Victims’ organizations from Peru, Colombia and Guatemala come together
The week-long gathering was divided in two parts – a seminar and field visits to Peruvian organizations. On the first day, as we began the seminar with presentations on each country’s context, I glanced around the room and was very impressed by the range of organizations participating in the exchange. From Peru, no fewer than twelve victims’ organizations were in the room, representing internally displaced families, women who were targets of political violence, wrongfully convicted political prisoners, torture survivors, and families of those who were disappeared, tortured, or killed. From Colombia, representatives of the Movement of the Victims of Crimes Committed by the State (MOVICE), a coalition of grassroots organizations and NGOs, spoke about their country’s conflict. There were also members of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR), an association that brings together victims from across Guatemala who survived or lost loved ones in some of the most notorious massacres committed during the conflict. There were a lot of “firsts” for these Guatemalans: the first time they saw the ocean, the first time they had traveled outside of their country, the first time they told their stories outside of Guatemala.
The seminar and field visits emphasized a participatory and practical approach to learning and sharing. The seminar integrated presentations on the socio-political context of each country; intimate discussions to share experiences, strategies, and struggles with impunity and advocating for rights and reparation; and workshops devoted to the various human rights violations experienced during the conflicts. It also incorporated dancing and drawing as alternative forms of expression.
| Reviewed July 31, 2009 |  |
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