Learning from Atrocity: Secondary School Education and Historical Memory in Post Conflict Latin America (2006 - present)
Learning from Atrocity presents a comparative
investigation of how five Latin American nations Argentina, Chile, El
Salvador, Guatemala and Uruguay represent past political violence in
public high school textbooks. These countries all experienced periods of
authoritarian rule characterized by severe human rights violations as
well as transitional justice processes such as domestic prosecutions,
truth commissions, reparations for victims and memorialization. The
project is managed by Daniel Rothenberg and contributes to an improved
understanding of how public education can be used as a means of engaging
with past political violence. The research will be presented in a
monograph documenting how past atrocities are represented in each
countrys high school textbooks along with a comparison of approaches
within the region. Ideally, the project will influence public policy and
broaden discussion and debate regarding the central role of public
education in defending human rights and supporting transitional justice.
Additional Information
Memory of Silence (2007 - present)
The Memory of Silence Project presents an
accessible version of the final report of the Guatemalan Commission for
Historical Clarification (CEH), commonly known as the Guatemalan Truth
Commission, coupled with a series of critical essays. The final report
was released in 1999 and presents the definitive account of human rights
violations committed during the nations thirty-six year internal armed
conflict in which over 200,000 people were killed, 50,000 of whom were
disappeared. State repression was so severe during this conflict that
the CEH determined genocide had occurred. However, the CEHs report is
12 volumes long and largely inaccessible for ordinary readers. This
project addresses this situation by presenting edited selections of the
report alongside essays that contextualize the work of the CEH and
review the status of its recommendations over the past decade. The
material will be presented as a book in English and Spanish. The project
is run by Daniel Rothenberg and includes the assistance of a number of
DePaul University students, fellows and consultants.
Additional Information
Indigenous Peoples Legal Clinics (2001 2005)
IHRLI designed and managed a series of clinics
for representatives of indigenous peoples in Mexico on how to use the
Inter-American Human Rights System to defend and protect fundamental
rights. The clinics provided intensive 5-8 day trainings held in
indigenous communities in different areas of Mexico. Participants
developed cases from their communities and learned how to present local
problems as violations of international human rights. To date, IHRLI has
trained over 120 NGO representatives and leaders of Mixtec, Purhepecha,
Tojolabal, Triqui, and Zapotec communities. Many clinic participants
have filed petitions with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
and several have been invited to present public audiences at the
Commission on issues such as discriminatory due process violations,
womens rights and political repression. In a number of cases, clinic
participants have won important remedies, including liberating hundreds
of falsely imprisoned indigenous detainees in Oaxaca. The clinics have
been managed by IHRLI staff and consultants including Soledad Garcia and
Victor Rodriguez. DePaul University College of Law students have
assisted in preparing materials for the clinics and providing support
for the advocacy activities of different indigenous communities.
Indigenous Womens Legal Clinics (2004 2006)
IHRLI adapted the methodology of the Indigenous
Peoples Clinics to assist indigenous womens organizations use the
Inter-American Human Rights System as an advocacy tool. IHRLI designed
and managed two clinics focusing on the specific challenges faced by
indigenous women, including training on economic rights, gender
discrimination, structural inequality and rape and other forms of sexual
violence. Clinic participants helped draft a review of human rights
violations suffered by indigenous women in southern Mexico that was
presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The clinics
were managed by IHRLI consultants Soledad Garcia and Victor Rodriguez.
Manual for Litigating Indigenous Peoples' Cases within the Inter-American Human Rights System (2005 2009)
IHRLI created and printed a litigation manual to
assist indigenous organizations in using the Inter-American Human Rights
System to protect and defend their rights. The manual provides an
overview of the system alongside a discussion of how to develop
appropriate litigation strategies. The manual was drafted by Soledad
Garcia, Victor Rodriguez and Fabian Salvioli with the intellectual and
institutional support of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights.
The manual has been tested in the field in IHRLIs Indigenous Peoples
Legal Clinics and distributed widely among key organizations and
advocates.
Additional Information
Haiti/Dominican Republic Project (2003 present)
The Haiti/Dominican Republic Project links
documentation of the continued suffering of Haitian migrants to the
Dominican Republic with an analysis of the historical context of the two
countries political relations. The research focuses on how
contemporary migratory patterns are connected to structural inequality
and questions of regional security. The work is based on a series of
field visits by Daniel Rothenberg and Etelle Higonnet as well as
contributions by students who spent time in the region as Sullivan Human
Rights Interns in the Americas.
Ongoing Regional Advocacy
IHRLI has strong connections with human rights NGOs
around the region and works closely with regional bodies such as the
Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, based in San Jose, Costa Rica.
IHRLI staff work with DePaul University students and outside partners
to assist with a variety of advocacy activities to defend and protect
human rights in the region. These efforts include assistance in drafting
documents, aiding with local advocacy, preparing petitions before the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and related activities. For
example, IHRLI recently presented an Amicus Curiae brief before the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights arguing that the court should apply
the principle of superior responsibility to require the government of
Guatemala to investigate high-level state actors regarding their
responsibility for the Dos Erres massacre.
Additional Information
The
IHRLI amicus brief was drafted by Daniel Rothenberg, Managing Director
of International Programs, Daniel Thomann, a local human rights lawyer
and a group of DePaul students including: Alex Konetzki (Summer Intern)
and Ben Sandahl (PILI Fellow).
Past Projects:
Inter-American Legal Clinic (1999)
In 1999, IHRLI held a legal clinic to train Latin
American activists on how to use the Inter-American Human Rights System
to bring cases against their governments as part of a broad strategy to
protect and defend fundamental human rights. The group included
twenty-one lawyers and human rights advocates from El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. The clinic linked general background
information on the Inter-American System with participatory exercises
and role-playing sessions. Each participant developed a case based on an
actual set of violations from their community and then followed the
process from a petition before the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights through the submission of the case to the Inter-American Court of
Human Rights. Cases covered violations of due process, extra-judicial
execution, forced disappearance, torture, arbitrary arrest, and illegal
detention.
Rule of Law Training Program for Guatemalan Judges, Prosecutors, and Public Defenders (1994 1995)
In 1994, Guatemala adopted a new criminal code as part
of its judicial reform program that adopted a more adversarial model.
This process transformed the professional roles of judges, prosecutors,
and other legal professionals. To help support the transition, IHRLI
designed the Rule of Law Training Program for Guatemalan Judges,
Prosecutors, and Public Defenders which ran from 1994 to 1995. Over one
hundred judges participated in six training sessions held at DePaul
University College of Law and two leading Guatemalan universities. The
training was managed by Professor Leonard Cavise and included lectures,
participatory exercises and simulated trials.
Human Rights Lawyer Training Program for El Salvador (1994 1995)
IHRLI worked with the University of El Salvador and
the University of Central America to create a three-month training
program for Salvadoran human rights lawyers. The trainings were held at
DePaul University College of Law and included courses on the role of
human rights in criminal justice processes, the structure and function
of the Inter-American Human Rights System, United Nations mechanisms,
and an overview of international law. Salvadoran and Guatemalan
participants were drawn from the countries major human rights
organizations. Many have gone on to play significant roles in various
advocacy and governmental organizations including the Salvadoran Human
Rights Ombudsmans office, the Archbishops Human Rights Office in
Guatemala and the Guatemalan National Confederation of Trade Unions.
Support for the United Nations Truth Commission in El Salvador (1992 1993)
In 1992, the United Nations created the Commission on
the Truth for El Salvador to investigate serious and systematic
atrocities committed during the eleven year conflict that devastated the
country and killed an estimated 75,000 people. IHRLI supported Douglass
Cassel, Executive Director, in his work as one of four top advisors to
the Commissioners. The Commissions final report, From Madness to Hope:
The 12-Year war in El Salvador: Report of the Commission on the Truth
for El Salvador, was released in 1993. The report documented and
analyzed thousands of cases of human rights violations and presented a
series of recommendation to assist the nation in facing past atrocities
and developing policies to support the democratic transition, aid
victims and ensure improved protections for human rights. The Truth
Commission in El Salvador became an important guide for post-conflict
justice initiatives in Guatemala, South Africa and around the world.