- Catalyst - University of Washington
Transcription
- Catalyst - University of Washington
Mission Justice: Argentina Página 1 de 18 Share Report Abuse Next Blog» Create Blog Sign In Mission Justice: Argentina Wednesday, July 7, 2010 Disappeared, But Not Forgotten Part 1 A Case Study of Argentina’s “Dirty War” The Heart of the Matter “ Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained.” This quote from Helen Keller captures the soul of a human rights framework. Our hearts must be stirred with not only compassion, but with a feeling of obligation towards our fellow human beings before we can rally for positive social change. Thus the first step in addressing a particular human rights violation is to consider the human landscape of pain, loss, and injustice--to be touched and moved by the emotional devastation that we see before us before we can tackle the crimes and restore just practices. As the first chapter in my case study of Argentina’s dirty war, I offer you some context for the historical scene of this human rights violation under study: forced disappearances. Yet, first and foremost, I desire to demonstrate to you the impact these “disappeared” people left as a moving legacy for this generation and for generations to come. Through images, testimonies, poetry, and song, a voice is lifted across the world for the hurting and violated people of Argentina. Followers Follow with Google Friend Connect There are no followers yet. Be the first! Already a member?Sign in Blog Archive ▼ 2010 (4) ▼ July (4) Disappeared, But Not Forgotten Part 1 A Case Stud... Justice Blues: Prison and Detention Center Conditi... Censorship in Argentina Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhe... The Case Exposed About Me Between the years of 1976 and 1983 a military dictatorship known as the Process of National Reorganization instituted a hellish regime of oppression and torture upon the citizens of the land and therefore became infamously labeled the “dirty war in Argentina.” Semitism, persecution, censorship, terrorism name just a handful of the Justice Team View my complete profile crimes that took place during that time. Although all these actions caused irrevocable damage, one violation stands out as particularly devastating because of its magnitude and deep level of pain that was inflicted upon the people. It is called “Operation Condor” --the enforced disappearance of persons, more honestly termed “the death of political dissidents (Argentina country reports,"2002).” According to Silvia Nagy Zekmi, these individuals “were heavily drugged and then thrown alive out of airplanes far out over the Atlantic Ocean, leaving no trace of their passing. Without any dead bodies, the government could could easily deny that they had been killed.” They just simply disappeared. This phrase was recognized by Argentinian de facto President, General Videla, who said in a press conference during the military government which he commanded in Argentina: "They are neither dead nor alive, they disappeared". It is thought that in Argentina, between 1976 and 1983, up to 30,000 people (9,000 verified named cases, according to the official report by the CONADEP were subjected to forced disappearances. The reporting of these numbers is a vague estimate at best for it is based upon public testimonies of relatives and friends. The regime during its reign http://missionjusticeargentina.blogspot.com/ PDF wurde mit pdfFactory Pro-Prüfversion erstellt. www.context-gmbh.de 7/8/2010 Mission Justice: Argentina Página 2 de 18 carefully destroyed all documentation and so voluntary reporting is our only means of accurately assessing this situation. However, regardless of the exact calculations, the number is reprehensibly large and worthy of our thorough investigation. Justice in the Balance We all may shudder with horror and disgust as we hear this degree of atrocity leveled against humanity, yet upon what basis do we judge this case? We must stand upon the law, the universal standard that many individuals agree upon. The Rome Statue which establishes the International Criminal Court declares that enforced disappearance are a “crime against humanity.” These disappearances violate many of our basic human rights including the “right to liberty, the right to personal security and humane treatment, the right to fair trial, legal counsel, and equal protection under the law, and the right of presumption of innocence.” We cannot forget the families and friends as well who endure much hardship in relation to this crime against humanity. In pursuit of justice, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 20 December 2006, also states that the “widespread or systematic practice of enforced disappearances constitutes a crime against humanity.” It therefore offers victims’ families the right to seek reparations, and to demand the truth about the disappearance of their loved ones. As we investigate this case, we must bear in mind that this human rights violation is universally declared as a “crime against humanity,” and is therefore truly a cause worth fighting for. The Wall of Memory A website called “Project Disappeared” has performed the heroic task of collecting over 1300 photos of the disappeared individuals and posting them on the “wall of memory.” As the few photos below here depict, these people were both young and old, male and female, and their images are etched forever upon the minds of those who loved them. For those who do not recognize a beloved one among the photos, they can take a moment and reflect upon these faces of real human beings whose lives were snatched away all too soon and all too sudden. By connecting with these images, we can feel the pain that weighs upon those who were left behind and out of true and deep sympathy seek out ways to mitigate the evil that was exercised upon these innocent individuals. http://missionjusticeargentina.blogspot.com/ PDF wurde mit pdfFactory Pro-Prüfversion erstellt. www.context-gmbh.de 7/8/2010 Mission Justice: Argentina Página 3 de 18 A Testimony by Alicia Rodríguez Listen to these heart-wrenching words of a women who expresses the anguish and pain she felt during this horrendous period: Every time I try to go back to the period 1974-1977, a silent anguish rushing to my throat. I look around me: my children, street trees, the clear air of the summer ... I think they are not, who took their children to the hypothetical street trees that would live in the cool of all summers ... They stayed in 24, 25 or 26 years, eternally young. I feel guilty. I do not think I did my best to make things different. I think I made many mistakes. I think I was a coward. That's why I write about them, which I knew, who lost in the maelstrom. Not to die again, to rescue them from oblivion. --Project Disappeared A Memory, a Rhythm Poetry is a song from the heart that pours forth when we are filled with deep emotion and feeling. In times of tragedy and loss, affected individuals oftentimes put their pen to paper and let the ink speak the unutterable words of sorrow and grief. Tenerife, a victim of the dirty war, found such solace and became a renown poet because of his passion and desire to remember those who disappeared, but left their mark upon the souls of many. “Few know that I am a poet, few know that in the beginning we were a group of poetillas, so young, we draw in the air of our own destiny. I still remember our first joint recital at the hall of a university in southern Argentina. We were five or six. I do not remember exactly. Of those now there are only two. The rest was in that horrible mass murder they did to our generation. In the reconstruction of a memory must be poetry that is perhaps the only means available to explain deep and abiding horror. I dedicate my poem those nameless, shadows that prevent the peaceful dreams of the murderers and do not allow history to be closed (Project Disappeared).” Night dogs. They did not say a peep. They came on rails. His eyebrows were charged against the light of our eyes. And he went up to the attics fear. Everything they hit fell wounded. Find, found nothing. I say, no, if found the corpus delicti: the open window of the ideas with its share of fire, salt and water. It was quite and that's coal. The ax of peace is still high unborn and wheat. [From the book "Rush Hour of Man, Tenerife, 1970] The Mourner’s Song http://missionjusticeargentina.blogspot.com/ PDF wurde mit pdfFactory Pro-Prüfversion erstellt. www.context-gmbh.de 7/8/2010 Mission Justice: Argentina Página 4 de 18 As poetry expresses the feelings of the soul, music captures the heart and unleashes a mournful cry. In memory of the mothers of those victims of the dictatorship, an activist group called the “Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo” found their voice and the voice of thousands as they were the inspiration for a song by the Irish rock band U2 called “Mothers of the Disappeared.” This following youtube clip is rare a live version for it shows the mothers holding images of their lost and beloved family member. This song is truly touching and powerful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuFMoWV1cns Stay tuned for further investigations and reports brought to you by Ava Munson, University of Washington. Works Cited: Project disappeared . (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.desaparecidos.org/arg/victimas/eng.htm Argentina country reports on human rights practices. (2002, March 4). Retrieved from http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/wha/8278.htmhttp://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/wha/8278.htm Nagy-Zekmi, Silvia; Ignacio Leiva, Fernando (2003). Democracy in Chile. Sussex Academic Press. p. 22 Finucane, Brian. “Enforced Disappearance as a Crime Under International Law.” Yale Journal of International Law. 30 Dec 2009 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm? abstract_id=1427062 Posted by Justice Team at 4:13 PM 0 comments Justice Blues: Prison and Detention Center Conditions in Argentina By DREW GILLESPIE "Up to five prisoners sleep on the floor, without mattresses, in four square metre cells. They defecate in plastic bags and urinate in bottles. The corridors, littered with several days' worth of garbage, are often flooded by sewage." -Amnesty International Although there have been several positive advancements in the past decade with regard to human rights in Argentina, very few steps have been made to improve the http://missionjusticeargentina.blogspot.com/ PDF wurde mit pdfFactory Pro-Prüfversion erstellt. www.context-gmbh.de 7/8/2010 Mission Justice: Argentina Página 5 de 18 state of the criminal justice system. Human rights are still being violated in prisons and detention centers throughout Argentina, with these violations occurring at a much higher rate in those facilities that lie in the Buenos Aires province and in the western provinces such as Mendoza. Among the numerous problems that remain prominent in the Argentine justice system, one of the most alarming issues is the lack of reasonable sanitation, which is illustrated by the quotation that introduces this article. In addition, because of a very limited budget for the prisons, nutritious foods are scarce and meals are irregular for the inmates. This lethal combination of malnutrition and unsanitary living conditions leads to dangerous and unavoidable health risks for the prisoners. Unsurprisingly, the medical attention in these prisons is inadequate as well. According to reports conducted by Amnesty International of three prisons in the Mendoza province, the medical staff often is only brought in after an inmate has died. In addition to the absence of preventative measures, there is an insufficient supply of medicine and no medical records for the prisoners. If a prisoner is suffering from a medical problem, then they often intentionally cut or otherwise harm themselves in order to get the attention of the medical staff. However, the inmates aren't always ignored. Prison and detention guards routinely harass the inmates in a number of ways including making verbal threats, stealing clothes, or spitting in their food. Though, this heckling can seem very mild in comparison to certain other common practices of the guards. Argentine law prohibits guards to inflict harm upon the inmates unless immediate danger is clearly apparent. However, this principle is rarely enforced partly because only a small number of incidences reach the public. Of the cases of excessive violence that are presented to the Argentine government, still only a fraction of them are investigated. Ever since the last military dictatorship began in 1976, it has been standard practice of guards, police officers, and military officials to engage in brutality and torture. In some cases over the last three decades victims have been murdered following the acts of torture, which is not necessarily uncommon. As recently as 2005 several torture victims, or the families of torture victims, have reported the use of electric shock torture. In June of 2006 a 15-year-old boy, who was suspected of stealing a television set, was kidnapped, beaten, burned, and eventually shot three times in the head by two Navy officials and a civilian. The nature of this homicide case replicated methods used in the "Dirty War" era of the 1970s and 1980s, which shows that the mentality of the most violent period of human rights violations in Argentina is still lingering 15 years later. The kidnapping of this 15-year-old boy was just one example of an unjust arrest that, although is now less common than it was during the Dirty War, is still fairly routine under the current laws. The law does prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; but, as with several components of Argentine law, there's a lack of accountability of the police and military officials, who have become accustomed to this acquired sense of "invincibility." The law allows a police officer to detain a suspect for up to ten hours without an arrest warrent, but the officer usually exceeds the ten hour limit. Since the internal panels that are supposed to control police abuses are usually weak, the police officer is left with more than enough time to harm the suspect. In addition to a lack of control over police abuse, each province has its own individual police force, which all vary significantly in skill, regard for human rights, and degree of corruption. It's obvious that there are inconsistencies in the law which, with an absence of accountability, creates an unjust leniency in the policy of arresting suspects. Policies on arrests aren't the only laws that are in need of revision. Recently the constitutionality of the juvenile justice system has been heavily criticized and questioned. The Supreme Court has reviewed the current law in order to determine if the judges have too much discretion in authorizing the juvenile's detention, which would mean that the process "lacks basic due process safeguards." (Human Rights http://missionjusticeargentina.blogspot.com/ PDF wurde mit pdfFactory Pro-Prüfversion erstellt. www.context-gmbh.de 7/8/2010 Mission Justice: Argentina Página 6 de 18 Watch, 2010) Another issue that is in need of legal revision is public trials. Many complaints have been issued about the unfairness of trials in terms of inefficiency and subjectivity of the judges, who have been accused of being easily manipulated by political influences. However, the main problem with public trials in Argentina is that they lack punctuality. It is not uncommon for a suspect to spend a number of years in prison before they are given a court appearance. With the poor conditions of the facilities, the suspect could leave the prison with compromised health, even if they're found innocent. Another problem with this situation is that the prisons and detention centers reach, and exceed, maximum capacity very quickly. Argentina's prisons are already deficient in space, so holding guilty and innocent people in the cells will obviously create extreme overcrowding. This overcrowding effect, combined with the unsanitary conditions, results in a miserable and torturous experience for the inmates. To see a typical Argentine prison cell, follow the link directly below. http://amnesty.org.ar/mirada-abierta/index.html Relative to the efforts of the government in the 1980s and 1990s, Argentina has taken positive steps in giving justice to the victims of the human rights violations from the Dirty War era. The "Full Stop" and "Due Obedience" laws of 2005 have enabled the court system to convict several guilty police and miliary officials, some of whom were principle violators in the Dirty War. In fact, investigations are still progressing in Argentina. Prison guards escort former Argentine dictator Jorge Videla into a courthouse. Source: abcNews.com On July 2, 2010 the former Argentine dictator of the last military dictatorship, General Jorge Rafael Videla (shown above), went on trial to face new charges of crimes against humanity. Videla, now age 84, once denied the disappearances of thousands of political adversaries. However, in his 2001 biography, "The Dictator," he claimed to the authors: "I knew everything that happened. I was above everyone." The conviction of the ex-dictator Videla, who is sharing a courtroom with 23 fellow defendents including former army General Luciano Benjamin Menendez, is undoubtedly a significant accomplishment for the criminal justice system of Argentina. However, there is still much more to achieve not only with respect to the conviction of the many remaining violators from the Dirty War period that are still free, but also regarding the restructure of the legal system so that there's accountability in the prisons, where human rights violations still take place. After all, prevention of human rights violations is the ultimate goal for Argentina in its persuit of a stable democracy and judicial system. http://missionjusticeargentina.blogspot.com/ PDF wurde mit pdfFactory Pro-Prüfversion erstellt. www.context-gmbh.de 7/8/2010 Mission Justice: Argentina Página 7 de 18 "In the years of the dictators in Argentina, I was a political prisoner. The jail where I was held was worse than a jail-- it was a concentration camp for people fighting the dictorial regimes of Pinochet, Bordaberri, and Videla." -Willie Suarez Posted by Justice Team at 9:55 AM 0 comments Tuesday, July 6, 2010 Censorship in Argentina Anna Banchik Si se calla el cantor calla la vida porque la vida, la vida misma es todo un canto. si se calla el cantor, muere de espanto la esperanza, la luz y la alegría. If the singer is silenced, life stops because life, life itself is all a song if the singer is silenced, from horror dies hope, light and joy. –Mercedes Sosa 1972, Si Se Calla el Cantor, If the Singer Is Silenced. (Full lyrics and translations are included below.) These are the words of Mercedes Sosa, the renowned Argentinian musician and “voice of the silent majority.” During her career spanning six decades, she asserted herself as the spearhead of the nueva canción movement of the 60s and 70s, writing and performing political folk songs about social justice issues in her native country and around the hemisphere. Viewed as a threat to the military, her songs were banned from television and radio for years before she was body-checked and arrested onstage during a 1975 performance in which many audience members, too, were arrested. After the incident, she withstood bomb and death threats and performance prohibitions for four more years until she left the country and continued her advocacy and political song-writing in Europe. ---------Despite becoming a so-called democracy almost thirty years ago after the end of the ‘dirty war’ in 1983, governmental infrastructure is still too weak to fully protect the freedom of expression of musicians, celebrities, citizens, and journalists and editors in particular. The Argentina Report by the Human Rights Watch highlights rampant discrimination tainting the allocation of official advertising, noting its preference for favorable coverage and punishment for any critical journalism. This abusive use of official advertising is considered by many to be the primary control mechanism in exerting subtle, indirect censorship of the media. Lacking transparency and policies for objective regulation, the percentage of advertisements that are government-paid can be as high as 75% in some provinces. According to Página 12 foreign news editor Santiago O’Donnell, this injustice is due to the lack of intermediaries, or filters, between journalists and political or commercial pressures. Although former President Kirchner ran a campaign entitled “Argentina, a country for real” to allow for more commentary and debate, direct phone calls from the Cabinet to the newsroom are not uncommon. Pepe Eliaschev, author of “Blacklist—the Return of the 1970s” and the former host of a daily radio news show who was himself fired, maintains that “a real country wouldn’t put out those kinds of ads,” glorifying its achievements yet “refusing all proper, formal contact with the media. They seem to think these ads replace normal journalistic coverage. http://missionjusticeargentina.blogspot.com/ PDF wurde mit pdfFactory Pro-Prüfversion erstellt. www.context-gmbh.de 7/8/2010 Mission Justice: Argentina Página 8 de 18 These people recoil from contact with actual journalists, but they’re obsessed with the press.” One of the latest attempts to control media coverage occurred when current President Christina Fernandez Kirchner proposed a law that would break up one of the largest newspapers and cable TV companies after it featured of illustration of the President with an X taped over her mouth. In late 2009, Fernandez also ordered newspapers and other materials to be sold only at stands run by unions, a move that could lead to the total prevention of non-friendly media distribution. <!--[if !vml]--> Quino, author and illustrator the Mafalda comic strip, is the pen name of another Argentinean artist who has used his stage to promote human rights through the mind and mouth of a 5-year old. First appearing in 1964 in the journal Argentina Primera Plana, Mafalda is the brainchild of Joaquín Salvador Lavado and is still in print and on television today. The character reflects a nonconformist stance towards global issues during that period and constantly worries about peace, politics, the future of the planet, and the suffering of the poor, nuclear weapons, ecological destruction, violence, racism, power in the hands of the few, and other injustices, all while believing in Santa Claus “because my dad told me.” As an ironic and seemingly innocent comic strip, Mafalda was an incredibly effective medium with which to criticize the Argentinean governments and other political leaders abroad. In the scene below, Mafalda comes across graffiti on the wall, which is cut off from saying “Enough Censorship!” In the second box (on the right), she contemplates: either he ran out of pai, or he cou not fini becau it is in the publ doma…” Clearly, this strip addresses the country’s recurring past failures to provide true freedom of speech to its citizens. ---------After being in exile for three years, Mercedes Sosa returned to Argentina and continued to play shows and produce albums to an ever-increasing, captive audience. Esquire magazine wrote that “Your Spanish may or may not be good, but Mercedes Sosa requires no translation. Hers is the song of all those who have overcome their fear of singing out.” Blog Post by Anna Banchik ---------Below is a link to her song sung with Horacio Guarany, accompanied by the lyrics of the song in Spanish and the best English translation I could muster! Si Se Canta el Cantor by Mercedes Sosa Composer: Horacio Guarany Si se calla el cantor calla la vida porque la vida, la vida misma es todo un canto si se calla el cantor, muere de espanto la esperanza, la luz y la alegría. http://missionjusticeargentina.blogspot.com/ PDF wurde mit pdfFactory Pro-Prüfversion erstellt. www.context-gmbh.de 7/8/2010 Mission Justice: Argentina Página 9 de 18 If the singer is silenced, life stops because life, life itself is all a song if the singer is silenced, from horror dies hope, light and joy. Si se calla el cantor se quedan solos los humildes gorriones de los diarios, los obreros del puerto se persignan quién habrá de luchar por su salario. If the singer is silenced, alone remain the humble sparrows of the newspapers, port workers make the sign of the cross (or cross themselves) who will fight for their salaries? HABLADO 'Que ha de ser de la vida si el que canta no levanta su voz en las tribunas por el que sufre,´por el que no hay ninguna razón que lo condene a andar sin manta' CHORUS What is there for life to be if the one who sings does not raise his voice in the stands for the one who suffers, for the one for which there is no ground to be condemned to be without a blanket Si se calla el cantor muere la rosa de que sirve la rosa sin el canto debe el canto ser luz sobre los campos iluminando siempre a los de abajo. If the singer stops singing, dies the rose what is the purpose of a rose without a song the song should be a light over the fields illuminating always those underneath. Que no calle el cantor porque el silencio cobarde apaña la maldad que oprime, no saben los cantores de agachadas no callarán jamás de frente al crimén. Do not silence the singer, because silence cowardly protects the cruelty that oppresses the singers do not know of bowing down they will never keep silent in the face of a crime. HABLADO 'Que se levanten todas las banderas cuando el cantor se plante con su grito que mil guitarras desangren en la noche una inmortal canción al infinito'. CHORUS Let all of the flags be raised when the singer stands with his shout let one thousand guitars serenade into the night an immortal song to infinity. Si se calla el cantor . . . calla la vida. If the singer is silenced... life stops. Works Cited: "Argentina: Events of 2009." Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch, n.d. Carrillo, Edgardo. "Un poco de diversion: Mafalda." Club Delfines de Sonora. N.p., n.d. "Kirchner and Clarin: Argentina Media Fight Gets Personal." The Huffington Post. The Huffington Post, 13 Sep 2009. Tarnopolsky, Noga. "Critiquing Argentina’s Yellow Journalism." The Jewish Daily Forward. Forward Association, 19 Jan 2007. Valente, Marcela. ""Subtle" Means of Censorship." Inter Press Service News Agency. IPS, 13 Feb 2006. Posted by Justice Team at 11:13 PM 0 comments http://missionjusticeargentina.blogspot.com/ PDF wurde mit pdfFactory Pro-Prüfversion erstellt. www.context-gmbh.de 7/8/2010 Mission Justice: Argentina Página 10 de 18 Friday, July 2, 2010 Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. --Martin Luther King JR. Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963 Posted by Justice Team at 11:04 PM 0 comments Home Subscribe to: Posts (Atom) Watermark template by Josh Peterson. 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