Las comisiones de la verdad en la batalla de la memoria: usos y efectos disputados de la verdad extrajudicial en Chile

Abstract: Objective/context: Based on the framework of the battle of memory, this article examines the dispute (2014-2018) regarding the state embargo of documentation and information from 2004 from Chile's National Commission on Political Prisoners and Torture and its resistance to a collective that can question the embargo, triggering a legislative discussion. Methodology: In this article, we apply a procedural and pragmatic focus to a body of qualitatively analyzed multi-referential data. We take an in-depth look at the performative approach developed by the literature on truth commissions, but shift the examination of the framework of transitional justice to the terrain of the battle of memory supported by societies when dealing with these violent pasts. Conclusions: our analysis shows that the trajectory of the battle for truth and for the construction of collective memory on the past is not incremental and is subject to setbacks. The silence regarding the documentation of the Valech Commission triggered the involvement of new actors in the battle of memory that is no longer solely configured by the State-victim dyad. Originality/value: This article examines the truth commissions (TC) from a not frequently studied perspective: the document and information archive produced by these commissions and their impact on the collaboration with justice and the uncovering of the truth. To observe the dispute over the secret of the document and information archive of the commission from the terrain of the battle of memory allows us to extend the temporal reference framework, examining the TC beyond the effects and uses contemplated by the mandating State, including other actors, and leading the commissions to talk to each other and to other management devices and artifacts of such atrocities.Resumo: Objetivo/contexto: este artigo analisa, a partir do campo da batalha da memória, a disputa (2014-2018) sobre o embargo estatal da documentação e informação da Comissão Nacional sobre Prisão Política e Tortura de 2004, no Chile, e a sua resistência por um coletivo que interpela o embargo, desatando uma discussão legislativa. Metodologia: neste artigo, aplica-se uma abordagem pragmática e processual em um corpus de dados multirreferenciais, analisados qualitativamente. Aprofunda-se a abordagem performativa desenvolvida pela literatura sobre as comissões da verdade, mas mudamos sua análise do âmbito da justiça transicional para o campo da batalha da memória que as sociedades mantêm ao enfrentar esses passados violentos. Conclusões: nossa análise mostra que a trajetória da batalha pela verdade e pela construção de uma memória coletiva sobre o passado não sofre aumento e retrocede. O silenciamento sobre a documentação da Comissão Valech desencadeou o envolvimento de novos atores na batalha da memória, que já não é mais configurada apenas pela díade estado-vítima. Originalidade: este artigo examina as comissões da verdade (CV) de um ângulo menos estudado: o acervo documental e informacional produzido por essas comissões e seu impacto na colaboração com a justiça e no esclarecimento da verdade. Observar a disputa pelo segredo do acervo documental e informacional da comissão a partir do terreno da batalha da memória possibilita ampliar o quadro temporal de referência, examinar as CV mais além dos efeitos e usos contemplados pelo Estado mandatário, incluir outros atores e colocar as comissões em diálogo entre si e com outros dispositivos e artefatos de gestão desse tipo de atrocidades.Resumen: Objetivo/contexto: El artículo analiza, a partir del marco de la batalla de la memoria, la disputa (2014-2018) sobre el embargo estatal de la documentación e información de la Comisión Nacional sobre Prisión Política y Tortura de 2004 de Chile y su resistencia por un colectivo que interpela el embargo, desatando una discusión legislativa. Metodología: En este artículo aplicamos enfoque procesual y pragmático a un corpus de datos multirreferencial, analizado cualitativamente. Profundizamos la aproximación performativa desarrollada por la literatura sobre las comisiones de verdad, pero desplazamos su examen del marco de la justicia transicional al terreno de la batalla de la memoria que sostienen las sociedades al enfrentar estos pasados violentos. Conclusiones: Nuestro análisis demuestra que la trayectoria de la batalla por la verdad y por la construcción de una memoria colectiva sobre el pasado no es incremental y sufre reveses. El silenciamiento sobre la documentación de la Valech I gatilló el involucramiento de nuevos actores en la batalla de la memoria, que ya no se configura únicamente por la díada Estado-víctima. Originalidad: Este artículo examina las comisiones de verdad (CV) desde un ángulo menos estudiado: el acervo documental e informacional producido por estas comisiones y su impacto en la colaboración con la justicia y el esclarecimiento de la verdad. Observar la disputa por el secreto del acervo documental e informacional de la comisión desde el terreno de la batalla de la memoria permite ampliar el marco temporal de referencia, examinar las CV más allá de los efectos y usos contemplados por el Estado mandante, incluir otros actores y poner a las comisiones en diálogo entre sí y con otros dispositivos y artefactos de gestión de este tipo de atrocidades

Ni víctimas, ni héroes, ni arrepentido/as. Reflexiones en torno a la categoría “víctima” desde el activismo político

In the field of memory studies in Chile, the definition of victim that has become hegemonic is the one that refers to damage caused by state terrorism. However, that category has been subjected to tension from different viewpoints, including that of those who struggled against the military dictatorship of Pinochet. By means of the Narrative Productions method, this article establishes a discussion with the memories of political violence constructed by the protagonists of armed struggle during the1980s This method makes it possible to analyze the processes of construction and questioning of the category of victim and its contraposition to that of hero/heroine and that of repentant, thus contributing to articulate the struggles of the past and the political projects of the present

Inside ‘State Terrorism’: Bureaucracies and Social Attitudes in Response to Enforced Disappearance of Persons in Argentina

This article examines different social attitudes that members of state bureaucracies established with regard to the system of disappearances under the last military dictatorship (1976-1983) in Argentina. Although there have been significant contributions on the role of the state under the dictatorship in terms of transitional justice approaches, only recently have a number of works shown the grey areas of state officials and the cleavages and nuances that cut across the various levels of state bureaucracy. In this framework, applying a sociological analysis, this article examines a number of administrative records produced during the dictatorship by workers of a morgue and of a public hospital, located in the provinces of Có rdoba and Buenos Aires. In these records, the workers documented the existence of practices involved in the different stages of the system of disappearances. The article has four parts. The first section provides an overview of the political and historical context of 1970s Argentina. The second section presents a brief review of the literature on the role of the state under the dictatorship. The third section focuses on a letter by a group of morgue workers from the province of Có rdoba addressed to dictator General Jorge Videla demanding proper work gear and a rise in pay in consideration of the hazardous nature of the tasks they were ordered to perform in connection with enforced disappearances. The fourth section examines entries made in the incident books of the nursing service of the Posadas Hospital, located in Haedo, a town in the province of Buenos Aires, which provide evidence that some of the hospital workers were forcibly disappeared. The article concludes with a reflection for both academics and practitioners, suggesting the need to rethink state bureaucracies by questioning how they are represented as monolithic machines and re-examining the relationships between civil society and the state and the responsibilities under regimes that commit human rights abuses.Fil: Crenzel, Emilio Ariel. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin