Features

March 24, 2006

OPINION: Key to Future is in Confronting the Past

by Juan E. Méndez

Spanish

NEW YORK--Thirty years ago today, on March 24, 1976, the last military coup d'etat in Argentine history inaugurated a seven-year "Dirty War." Frighteningly similar to the post-9/11 global landscape, the 1970s and 80s were dangerous and painful times in the Southern Cone of Latin America. During those years, the governments of Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay were waging their own "wars on terror" and inflicting on their people a wholesale system of arbitrary detention without trial, forced disappearance of tens of thousands of people, use of clandestine prisons, and illicit cooperation between anti-terrorist paramilitaries and government officials that resulted in, among other crimes, extraordinary renditions.

In an effort that will appear all too familiar to us today, namely, to justify the torture and detention methods used by citing "exceptional circumstances," the Southern Cone military establishment at the same time professed to defend Western democratic values, human rights, and freedom. The result was a tragedy of human suffering that left open wounds that proved hard to heal. In the midst of all of the abuse and hypocrisy, it was difficult to envision a time when peace, democracy, and respect for human rights would prevail and countries' troubled pasts could be openly discussed and addressed.

The 30th anniversary of the coup is not only an occasion for reflection on how much violence and suffering can be induced by the politics of paranoia. It is also an opportunity to take stock of truly remarkable developments in that part of the world. It is a time to reflect on the lessons learned from these last three decades in order to prevent future abuses and enable democracy to take root. And it is also a moment to reflect on the importance of civil society efforts and political will to the region's democratic transition.

The inauguration of Michelle Bachelet in Chile-a woman, socialist, former political prisoner, and daughter of a man assassinated by the Pinochet regime-is the most striking sign of how far Southern Cone societies have progressed toward freedom in the last 30 years. Similarly, Argentine President Nestor Kirchner's determination to break the years of silence and address the human rights abuses committed by the military dictatorship, speaks volumes about how far the Southern Cone has progressed.

To be sure, the transition to democracy, a law- and rights-based society, sound economic policies, and prosperity, has not been easy, especially in Argentina where the gap between the rich and poor has actually widened in the last 20 years. But in fact, the most salient feature of democracy in the Southern Cone is that no matter how grave the social and economic situation, its people have consistently chosen democratic paths over authoritarian shortcuts.

Their reason for choosing open societies and the rule of law is clear: the political leadership and civil society in each country have made a conscious choice and a serious effort to reckon with the past in order to build more free and just societies. Going against the conventional advice to look forward and forget old enmities and past crimes, Argentina in 1983 and Chile in 1990 established truth commissions to investigate and reveal the truth about the crimes committed under past regimes. In the 1980s, in a historic effort to achieve greater accountability, Argentine courts tried nine members of successive military juntas-including three former presidents-for their roles in the "Dirty War." In an unfortunate setback, an uprising of officers facing prosecution led the government to shamefully retreat from trying perpetrators to granting blanket amnesties and issuing presidential pardons.

In all three countries, however, the victims and their relatives, with the support of civil society organizations, continued untiringly to insist on truth and justice. Their persistence led to a reexamination of past abuses by the courts and the eventual overturning of the prior rulings. In 2005, the Argentine Supreme Court declared the earlier pseudo-amnesty laws unconstitutional. As a result, hundreds of perpetrators now face prosecution for human rights crimes in Chile and Argentina-many of them in custody or under house arrest, including Generals Augusto Pinochet and Jorge Videla.

In addition to the prosecution of war criminals, both Argentina and Chile have instituted comprehensive reparations mechanisms for victims of abuse and their families. Security sector reform of the military and police forces is also well under way in both countries. Until recently, the Uruguayan government refused to follow this path because of threats from the military apparatus. But under the recent leadership of Tabaré Vázquez, Uruguay too has begun to address its past by initiating investigations and discussing reparations programs for families of the dead and disappeared.

Southern Cone societies are far from perfect democracies. But their choice to confront the past honestly has proven to be an invaluable and indispensable blueprint for dealing with today's human rights abuses. On this 30th anniversary of the coup and start of the "Dirty War" that wrecked so many lives, we should pause to applaud the strong political will and powerful support of civil society for embarking on transitional justice efforts to arrive at the truth, achieve accountability, make reparations to victims, and remove criminals from government. As the examples of Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay illustrate, dealing with the past is far from easy. But attempting to sweep the past under the rug and forget is a recipe for disaster, especially in today's post-9/11 world.

Juan E. Méndez is President of the International Center for Transitional Justice and the United Nations Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide. Mr. Méndez was a political prisoner and victim of torture in Argentina from 1975 to 1977.