The Hope that Unites Us
In July 2008, Inter Pares staff Nadia Faucher and Karen Cocq travelled to Peru to participate in a regional exchange on processes of truth, justice, and reparation (TJR), organized by Inter Pares’ main counterpart in Latin America – Project Counselling Service (PCS). Nadia and Karen were among a group of thirty-five participants from Peru, Guatemala, and Colombia who spent a week together sharing their experiences with armed conflict, and learning about strategies of the victims’ movements to push for redress. This piece was inspired by Nadia’s photos and travel journal.
The scars of conflict in Latin America
The internal armed conflicts in Peru, Guatemala, and Colombia changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of individuals and their families. In Peru, between 1980 and 2000, over 69,000 people were killed or disappeared, and up to 600,000 internally displaced – mostly Quechua-speaking indigenous people from the Andes Mountains. In Guatemala, the 36-year-long conflict which ended in 1996 left over 200,000 dead or disappeared, and up to two million internally and externally displaced – a third of the country’s population, most of them indigenous. In Colombia, even though the conflict’s intensity has diminished, and political space to address TJR issues has opened up through the demobilization of some paramilitary groups, civilians continue to be displaced from their homes every day. Leaders of communities and social movements in Colombia continue to be considered “military targets” by paramilitary groups.
As part of our work at Inter Pares, Karen and I have travelled to all three countries and have previously met most of the participants in this exchange, but this was the first time that they would have the chance to meet each other. We were both very much looking forward to the synergy, learning, and solidarity that would emerge from this trip.
We participated in this exchange as part of Inter Pares’ and PCS’ joint regional program on truth, justice, and reparation (TJR). TJR refers to policies and programs used by societies and countries that have experienced armed conflict when, as part of reconciliation efforts to construct a peaceful society, they seek to redress the wrong-doings committed against their civilian populations. These policies and programs may include reconstruction of collective memory of the violations through Truth Commissions, access to the justice system to end impunity for those who committed crimes, and comprehensive reparation packages, including access to health, education, land title, and monetary compensation. The main objective of our program is to mentor victims’ organizations to strengthen their efforts to press their governments for justice and reparation on their own terms. These organizations emerged from grassroots initiatives during the conflicts or after the signing of the peace accords.
Mayan spirituality accompanied us throughout this journey. On several occasions, the Mayan ceremony of remembrance and healing – the candle ceremony – was performed to open an event, to commemorate the anniversary of a massacre, or simply to celebrate and recognize the achievements of the conflicts’ survivors. We opened the exchange with this ceremony; each organization lit a candle representing an element central to the Mayan cosmovisión such as the moon, the sun, the earth, the air, and the water.
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| Reviewed July 31, 2009 |  |
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