Testimonies of Pain and Courage
by Nelly Plaza, with the support of Project Counselling Service and Inter Pares
"The moment has come to speak for ourselves. This is our voice, and this is what we propose."
Statement of the Second National Congress of Women Affected by Political Violence, presented to the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Public Hearing on Political Violence and Crimes against Women, September 2002.
During over 20 years of political violence in Peru, from the late 1980s to the last days of the century, the Armed Forces of Peru and the guerrilla organizations, particularly Shining Path, committed terrible crimes against the poorest and most excluded civilian populations. Especially hard-hit were people in areas most remote from the seat of power - indigenous peasants in the high Andes and aboriginal communities in the jungle valleys.
After the collapse of the authoritarian Fujimori regime in 2000, with the populace angry at the years of lies and corruption, the transitional government bowed to widespread public demands for an investigation into what had really happened during those years. Insisting that a just and democratic society cannot be built on a foundation of lies or guilty silence, in 2001 the Truth and Reconciliation Commission began its work of listening to the stories of ordinary Peruvian men and women, eventually taking over 17,000 testimonies.
In September 2002, with the support of Inter Pares and the Project Counselling Service, some 300 Peruvian women met together in the second National Congress of Women Affected by Political Violence in Lima, Peru. Delegated to this meeting by women in their communities from states all over Peru, the women used the meeting to prepare for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Public Hearing on Political Violence and Crimes against Women.
Many of these women provided testimony to the Commission, and a group of indigenous women decided to publicize their testimonies through a photo exhibit with over 30 portraits of women who refuse to be silenced or shamed by what happened to them. These are their portraits, and these are their stories.
Eladia Ortiz
Endelica Malpartida de la Cruz, Ofelia Celis
Liz Liliana Zúñiga Villar
Zonia Luz Rosas
Nora and Gonzalo Quispe
Angelica Mendoza
Isabel Suasnabar
Gregoria Esteban
Antonia Gavilán
Matilde Luro
Liz Marcela Rojas Valdez
Lourdes Santiago
Rofelia Vivanco
Janet Flores Chimanga
(anonymous)
Hilda and Tania Nolasco Vega
Nila Rincón
Estefa Llacta Cruz
Juana Huamán
Emeteria Quispe
Paulina Huaraca
Antonia Alfaro
Octavia Llacta
Julia Najarro
Julia Llacta
Agustina Cayetano
Three Women of the Community of Yauli
Fidelia Sucantaype Oscco
Leticia Vargas
Doris Caqui de Capcha
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For more information on Peru's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Inter Pares' peacebuilding work:
- Recuperating Dignity: Indigenous Communities in Peru, January 2004
- Never Again: Truth and Reconciliation in Peru, March 2002
- Searching for Justice in Latin America, September 2005
- Diana Avila: A life in action, March 2004
The creation of this photo exhibit was supported by CIDA Voluntary Sector.
| Reviewed July 31, 2009 |  |
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