A Voice For the Voiceless

MISSION

The Advocacy Project seeks to help community-based advocates produce, disseminate and use information, and so become more effective advocates for human rights and social justice

The Peace Process

The Rio Negro campaign has received enormous publicity, but it is still only one of thousands of communities that were targeted for violent attack during 36 years of state violence. Some 200,000 people died, and another million were displaced.

Healing these wounds will require restitution for victims and their families. This was one of the basic conclusions of the Guatemala peace process that began in the early 1990s and concluded at the end of 1996.

Remembering the martyred -
Monsignor Gerardi.

On March 29, 1994, the two sides in the conflict agreed on a Global Human Rights accord, which was monitored by a UN mission (MINUGUA). The accord called, in general terms, for indemnification and/or assistance to the victims of violence. But no provisions were made for implementation.

The human rights agreement also called for the creation of a truth commission, under UN supervision. On May 27, 1998, 400 people representing 139 organizations from civil society gathered to debate the commission's recommendations. Its final report was published in February last year.

The commission endorsed proposals for preserving and dignifying the memory of those who had died. (This includes the building of monuments, as in Rio Negro). It also called on the government to establish a "national reparation program."

According to the commission, this should involve a combination of the following:

Restitution: restoring material possessions, particularly land;
Indemnification or economic compensation for injuries or losses arising from violations of human rights or humanitarian law;
Reparation or rehabilitation in the form of psychosocial assistance;
Restoration of the memory of those lost including "acts of moral and symbolic reparation."

President Portillo endorsed this plan in his inaugural address, but until now his government has not acted on the pledge. Instead, the running has been made by a coalition of sixty prominent human rights organizations known as the Multi-Institutional Coalition for Peace and Concord (Instancia Multi-Institucional para la Paz y Concordia).

The efforts of this coalition are coordinated by the office of the Ombudsman for Human Rights, which has been working for human rights for the past 12 years. According to director Marco Antonio Aguilar, the office helps victims to file complaints and achieve restitution for past violations.

The Coalition has presented a detailed proposal to the government which makes the demands of Rio Negro seem eminently reasonable. At the same time, it is difficult to be optimistic. The government appears lukewarm to the coalition's proposals-no doubt aware that they would cost an enormous sum of money and also provoke the business elite that supported past military regimes.

"The government tries to divide and conquer us," said Mr. Aguilar. "But we are united, and this permits us to challenge the government more effectively. Of course, not all organizations in the country are participating in this campaign, but the Mayans, peasants, and those working for the disappeared are all strongly involved.

"Right now, we are not seeking a specific amount of restitution. We need to determine whether the government has the political will to make reparations. The government is borrowing billions of dollars, but there has not been a cent for assistance. For now, it is important to maintain the dialogue."