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Truth Commissions in Guatemala and Peru: Perpetual Impunity and Transitional Justice Compared
... Haynor (2002) xii. Crandall (2004) xiii. Navarro (1999) xiv. ...
After the first truth and reconciliation commission was implemented in South Africa, the model was applied to other war-torn regions and countries worldwide, including many Latin American countries such as El Salvador and Guatemala. As a political body centered in a Christian paradigm, a TRC aims to procure personal and collective healing. Yet, as a relatively new trend in conflict resolution, it merits further analysis and evaluation. By investigating the meaning of the terms justice, forgiveness, and reconciliation in both the religious and political contexts, the study can better name the goals and outcomes of political healing processes in the last decade. Aditionally, it is imperative to identify these strengths and weaknesses of past directives in order to avoid further "spurious reconciliation." If the truth alone proves insufficient, this essay attmpts to determine what then is the efficacy of future commissions.
... The growing popularity of implementing DDR programs throughout the world has been accompanied by a burgeoning field of research to determine whether or not these programs are successful in accomplishing their goals. We know from the research that the challenges are many, but we still lack understanding of the first-hand experience of the excombatants-their personal perspectives on their challenges and what they do to address or overcome them (Crandall, 2004;Humphreys & Weinstein, 2007;Specker, 2008). ...
While reintegration programs for ex‐combatants have become a major focus of cease fire agreements, their success remains elusive. In this study, I interview members of Nuevo Horizonte, an intentional community comprised of Guatemalan ex‐guerrillas. These men and women reflect on two questions: what was reintegration like, and what advice do you have for other reintegrating ex-combatants. Using a grounded theory approach, common themes (such as being united) were developed and lead to a substantive theory of their transformative reintegration process. The collective voice of these excombatants challenges conventional reintegration programs by (a) challenging the demobilization prerogative showcasing how their unity was integral to their reintegration experience and (b) challenging the development model in which ex‐combatants are viewed as lacking capacity and in need of outside experts to deliver solutions. By highlighting how reliance on their own capacity resulted in their successful reintegration, these ex‐combatants believe their experience can assist other ex‐combatants around the world.
... Truth commissions have been strongly supported as an alternative mechanism to compensate for all the failings or weaknesses of trials noted above. They now have a long and well-documented history, with each commission generating a veritable library of research and analysis into its every aspect and its comparative advantages and disadvantages over previous attempts (for interesting perspectives on this subject, see Crandall, 2004;Hovland, 2003: 6-20;Lerche, 2000: 1-20). Truth commissions certainly seem to gain in popularity every passing year, with commissions springing up not only in recently concluded conflicts, but also in long-concluded transitions like Peru's. ...
This article argues that the central need in a society in the aftermath of violent conflict is to rebuild the state's representation function, which should be constructed around an inclusive political and civic community. This inclusive community must overcome the frag- mentation of society that occurs or is exacerbated during war, and view all community members as survivors of conflict. The main means of pursuing reconciliation in post-conflict societies has been through measures of 'transitional justice', primarily trials or truth commissions. However, this article argues that these transitional justice measures, while fulfilling certain needs and accruing some benefits, do not necessarily fulfil the specific need of delivering reconciliation or helping to rebuild inclusive societies. Instead, these measures could, paradoxically, deepen divisions within society. A new paradigm of 'reparative justice' is thus proposed as part of a comprehensive alternative, within the framework of a critical approach to post-conflict peacebuilding (PCPB), that would facilitate the reconstruction of an inclusive political and civic community while pursuing the objectives of justice and reconciliation.
... Truth commission findings loudly proclaim the horror, yet repression with impunity apparently continues. Exposing historical truths without providing the political protections and will to ensure effective remedy has created a backlash of violence (Amnesty International 2005;CEH 1999;Crandall 2004). ...
Dealing with the past is always a complex endeavor and it is particularly difficult when gross human rights violations are involved that are carried out during war or armed conflict. Truth commissions have become a standard response to address such a difficult past in the hope to provide voice to victims and provide a path to a non-violent future. Being part of the transitional justice toolkit, truth commissions are aimed to satisfy the rights of victims to truth and symbolic reparation. This book analyzes five case studies: two in Latin America (Guatemala, Peru), two in Africa (Kenya, Sierra Leone), and one in Asia (Timor-Leste). The final report and its recommendations are critically evaluated, taking into account their impact on truth, reconciliation, memory, and justice. The aim of the book is to get learning for other truth commissions and specifically for the truth commission in Colombia that is currently in the process to be set up. Written for students of transitional justice and policy makers, this book hopes to contribute to a more critical reading of this transitional justice body while recognizing the contentious space they are operating in.
- Lozada
Lozada, Peru casts light on a dark Chapter from the past, Christian Science Monitor (October 4,
2002) <http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1004/pO7s02.html> (accessed Oct. 31, 2002).
64 See supra n. 51. 65 At the Trujillo Hearings, TRC Commissioner Saloman Lerner remarked: " It is necessary for justice in Peru to be brought before a tribunal of its own. Here we have a great problem
- Id
Id.
64 See supra n. 51.
65 At the Trujillo Hearings, TRC Commissioner Saloman Lerner remarked: " It is necessary for justice in
Peru to be brought before a tribunal of its own. Here we have a great problem. " Id.
- Jonathan D Tepperman
Jonathan D. Tepperman, Truth and Consequences, Vol.81.2 Foreign Affairs 128,140 (March/April 2002).
Peru casts light on a dark Chapter from the past
- Carlos Lozada
Carlos Lozada, Peru casts light on a dark Chapter from the past, Christian Science Monitor (October 4,
2002) <http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1004/pO7s02.html> (accessed Oct. 31, 2002).
Peru Confronts a Violent Past: The Truth Commission Hearings in Ayacucho
- Sebastian Brett
Sebastian Brett, Peru Confronts a Violent Past: The Truth Commission Hearings in Ayacucho, Human
Rights Watch, April 8-12 2002 <http://www.aprodeh.org.pe/sem_verdad/14may2002iii.htm> (accessed
Dec.1, 2002).
Perspectivas teoricas sobre la justicia transicional
- Eduardo Gonzalez Cueva
- M A Soc
Eduardo Gonzalez Cueva, M.A.Soc, Perspectivas teoricas sobre la justicia transicional, New School for
Social Research < http://www.aprodeh.org.pe/sem_verdad/documentos.htm > (accessed Oct. 15, 2002).