Memory of Silence The Guatemalan Truth Commission Report

by Rothenberg, Daniel

• ISBN13: 9780230340244
• ISBN10: 0230340245
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-03-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Memory of Silenceis an edited English language version of the Guatemalan Commision for Historical Clarification (CEH). CEH was one of the more important and successful truth commissions, exposing the details of "la violenca" during which hundreds of massacres were committed during a scorched earth campaign that displaced approx. one million people, a tenth of the population of Guatemala. Rothenberg received a grant from the Open Society to fund translation of the report and a legal team to oversee the editing and translation process. The final book will be stylistically formal but by no means unreadable, Rothenberg will be condensing this from hundreds of pages to about 200 pp which will allow him to be selective about the material he includes and will be editing out the UN style paragraphs which will should give the book a narrative feel. It will include a preface by either Rigoberta Menchu, a Guatemalan winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for indigenous activist work, or Kofi Annan, a forward by the Commissioner of the CEH, intro. by Rothenberg, and a conclusion by Michael Ignatieff.

Author Biography

Daniel Rothenberg is a professor of practice and executive director of the Center for Law and Global Affairs at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. He has over fifteen years' experience linking scholarship, field research, project management, and advocacy on international human rights and the rule of law. He is the author of With These Hands: The Hidden world of Migrant Farmworkers Today.

Table of Contents

Preface--Christian Tomuschat * Introduction: Facing La Violencia: The Importance of the Guatemalan Truth commission--Daniel Rothenberg * Prologue * PART I: Human Rights Violations and Acts of Violence * Extrajudicial Executions and Disappearances...Forced Disappearance of the Members of the National Labor Confederation (CNT) in Guatemala City and on the “Emaus Medio Monte” Ranch * Torture...Torture in the Military Zone of Playa Grande, Ixcan, Department of Quiche * Forced Displacement...Death by Forced Displacement, Chiche, Quiche Municipality * Massacres...Massacre at las Dos Erres * Rape and Sexual Violence...Maya K’iche Women Victims of Rape in the Department of Quiche * Genocide...Massacre en la Finca San Francisco Nentón, Huehuetenango * Acts of Violence...Kidnapping of Romeo Augusto de León, Baltasar Morales de la Cruz, and Héctor Menéndez de la Riva by the Rebel Armed Forces (FAR) * PART II: Key Actors in the Conflict and Their Strategies * Strategies and Units of the Military and the State...PAC Members Forced to Kill Other PAC Members * Strategies of the Guerilla Organizations...Arbitrary Execution of Six Members of the Guerilla Army of the Poor by Their Own Organization * Part III: Consequences and Effects of the Violence * Terror, its Effects and the Institutional Weakening of the State...Forced Transfer of Children Who Survived the Massacre in Río Negro Municipality of Rabinal, Baja Verapaz * Facing the Violence...Arbitrary Execution of Myrna Elizabeth Mack Chang * PART IV: Conclusions: Tragedy of the Armed Confrontation * PART V: Recommendations * Tables * Afterword "No Room for Despair": The Impact of the CEH--Daniel Rothenberg * Further Readings--Michelle Bellino * Note on the Translation * Acknowledgments * Appendices