‘They Say That Justice Takes Time’: Taking Stock of Truth Seeking in Peru, Argentina and Serbia

Abstract.

What is the role of arts and artists in transitional justice? What role do artists play in the aftermath of political violence? What can artists offer to people still searching for their loved ones? This paper will bring together three artistic projects from Peru, Argentina and Serbia; geographical spaces that have all experienced mass human rights violations. While art cannot replace formal judicial mechanisms or material reparation, this paper argues that grassroots artistic initiatives offer a significant and distinct reparative contribution to transitional justice processes.

Notes

1 The Shivering of the Rose Performance Text Dah Theater on file with author.

2 Guardiola Manuel Prendes ‘Constantes Tematicas en Tres Novelas Peruanas Sobre la Epoca del Terrorismo’ (2010) 50(2) Romance Notes 229.

3 Nagy Rosemary ‘Transitional Justice as Global Project: Critical Reflections' (2008) 29 Third World Quarterly 275.

4 Olsen Tricia, D Payne Leigh A, Reiter Andrew G, Wiebelhaus-Brahm Eric ‘When Truth Commissions Improve Human Rights' (2010) 4 International Journal of Transitional Justice 457.

5 Bakiner Onur Truth Commissions: Memory, Power, and Legitimacy University of Pennsylvania Press Philadelphia 2016 p 2.

6 Boutruche Theo ‘Seeking the Truth About Serious International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Violations: The Various Facets of a Cardinal Notion of Transitional Justice’ in Matthee Marielle, Toebes Brigit and Brus Marcel (eds) Armed Conflict and International Law: In Search of the Human Face TMC Asser Press The Hague 2013 p 318.

7 Hayner Priscilla B Unspeakable Truths: Transitional Justice and the Challenge of Truth Commissions 2nd ed Routledge New York 2010; Teitel Ruti G ‘Human Rights in Transition: Transitional Justice Genealogy’ (2003) 16(69) Harvard Human Rights Journal 69; Freeman Mark Truth Commissions and Procedural Fairness Cambridge University Press New York 2006.

8 Teitel Ruti G Transitional Justice Oxford University Press Oxford 2000 p 77.

9 Cote d’Ivoire and Thailand established TRCs in 2010. Nepal established a TRC in 2015.

10 Ministeriode Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana ‘The Venezuelan Government and Opposition Achieved Progress in the Dialogue Under UNASUR Support’ 2014 <http://www.cancilleria.gob.ec/the-venezuelan-government-and-opposition-achieved-progress-in-the-dialogue-under-unasur-support/> Accessed 11 January 2016. A TRC is also being negotiated in Northern Ireland. See, for example, Brewer John D Mitchell David and Leavey Gerard Ex-Combatants, Religion, and Peace in Northern Ireland Palgrave MacMillan Hampshire 2013 p 127.

11 Wiebelhaus-Brahm Eric, Dancy Geoff and Kim Hun Joon ‘The Turn to Truth: Trend in Truth Commission Experimentation’ (2010) 9 Journal of Human Rights 45 at 25.

12 Knuckey Sarah The Transformation of Human Rights Fact-Finding Oxford University Press Oxford 2016 p 292.

13 Minow Martha ‘The Hope for Healing: What Can Truth Commissions Do?’ in Rodberg Robert and Thompson Dennis (eds) Truth v Justice: The Morality of Truth Commissions Princeton University Press New Jersey 2000 p 252.

14 Bickford Louis ‘Unofficial Truth Projects' (2007) 29(4) Human Rights Quarterly 994.

15 Kent Lia Truth Seeking and Memory Politics in Post Conflict East Timor Paper presented at the 17th Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia, Melbourne, 1–3 July 2008 p 14 <http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/mai/files/2012/07/liakent.pdf> Accessed 13 December 2015.

16 Shivering of the Rose above note 1.

17 United Nations Economic and Social Council, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Report: Promotion and Protection of Human Rights: Study on the Right to the Truth UN Doc E/CN.4/2006/91 p 2 (8 February 2006).

18 At 2.

19 Hayner above note 7; Bickford above note 14; Borer Tristan Anne (ed.) Telling the Truths: Truth Telling and Peace Building in Post Conflict Societies University of Notre Dame Press Indiana 2006.

20 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and Inter-American Court of Human Rights have confirmed the right to truth established by the American Convention on Human Rights in a series of cases. See, for example, Velásquez Rodríguez Case Inter-AmCtHR Ser C No 4 (29 July 1988); Bámaca Válesquez Case Inter-AmCtHR Ser C No 91 (22 February 2002) at 77; Myrna Mack Chang Case Inter-AmCtHR Ser C No 101 (25 November 2003) at 274–275.

21 United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Independent Expert Diane Orentlicher Report: Updated Set of Principles for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights through Action to Combat Impunity UN Doc E/CN.4/2005/102/Add.1 (8 February 2005) at Principle 4.

22 Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and Relating to the Protection of Victims of Internal Armed Conflicts (Protocol I) adopted at Geneva 8 June 1977, 1125 UNTS 3 (entered into force 7 December 1948).

23 International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearances UN Doc E/CN.4/2005/WG.22/WP.1/Rev.4 (20 December 2006). As of 1 February 2016, 95 states have signed the convention and 51 ratified or acceded it.

24 Hayner above note 7 at 23–25.

25 Naqvi Yasmin ‘The Right to Truth in International Law: Fact or Fiction?’ (2006) 88(862) International Review of the Red Cross 245 at 265.

26 Hayner above note 7 at 227.

27 Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report 1998 vol 1.

28 United Nations Commission on Human Rights above note 21 at Principle 3.

29 Hayner above note 7 at 197.

30 Bosire Lydiah Overpromised, Underdelivered: Transitional Justice in Sub-Saharan Africa International Center for Transitional Justice New York 2006 p 13.

31 Gonzales Eduardo and Varney Howard (eds) Truth Seeking: Elements of Creating an Effective Truth Commission International Center for Transitional Justice New York 2013 p 4.

32 Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law GA Res 60/147 UN OHCHR 60th sess 64th plen mtg UN Doc A/RES/60/147 (16 December 2005) Preamble and Article 1 emphasise that they do not create any new international or domestic legal obligations.

33 Gelman v Uruguay (Judgement — Merits and Reparations) Inter-AmCtHR Ser C No 221 (24 February 2011) para 259.

34 See United Nations Commission on Human Rights above note 21 at Principles 2–4.

35 At Principle 3.

36 Feyter Koen Out of the Ashes: Reparations for Victims of Gross and Systematic Human Rights Violations Intersentia Oxford 2005 p 140.

37 Truth and Reconciliation Commission above note 27 at 29–45.

38 Stanley Elizabeth ‘Evaluating the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’ (2001) 39(3) Journal of Modern African Studies 525 at 528.

39 At 530.

40 Rosenburg Tina ‘Prologue: Confronting the Painful Past’ in Meredith Martin (ed.) Coming to Terms: South Africa's Search for Truth Perseus Books New York 1999 p xi.

41 Arthur Paige ‘How “Transitions” Reshaped Human Rights: A Conceptual History of Transitional Justice’ (2009) 31(2) Human Rights Quarterly 321 at 354.

42 Matravers Matt ‘“More Than Just Illogical”: Truth and Jury Nullification’ in Duff Antony Farmer Lindsay Marshall Sandra and Tadros Victor The Trial on Trial: Truth and Due Process Hart Publishing Oxford 2004 vol 1 p 71.

43 Duff Antony, Farmer Lindsay, Marshall Sandra and Tadros Victor ‘Towards Normative Theory of the Criminal Trial’ in Duff et al as above at 26.

44 Summers Robert ‘Formal Legal Truth and Substantive Truth in Judicial Fact-Finding: Their Justified Divergence in Some Particular Cases' (1999) 18 Law and Philosophy 497 at 498.

45 Griffin Lisa Kern ‘Narrative, Truth, and Trial’ (2012) 101 Georgetown Law Journal 281 at 289.

46 Putnam Hilary Reason, Truth and History Cambridge University Press Cambridge 1981 p 51–54.

47 Hartmann Florence ‘A Slipping Memory: Can the International Criminal Tribunal be a Bulwark Against Oblivion?’ in Spini Dario, Elcheroth Guy and Biruski Dinka Corkalo (eds) War, Community and Social Change Springer-Verlag New York 2014 p 202.

48 Siddiqui Nadia Theater and Transitional Justice in Afghanistan: Creating Space for Change International Center for Transitional Justice New York 2010.

49 Drumbl Mark A ‘Sands: From Nuremberg to The Hague: The Future of International Criminal Justice’ (2005) 103 Michigan Law Review 1295.

50 Klep Katrien ‘Transitional Justice and Local Memory: Commemoration and Social Action in Londres 38, Espacio de Memorias' in Brants Chrisje, Hol Antoine and Siegel Dina Transitional Justice: Images and Memories Ashgate Surrey 2013 p 107.

51 Knill Paolo J, Levine Ellen G and Levine Stephen K Principles and Practice of Expressive Arts Therapy: Towards a Therapeutic Aesthetics Jessica Kingsley London 2005 p 140.

52 See, for example, Bisschoff Lizelle and van de Peer Stefanie Art and Trauma in Africa: Representations of Reconciliation in Music, Visual Arts, Literature and Film IB Tauris London 2013; Rush Peter D and Simić Olivera (eds) The Arts of Transitional Justice: Culture, Activism, and Memory after Atrocity Springer New York 2014; Mengel Ewald and Borzaga Michela (eds) Trauma, Memory, and Narrative in the Contemporary South African Novels Rodopi Amsterdam 2012; Ramírez-Barat Catherine (ed.) Transitional Justice, Culture and Society: Beyond Outreach Social Science Research Council New York 2014; Bell Vikki The Art of Post-Dictatorship: Ethics and Aesthetics in Transitional Argentina Routledge New York 2014.

53 de Greiff Pablo ‘On Making the Invisible Visible: The Role of Cultural Interventions in Transitional Justice Processes' in Ramírez-Barat above note 52 at 14.

54 Bilbija Ksenija, Fair Jo Ellen, Milton Cynthia E and Payne Leigh A The Art of Truth-Telling About Authoritarian Rule University of Wisconsin Press Madison 2005 p 2–4.

55 Laplante Lisa J and Theidon Kimberly Susan ‘Truth with Consequences: Justice and Reparation in Post-Truth Commission Peru’ (2007) 29(1) Human Rights Quarterly 228 at 249.

56 Simić Olivera and Daly Kathy ‘“One Pair of Shoes, One Life”: Steps Towards Accountability for Genocide in Srebrenica’ (2011) 5(3) International Journal of Transitional Justice 477.

57 Haldemann Frank ‘Another Kind of Justice: Transitional Justice as Recognition’ (2008) 41(3) Cornell International Law Journal 675.

58 As above.

59 Bell Vikki ‘Contemporary Art and Transitional Justice in Northern Ireland: The Consolation of Form’ (2011) 10(3) Journal of Visual Culture 324 at 325.

60 Adorno Theodor W ‘The Meaning of Working Through the Past’ in Adorno Theodor W Critical Models: Interventions and Catchwords Columbia University Press New York 2005 p 103.

61 Simić Olivera and Milošević Dijana ‘Enacting Justice: The Role of Dah Theater Company in Transitional Justice Processes in Serbia and Beyond’ in Rush and Simić above note 52 at 99.

62 Lawry-White Merryl ‘The Reparative Effect of Truth Seeking in Transitional Justice’ (2015) 64(1) International and Comparative Law Quarterly 141 at 151.

63 Cited in Lawry-White as above.

64 Varea Roberto Gutierrez ‘Fire in the Memory: Theater, Truth, and Justice in Argentina and Peru’ in Cohen Cynthia E, Varea Roberto Gutierrez and Walker Polly O (eds) Acting Together: Performance and the Creative Transformation of Conflict Volume I: Resistance and Reconciliation in Regions of Violence New Village Press Oakland 2011 p 154.

65 Weaver James and Colleran Jeanne ‘Whose Memory? Whose Justice? Personal and Political Trauma in Ariel Dorfman's Death and the Maiden’ (2011) 16(1) Performance Research: A Journal of Performing Arts 31.

66 Humphrey Michael and Valverde Estela ‘Human Rights, Victimhood, Impunity: An Anthropology of Democracy in Argentina’ (2007) 51(1) Social Analysis 179 at 181.

67 Yuyachkani Theatre Group ‘Rosa Cuchillo’ performed by Ana Correa, at Brown University's Brown International Advanced Research Institutes 11 June 2013 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7U9NsRpjXcyoutube> Accessed 13 November 2015.

68 Kundera Milan The Book of Laughter and Forgetting Harper Perennial New York 1999 p 4.

69 ‘Historia’ Yuyachkani Cultural Group <http://www.yuyachkani.org/historia.html>; ‘Historia del Grupo’ Yuyachkani Cultural Group <http://hemisphericinstitute.org/cuaderno/yuyachkani/group.html> Accessed 6 January 2016.

70 As above.

71 Palmer David Scott (ed.) The Shining Path of Peru 2nd ed Palgrave MacMillan Hampshire 1994.

72 Laplante and Theidon above note 55.

73 Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación, Final Report (2003) General Conclusions para 2.

74 At paras 5–7.

75 As above.

76 Febres Salomon Lerner ‘Memory of Violence and Drama in Peru: The Experience of Truth Commission and the Yuyachkani Theatre Group’ Keynote speech presented at the Just Performance: Enacting Justice in the Wake of Violence Symposium, Brandeis University, USA, 1–2 December 2011 p 16.

77 As above.

78 Interview with Alfredo Jaar The Gramsci Trilogy 11 March 2007 <http://www.art21.org/texts/alfredo-jaar/interview-alfredo-jaar-the-gramsci-trilogy> Accessed 6 November 2015.

79 Walker Margaret Urban ‘How Can Truth Telling Count as Reparations?’ in Neumann Klaus and Thompson Janna (eds) Historical Justice and Memory University of Wisconsin Press Madison 2015 p 142.

80 Yuyachkani Theatre Group above note 67.

81 ‘Plays' Yuyachkani <http://www.yuyachkani.org> Accessed 6 December 2015.

82 Colchado Oscar Lucio Rosa Cuchillo Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal Lima 1997.

83 de Greiff Pablo ‘Theorizing Transitional Justice’ (2012) 51 Nomos 31 at 42.

84 Yuyachkani Theatre Group above note 67.

85 As above.

86 Febres, the former president of Peru's Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación, above note 76.

87 Micus Annelen The Inter-American Human Rights System as a Safeguard for Justice in National Transitions Brill Hijhoff Leiden p 242; Gandsman Ari ‘The Ex-Disappeared in Post-Dictatorship Argentina: The Work of Testimony and Survivors at the Margins' in High Steven (ed.) Beyond Testimony and Trauma: Oral History in the Aftermath of Mass Violence University of British Columbia Press Vancouver 2015 p 45.

88 Julio Simon was the first to be convicted on 4 August 2006 for the kidnapping and torture of the Poblete-Hlaczik couple. See Niell Paz Rodríguez ‘Histórica Condena por Crímenes de la Dictatura’ La Nacion 5 August 2006 <http://www.lanacion.com.ar/829171-historica-condena-por-crimenes-de-la-dictadura> Accessed 5 February 2016.

89 Trigona Marie ‘Long Standing Impunity Challenges Argentina: 4 Years Without Julio Lopez’ Upside Down World 27 September 2010 <http://upsidedownworld.org/main/argentina-archives-32/2709-long-standing-impunity-challenges-argentina-4-years-without-julio-lopez> Accessed 28 October 2015.

90 Varea above note 64 at 154.

91 Secretaría de Cultura y Educación Rosario Interview with Gustavo Germano 22 October 2009 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGhtvGLKBIo> Accessed 13 October 2015.

92 Fortuny Natalia ‘Memoria Fotografica: Restos de la Desaparicion, Imagines Familiars y Huellas del Horror en la Fotografia Argentina Posdictatorial’ [‘Photographic Memory: Remains of the Disappearance, Family Pictures and Fingerprints of the Post-Dictatorship Argentina Horror Picture’] (2012) 2 Amerika: Mémoires, Identités, Territoires 31.

93 ‘La Muestra “Ausencias” Arriba a la Sede de la OEA en Washington’ [‘The Exhibition “Absences” Top OAS Headquarters in Washington’] Telam 2 December 2014 <http://www.telam.com.ar/notas/201412/87453-arte-muestra-oea-fotos.html> Accessed 2 October 2015.

94 Cited in van Dembroucke Celina ‘The Absences Made Visible: The Case of Ausenc’as, Gustavo Germano's Photographic Exhibition’ (2010) 4 InTensions Journal 1 at 19.

95 Verbitsky Horacio Blog: Ausenc’as Exposición Fotográfica, Gustavo Germano 25 April 2009 <http://ausencias-gustavogermano.blogspot.com.au/2009/04/prologo-horacio-verbitsky.html> Accessed 3 November 2015.

96 Material from Germano Gustavo (Personal email correspondence 25 January 2016).

97 Graham Helen The War and its Shadow: Spain's Civil War in Europe's Long Twentieth Century Sussex Academic Press Eastbourne 2012 p 148. See also Adler Katya ‘Spain's Stolen Babies and the Families Who Lived a Lie’ BBC News 18 October 2011 <http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-15335899> Accessed 15 November 2015; Minder Raphael ‘Spain Confronts Decades of Pain over Lost Babies' New York Times 6 July 2011 <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/world/europe/07iht-spain07.html>; Tremlett Giles ‘Victims of Spanish Stolen Babies Network Call for Investigation’ The Guardian 27 January 2011 <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jan/27/spain-alleged-stolen-babies-network>.

98 Shubert Atika ‘Stolen Babies Scandal Haunts Spain’ CNN News 26 April 2012 <http://edition.cnn.com/2012/04/25/world/europe/wus-spain-stolen-babies/> Accessed 15 January 2016.

99 Staff Indy ‘Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo Recover 119th Missing Grandchild’ The Argentina Independent 30 November 2015 <http://www.argentinaindependent.com/currentaffairs/newsfromargentina/abuelas-de-plaing-grandchild/> Accessed 4 January 2016.

100 As above.

101 Material from Germano Gustavo (Personal email correspondence 29 January 2016).

102 As above.

103 Material from Germano Gustavo (Personal email correspondence 4 February 2016).

104 Knežević Dubravka ‘Till the Last Breath’ (1995) 5–6 p 12 Scena.

105 Human Rights Watch Justice at Risk: War Crime Trials in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia and Montenegro Human Rights Watch New York 2004 vol 16 p 7.

106 Gočanin Sonja ‘Intervju: Rediteljka Dijana Milošević: Teatar nije pijaca’ [‘Interview: The Director Dijana Milošević: The Theatre is Not a Market Place’] Buka 25 July 2012 <http://www.6yka.com/novost/26271/rediteljka-dijana-milosevic-teatar-nije-pijaca> Accessed 9 September 2015.

107 ‘Dah teatar istražuje Sardiniju’ [‘Dah Theatre Explores Sardinia’] Politika 24 July 2014 <http://www.politika.rs/scc/clanak/300163/Dah-teatar-istrazuje-Sardiniju> Accessed 15 February 2016.

108 Maja Mitić (Personal email correspondence 8 February 2016).

109 de Bruyne Paul and de Maeseneer Yves ‘Secret and Sacred Places: The Role of Art in Processes of Reconciliation’ (2013) Concilium: International Review of Theology 24.

110 Concluding Observations on the Report Submitted by Serbia under Article 29, paragraph 1, of the Convention UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances 8th sess UN Doc CED/C/SRB/CO/1/1049043 (2–13 February 2015) <http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CED/Shared%20Documents/SRB/INT_CED_COC_SRB_19624_E.pdf> Accessed 11 November 2015.

111 ‘Serbia 2015 Progress Report: The Humanitarian Law Center Contribution’ (2015) Humanitarian Law Center 5 <http://www.hlc-rdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/2015-Progress-Report-Humanitarian-Law-Center-Contribution.pdf> Accessed 5 November 2015.

112 The Shivering of the Rose above note 1.

113 Klep above note 50.

114 Levine Stephen K ‘Art Opens the World: Expressive Arts and Social Action’ in Levine Ellen G and Levine Stephen K Art in Action: Expressive Arts Therapy and Social Change Jessica Kingsley Publishers London 2011 p 27.

115 Carranza Ruben Correa Cristián and Naughton Elena More Than Words: Apologies as a Form of Reparation International Center for Transitional Justice New York 2015 p 3 <https://www.ictj.org/sites/default/files/ICTJ-Report-Apologies-2015.pdf> Accessed 13 October 2015.

116 Ashplant TG, Dawson Graham and Roper Michael The Politics of War Memory and Commemoration Routledge London 2000.

117 Baudot Barbara ‘Art in International Relations' in Denemark Robert A International Studies Encyclopedia Blackwell Publishing Hoboken 2000 p 2.

118 Buckley-Zistel Susanne Transitional Justice in Divided Societies — Potentials and Limits Paper presented at the 5th European Consortium for Political Research General Conference, Potsdam University, Germany, 10–12 September 2009. See also Angelovska Despina ‘(Mis)Representations of Transitional Justice: Contradictions in Displaying History, Memory and Art in the Skopje 2014 Project’ in Rush and Simić (eds) above note 52 at 183.