Demonstration on 24 March, Argentina's National Day for Memory
‘Nunca Más’ has become a mantra, a warning. Although the phrase was originally coined as the name for final report of the Argentine Comisión Nacional sobre la Desaparición de Personas (National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons – CONADEP), which illustrated the crimes of the outgoing military dictatorship in 1984, it has been adopted by numerous countries in Latin America as a promise to never again allow such campaigns of widespread and systematic human rights violations to take place.
Thus far, the region has kept its promise. Nevertheless, it continues to overcome the complex challenges related to past violence, repression, and armed conflict. While some crimes were committed up to 30 years ago, demands to address human rights abuses have not waned; as such, transitional justice is a work-in-progress.
Furthermore, the processes and study of transitional justice is gathering pace throughout the region: Argentina has made great process in putting repressors on trial and has begun to confront the economic crimes associated with the last dictatorship; Uruguay last year saw its 25-year-old amnesty law finally overturned, and in March, the State recognised its responsibility in the forced disappearance of María Claudia García Iruretagoyena de Gelman (daughter-in-law of the Argentine poet Juan Gelman); and Brazil has finally made the important step of establishing a truth commission, which will investigate the crimes of its military dictatorship. These are but a few emblematic examples.
But transitional justice is not just about clearly delimited transitions; it concerns continuous processes involving strengthening the democratic system and the rule of law. Thus, there is an important nexus between the abuses of the past and the present.
While Latin America has never been as democratic as it is today, violations still take place. Whether it be the Falsos Positivos scandal in Colombia, or prison conditions in various countries, protecting human rights under democracy is a continuous struggle. And even more complicated, holding those responsible for abuses to account is rare. As Amnesty International’s The State of the World’s Human Rights 2012 report summarised, ‘impunity for human rights violations remain the norm [in the Americas]’.
Furthermore, the seeds of today’s violations are often rooted in the past. That is, abuses left unaddressed are likely to lead to continued violations in the future. This is reflected in continued police violence and the culture of el gatillo fácil (loosely translated as ‘trigger happy’), the survival of amnesty laws that violate the independence of the judiciary; and the structural conditions that have previously led peoples to take up arms. Such relationships are key to understanding the persistence of human rights violations today.
Progress in the area of human rights and transitional justice is a regional phenomenon. The paucity of media coverage given to these events, both domestically and internationally, can make following the evolution of transitional justice a challenge. Further, the regularity in which developments arise means that lengthy, fully developed opinion articles are not always suitable.
The idea, then, of the ‘Nunca Más’ blog is to provide brief, regular updates and comment regarding the steps forward, and the steps back, dealing with transitional justice and human rights in Latin America. It is designed to allow those interested in these topics to keep up-to-date with developments, and to provide a platform for discussion and debate in which readers can engage and contribute.