpdh * The writing of this book was done within the framework of the project "Strategies available to face impunity in Mexico," associated with the Academic Body "International justice, local contexts of injustice and human rights" of the Faculty of Law, Political Science and Criminology of the Autonomous University of Tlaxcala. The coordinators thank Fatima Contreras and Paola Badani Zuleta for his support in the transcription of some of the papers. The financial support of the Fund for Global Human Rights (FGDH) made the realization of this book possible. The contents are the responsibility of the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights, and do not reflect the point of view of the FGDH Directory Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos, A.C. Board of Directors Advocacy Coordination Jacobo Dayán (President) Olga Guzmán Vergara (Coordinator) Ana Francisca Vega Jürgen Moritz Alejandro Anaya Muñoz María Corina Muskus Toro Carolina Coppel José Ramón Cossío Díaz Communication Coordination Luis González Placencia Luis María Barranco Soto (Coordinator) Mariclaire Acosta Urquidi Karina Álvarez Medrano Miguel Concha Malo Marisol Tarriba Martínez López Pilar Calveiro Garrido Regina Tamés Noriega Institutional Development Coordination Rodolfo Franco Franco (Coordinator) Executive Director Riikka Andersson José Antonio Guevara Bermúdez Administration Coordination Legal Defense Coordination Eduardo Macías Sánchez (Coordinador) Nancy Jocelyn López Pérez Ayari Hernández Cervantes (Coordinator) Héctor Adrián Avendaño Cortez Anahí Adriana Ruelas Orozco Lizbeth Montessoro Elías Carla Sofía Loyo Martínez Carolina Hernández Nieto Forced Internal Displacement Federico Manuel Rodríguez Paniagua Coordination Víctor Alonso del Pozo Rodríguez Brenda Gabriela Pérez Vázquez (Coordinator) Forced Internal Displacement Lígia de Aquino Barbosa Magalhães Coordination Mariana Teresa Peguero Psychosocial Support Coordination Moreno (Coordinator) Valeria Patricia Moscoso Ana Lilia Amezcua Ferrer Urzúa (Coordinator) Ana Luz Manzano Ortiz Aarón Orlando González Daniela Reyes Rodríguez García (Consultant) Norma Isabel García Flores Research Coordination Lucía Guadalupe Chávez International Justice Consultant Vargas (Coordinator) Paulina Vega González Ana Lucía Juárez Armenta Daniel Omar Mata Lugo Forced Internal Displacement Jorge Luis Amaya Lule Consultant Natalia Paulina Báez Zamudio Laura Gabriela Rubio Díaz-Leal CONTENT José Antonio Guevara y Lucía Chávez Introduction 9 CHAPTER 1 Justice measures 13 Cath Collins What do we mean by ‘justice’ for State crimes? 15 Jo-Marie Burt Progress in transitional justice in Guatemala. 33 Raúl Olivera Southern experiences about justice, truth, and memory against State crimes. Process of law enforcement: The uruguayan case. 43 Emilio Peluso Neder Meyer The Militarization of Politics in Brazil Under the Temer Government 57 CHAPTER 2 Experiences of the right to the truth 75 Rafael Herrarte Méndez Experience of the truth in Guatemala. 77 Benjamín Cuéllar Martínez Experiences on the right to the truth in front of atrocious crimes committed by public officials: The Salvadoran case. 89 CHAPTER 3: Tools and actions for the construction of memory 103 Adriana Sonia Taboada Psychosocial impact of State crimes. 105 Iris Jave Peru: tensions and advances to memory building. 115 Camila de Gamboa y Wilson Herrera Romero How to represent suffering in violent conflicts to avoid its repetition? 127 Rosely Aparecida Stefanes Pacheco Forced disappearance, indigenous people, and transitional justice: an analysis beyond violence. 155 CHAPTER 4 Psychological impacts in State crimes 187 Norma García Flores y Valeria Moscoso Urzúa Importance of the right to the truth from a psychosocial point of view. 189 8 INTRODUCTION José Antonio Guevara Bermúdez Lucía Guadalupe Chávez Vargas In March last year, we, the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos [CMDPDH]), the Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center (Centro de Derechos Humanos Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez), Fundar, Research and Analysis Center (Fundar Centro de Análisis e Investigación), and Article 19 Mexico office; arranged a seminar called “Impunity now and then, experiences from the global South of justice, truth, and memory when facing crimes com- mitted by the state” in Mexico City. (Seminario: Impunidad de ayer y hoy, ex- periencias del sur global sobre justicia, verdad y memoria frente a crímenes de Estado).” Amongst others, members of organizations and Universities that be- long to the Latin American Transitional Justice Network (Red Latinoamericana de Justicia Transicional [RLAJT]) participated. The texts contained in this work are the outcome of the contributions made by the experts from the various countries that are members of the RLAJT. The presentations shared during the seminar were compiled in this book follow- ing an academic format, and contain experiences from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay, regarding how these societies addressed the atrocious crimes committed during military dic- tatorships, internal armed conflicts, and/or authoritarian democracies through policies on justice, truth, and memory. The papers agree that these are long standing, long term processes, that al- though built from below, at community-level; whilst are directed towards mod- ifying the institutional design of the State. In these processes, the central role of the victims is empathized, as well as how they have generated changes at community, social, or even national level. The victims, trade unions, and organi- Experiences on justice, truth, and memory 9 zations fight has also had an impact at international level, contributing to the jur- isprudential development of the Inter-American Human Rights System; which, at the same time, has influenced advances in the field of justice at national level. Justice, in this region, is understood in a unique way. Although commonly viewed as achievable through the criminal justice system, in practice, in view of the scan- dalous impunity that exists in various countries within this region, victims have resorted to turning to international institutions, especially to those linked to the Organization of American States. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has not just condemned States due to serious violations of human rights, it has also recognized the context in which such violations have taken place. Likewise, it has developed standards aimed at removing the obstacles that victims face in regard to access to justice. For example, the Court has spoken out against am- nesty laws stating that they encourage impunity, inhibit resistance to forgetting, and are incompatible with the American Convention on Human Rights. In the same way, the creation of extraordinary truth and justice mechanisms has been important as, amongst other things, they have allowed greater partic- ipation from the victims, and have contributed to ensuring that investigations are directed towards the identification of those perpetrators with the greatest responsibility for such atrocious crimes. At the legal-political level, Governments’ decisions aimed to the militarization of public security matters and granting additional privileges to the Armed Forc- es, as well as expanding military jurisdiction, are some of the most important challenges for this region. Brazil and Mexico are clear examples of this, with the Armed Forces committing gross abuses against civilians, including human rights defenders, in both cases. A common denominator seen across the region is that it is largely indigenous populations, peasants and those living in low-income areas, who fall victim to the violence and suffer the consequences of the impunity that persists. For this reason, in countries like Chile, Peru, and Brazil, the suffering of these population has been included in the analysis of violence in order to achieve justice for the crimes committed against them. On the other hand, the development of the right to the truth as an autonomous right is becoming more relevant in Latin America, with truth building exercises 10 emerging from victims’ organizations, as well as the different actors involved in the conflict and the Government itself. The creation of Truth Commissions has been key to achieving restitution for vic- tims. These mechanisms have varied in their objectives, goals and organizational structures. Some Commissions