Archives And Human Rights

Description

Why and how can records serve as evidence of human rights violations, in particular crimes against humanity, and help the fight against impunity? Archives and Human Rights shows the close relationship between archives and human rights and discusses the emergence, at the international level, of the principles of the right to truth, justice and reparation. Through a historical overview and topical case studies from different regions of the world the book discusses how records can concretely support these principles. The current examples also demonstrate how the perception of the role of the archivist has undergone a metamorphosis in recent decades, towards the idea that archivists can and must play an active role in defending basic human rights, first and foremost by enabling access to documentation on human rights violations. Confronting painful memories of the past is a way to make the ghosts disappear and begin building a brighter, more serene future. The establishment of international justice mechanisms and the creation of truth commissions are important elements of this process. The healing begins with the acknowledgment that painful chapters are essential parts of history; archives then play a crucial role by providing evidence. This book is both a tool and an inspiration to use archives in defence of human rights. Cover......Page 1 Half Title......Page 2 Series......Page 3 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Dedication......Page 6 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgements......Page 11 List of authors......Page 12 Foreword......Page 19 Message from the President of the International Council on Archives......Page 21 Introduction......Page 24 Part 1 Archives and human rights: a close relationship......Page 32 1 Archives and citizens’ rights......Page 34 2 Records and archives documenting gross human rights violations......Page 44 3 Archives and transitional justice......Page 64 4 Archives and the duty to remember......Page 77 5 Archivists for human rights......Page 80 6 Archives and human rights beyond political transitions......Page 86 Part 2 Case studies......Page 104 1 Proof......Page 106 Africa......Page 136 2 A long walk to justice: archives and the truth and reconciliation process in South Africa......Page 138 3 Tunisia’s Truth and Dignity Commission: archives in the pursuit of truth......Page 149 4 The exploitation of the archives of Hissène Habré’s political police by the Extraordinary African Chambers......Page 161 5 The Gacaca archive: preserving the memory of post-genocide justice and reconciliation in Rwanda......Page 175 Asia......Page 188 6 Memory politics and archives in Sino-Japanese relations......Page 190 7 The use of the archives of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Documentation Centre of Cambodia by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia......Page 201 Europe......Page 212 8 Spanish military documentation on the Civil War and the dictatorship as an instrument of legal reparations for the victims of the Franco regime......Page 214 9 The “Centres of Remembrance” in post-communist Europe......Page 227 10 A legacy of the DDR: the Stasi Records Archive......Page 241 11 France and the archives of the Algerian War......Page 253 12 Truth, memory, and reconciliation in post-communist societies: the Romanian experience and the Securitate archives......Page 270 Latin America......Page 284 13 Archives for memory and justice in Colombia after the Peace Agreements......Page 286 14 Utilisation of the archives of the Peruvian Commission for Truth and Reconciliation (CVR)......Page 300 15 Archives, truth and the democratic transition process in Brazil......Page 311 16 Archives for truth and justice in Argentina: the search for the missing persons......Page 319 17 Chronicle of a backlash foretold: Guatemala’s National Police archives, lost and found and lost – and found? – again......Page 332 Concluding remarks......Page 343 Index......Page 346