in Sustaining Human Rights in the Twenty-First Century: Strategies from Latin America, K. Hite and M. Ungar, eds. (Woodrow Wilson Center Press/Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013), pp. 101-141., 2013
This chapter analyzes the key factors contributing to a rise in prosecutions of alleged perpetrat... more This chapter analyzes the key factors contributing to a rise in prosecutions of alleged perpetrators of human rights violations in Latin America, with emphasis on Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Peru.
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These three countries were selected for a number of reasons. First, the transitional justice literature on Latin America has focused primarily on the experience of repressive military rule in the Southern Cone of the region (Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay). While Peru, Guatemala and El Salvador all experienced authoritarian and military rule, they also experienced prolonged internal armed conflicts. The dynamics of post- conflict countries pose distinct challenges for transitional justice efforts.
Second, unlike the Southern Cone, where victims were in large part middle and working-class political activists, the vast majority of victims in Peru, Guatemala and El Salvador come from historically marginalized sectors of society: poor, rural farmers. In the case of Peru and Guatemala, the majority of victims are also indigenous: 75% in the case of Peru, 80% in the case of Guatemala. The history of racism and socio-economic exclusion in these countries has meant that victims have faced greater hurdles in having their demands for truth and justice heard, which inevitably impacts the outcome of transitional justice processes.
Finally, there have been significant changes over time in the transitional justice processes in each of these three countries that merit closer scrutiny. For example, in the cases of Peru and Guatemala, there have been important efforts to move away from situations of near-total impunity to greater accountability for crimes of the past. While truth commissions challenged official narratives of denial, many sectors of society, including some government officials, continue to deny that such abuses were committed. In the face of ongoing campaigns of denial, there have been significant efforts in each country to develop local memory sites and spaces of commemoration, to develop coalitions to strengthen the voices of victims, and to implement national programs to search for persons who were forcibly disappeared.
This report seeks to identify the factors that have allowed for successful transitional justice processes as well as those that have hindered or undermined these processes in each of the three countries; to highlight innovative practices; and to discern key lessons from the transitional justice processes of these three countries that might be useful for other countries transitioning from a period of conflict and authoritarian rule.
Abstract:
Latin America leads the world in efforts to prosecute perpetrators of gross violations of human rights in domestic courts. Domestic justice offers a number of advantages to international and hybrid tribunals: proceedings take place in close proximity to the site of the atrocities, facilitating victim participation; they are directed by domestic prosecutors and judges, thus contributing to local buy-in; and they can strengthen rule of law and legitimize fragile transitional democracies. The case of Guatemala appears to contradict such arguments, however, given the overturning of the landmark conviction of former dictator José Efraín Ríos Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity and the ongoing impasse of the proceedings. Drawing on the author’s work as an international observer to the genocide trial, interviews with those directly involved in the case, and comparative research on human rights trials in Latin America, this article suggests an alternative reading. By situating the genocide trial in relation to the broader transitional justice process in Guatemala and in the region more broadly, it argues that current setbacks should be viewed as a backlash to initial transitional justice success that is neither unexpected nor fatal to the accountability process. Second, the article argues that the genocide case is illustrative of a victim-centred approach to human rights prosecutions that hold important lessons for transitional justice theory and practice, and examines the way in which victims of sexual violence were incorporated into prosecutorial strategies and helped to prove that a genocide had taken place in Guatemala. Finally, the article argues that despite the undoing of the genocide verdict, the very fact that the trial took place is historically and politically significant, both for survivors and for the construction of collective memory in Guatemala and Latin America as a whole.
/// La literatura acerca de la década de gobierno de Alberto Fujimori enfatiza la sorpresiva popularidad y amplio apoyo a su orden. Este ensayo, que analiza la política del miedo durante su régimen, sugiere que esta observación presenta una visión parcial de la naturaleza de la autoridad de Fujimori. En base a conceptualizaciones Gramscianas de poder, explica como la coerción adquirió un aspecto consensual a partir de la manipulación del miedo y la creación de un orden ficticio en un contexto de extrema inseguridad individual y colectiva. El ensayo halla las raíces de esta inseguridad en la crisis económica y violencia política de los ochenta y noventa, y explica como el gobierno de Fujimori manipuló el miedo y la inseguridad para fomentar su orden autoritario. Asimismo, este ensayo complementa los estudios disponibles sobre la sociedad civil peruana, los cuales enfatizan factores económicos, como la crisis económica de los ochenta y las reformas neoliberales, en la explicación del debilitamiento de la sociedad civil. Aquí en cambio se exploran los factores políticos que contribuyeron a este proceso, particularmente el uso del poder estatal en la penetración, control e intimidación de la sociedad civil.
These three countries were selected for a number of reasons. First, the transitional justice literature on Latin America has focused primarily on the experience of repressive military rule in the Southern Cone of the region (Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay). While Peru, Guatemala and El Salvador all experienced authoritarian and military rule, they also experienced prolonged internal armed conflicts. The dynamics of post- conflict countries pose distinct challenges for transitional justice efforts.
Second, unlike the Southern Cone, where victims were in large part middle and working-class political activists, the vast majority of victims in Peru, Guatemala and El Salvador come from historically marginalized sectors of society: poor, rural farmers. In the case of Peru and Guatemala, the majority of victims are also indigenous: 75% in the case of Peru, 80% in the case of Guatemala. The history of racism and socio-economic exclusion in these countries has meant that victims have faced greater hurdles in having their demands for truth and justice heard, which inevitably impacts the outcome of transitional justice processes.
Finally, there have been significant changes over time in the transitional justice processes in each of these three countries that merit closer scrutiny. For example, in the cases of Peru and Guatemala, there have been important efforts to move away from situations of near-total impunity to greater accountability for crimes of the past. While truth commissions challenged official narratives of denial, many sectors of society, including some government officials, continue to deny that such abuses were committed. In the face of ongoing campaigns of denial, there have been significant efforts in each country to develop local memory sites and spaces of commemoration, to develop coalitions to strengthen the voices of victims, and to implement national programs to search for persons who were forcibly disappeared.
This report seeks to identify the factors that have allowed for successful transitional justice processes as well as those that have hindered or undermined these processes in each of the three countries; to highlight innovative practices; and to discern key lessons from the transitional justice processes of these three countries that might be useful for other countries transitioning from a period of conflict and authoritarian rule.
Abstract:
Latin America leads the world in efforts to prosecute perpetrators of gross violations of human rights in domestic courts. Domestic justice offers a number of advantages to international and hybrid tribunals: proceedings take place in close proximity to the site of the atrocities, facilitating victim participation; they are directed by domestic prosecutors and judges, thus contributing to local buy-in; and they can strengthen rule of law and legitimize fragile transitional democracies. The case of Guatemala appears to contradict such arguments, however, given the overturning of the landmark conviction of former dictator José Efraín Ríos Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity and the ongoing impasse of the proceedings. Drawing on the author’s work as an international observer to the genocide trial, interviews with those directly involved in the case, and comparative research on human rights trials in Latin America, this article suggests an alternative reading. By situating the genocide trial in relation to the broader transitional justice process in Guatemala and in the region more broadly, it argues that current setbacks should be viewed as a backlash to initial transitional justice success that is neither unexpected nor fatal to the accountability process. Second, the article argues that the genocide case is illustrative of a victim-centred approach to human rights prosecutions that hold important lessons for transitional justice theory and practice, and examines the way in which victims of sexual violence were incorporated into prosecutorial strategies and helped to prove that a genocide had taken place in Guatemala. Finally, the article argues that despite the undoing of the genocide verdict, the very fact that the trial took place is historically and politically significant, both for survivors and for the construction of collective memory in Guatemala and Latin America as a whole.
/// La literatura acerca de la década de gobierno de Alberto Fujimori enfatiza la sorpresiva popularidad y amplio apoyo a su orden. Este ensayo, que analiza la política del miedo durante su régimen, sugiere que esta observación presenta una visión parcial de la naturaleza de la autoridad de Fujimori. En base a conceptualizaciones Gramscianas de poder, explica como la coerción adquirió un aspecto consensual a partir de la manipulación del miedo y la creación de un orden ficticio en un contexto de extrema inseguridad individual y colectiva. El ensayo halla las raíces de esta inseguridad en la crisis económica y violencia política de los ochenta y noventa, y explica como el gobierno de Fujimori manipuló el miedo y la inseguridad para fomentar su orden autoritario. Asimismo, este ensayo complementa los estudios disponibles sobre la sociedad civil peruana, los cuales enfatizan factores económicos, como la crisis económica de los ochenta y las reformas neoliberales, en la explicación del debilitamiento de la sociedad civil. Aquí en cambio se exploran los factores políticos que contribuyeron a este proceso, particularmente el uso del poder estatal en la penetración, control e intimidación de la sociedad civil.
El 12 de septiembre de 1992, el Estado peruano derrotó a Sendero Luminoso al arrestar al principal líder e ideólogo del grupo, Abimael Guzmán; no obstante, en vez de aprovechar esta victoria para reestablecer la gobernabilidad democrática, el régimen de Fujimori buscó mantener a la sociedad civil atemorizada y desorganizada, de modo que esta no pudiera desafiar la reconfiguración autoritaria del poder y los privilegios del régimen.
El juicio y la condena a Fujimori marcan un hito de suma importancia en cuanto a la lucha contra la impunidad y la consolidación del Estado de Derecho y la convivencia democrática en el Perú y en toda América Latina.
Cuando se cumplió un año del fallo, consideramos de suma importancia revalorar el proceso judicial y la sentencia a Fujimori, así como el proceso de judicialización para casos de violaciones de los derechos cometidas en el marco del conflicto armado interno.
Con esta finalidad, George Mason University, el Instituto de Defensa Legal (IDL) y la Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos (APRODEH) organizaron una conferencia internacional en Lima, los días 19 y 20 de mayo del 2010, en la que distinguidos expertos nacionales e internacionales se analizaron el juicio y el fallo en el caso del ex presidente del Peru Alberto Fujimori.
This book seeks to identify the factors that have allowed for successful transitional justice processes as well as those that have hindered or undermined these processes in Peru, Guatemala and El Salvador; to highlight innovative practices; and to discern key lessons from the transitional justice processes of these three countries that might be useful for other countries transitioning from a period of conflict and authoritarian rule.
Absract: Sendero Luminoso fue una de las insurgencias más brutales jamás visto en las Américas. Violencia política y el autoritarismo en el Perú: Bajo la sombra de Sendero y la dictadura de Fujimori explora los efectos agobiantes que tuvo sobre la sociedad civil peruana la violencia desplegado por Sendero Luminoso y por la guerra contrainsurgente llevada acabo por el Estado. En base a un trabajo de investigación etnográfico en las barriadas de Lima, la autora aporta conocimientos nuevos sobre el intento de Sendero Luminoso a expandir su revolución a la ciudad capital, así como sobre las respuestas de la población urbana frente a la insurgencia. El libro examina como la amenaza insurgente dio pie a un régimen despótico dirigido por Alberto Fujimori y su principal asesor, Vladimiro Montesinos, hasta que, después de una década, colapsó bajo revelaciones de corrupción y la movilización de la sociedad civil que cada vez más cuestionaba el autoritarismo de Fujimori. El libro ayuda entender cómo sociedades terminan sacrificando la libertad y democracia en el nombre de la lucha contra el terrorismo, pero también cómo los élites gobernantes manipulan los miedos de la sociedad para perpetuar su poder y sus privilegios.
Esta segunda edición del libro contiene un capítulo nuevo sobre el juicio al ex presidente Alberto Fujimori, quien, después de varios años como prófugo, fue extraditado en 2007 y enjuiciado por graves violaciones a los derechos humanos así como otros casos de corrupción y abuso de poder. Fue condenado en abril de 2009 y sentenciado a 25 años de prisión.
Palgrave, 2007.
http://www.amazon.com/Political-Violence-Authoritarian-State-Peru/dp/0230621171/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425694814&sr=8-1&keywords=jo-marie+burt+political+violence
Arguing that Andean states and societies have been shaped by common historical forces, the contributors' comparative approach reveals how different countries have responded variously to the challenges and opportunities presented by those forces. Individual chapters are structured around themes of ethnic, regional, and gender diversity; violence and drug trafficking; and political change and democracy.
Politics in the Andes offers a contemporary view of a region in crisis, providing the necessary context to link the often sensational news from the area to broader historical, political, economic, and social trends.
http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Andes-Identity-Conflict-American/dp/0822958287/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425695067&sr=8-1&keywords=jo-marie+burt+politics+in+the+andes