Truth, Justice and Memory for Dictatorship-era Human Rights Violations, 40 Years After the Military Coup

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cath Collins
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luane Flores Chuquel

This current work studies the human rights violations suffered by indigenous peoples during the period of the Brazilian CivilMilitary Dictatorship. Likewise, it makes some notes about the beginning of the violations in a moment before this dark period. On this path, even before the Military Coup was launched in the year 1964 (one thousand nine hundred and sixty-four), the Indians were already experiencing constant usurpations of their rights at the expense of irresponsibilities commanded most of the time, by those who should watch over their rights lives. As will be seen, the violation and disrespect for Human Rights in the face of these peoples ended up becoming common and gaining strength mainly in the beginning of the implementation of the military regime. Negligent attempts at acculturation and "emancipation", in addition to inconsequential contacts with isolated peoples, culminated in the destruction and predatory logging of their lands. Missing processes of terribly violating demarcations of indigenous areas promoted the expulsion of countless peoples, causing the Indians to fall into a life totally surrounded by hunger, begging, alcoholism and prostitution. All in the name of the so-called “economic advance”, which aimed at building roads, in what was called “occupation of the Amazon”? As frequently stated by the authorities at the time, the Amazon rainforest was seen and understood as a “population void” by the Military Government. According to this thought idealized by the disgusting dictators and supporters, it will be observed that the cases of violations of Human Rights have been systematically “legalized”. The life, land and culture of indigenous peoples were left in the background. Depending on this brief narrative developed through documentary research, based on a hypothetical-deductive method, the intention is to rescue the martyrdoms of that time, demonstrating what actually happened to indigenous peoples during the Military Regime, in the simplest attempt to remember or even disclose to those who are unaware of this part of history. All that said, don't you forget. So that it never happens again.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Egberto Pereira Dos Reis ◽  
José Carlos Rothen

<p><strong>Resumo:</strong> O presente artigo tem como finalidade abordar a postura da Igreja Católica, diante do regime militar e dos direitos humanos. A nossa pesquisa tem como fonte principal a Revista Eclesiástica Brasileira (REB) no período entre 1972 a 1986. Inicialmente a Igreja apoia o golpe cívico/militar e depois parte dela denuncia as violações de direitos humanos por parte do regime. Assim, identificamos tendências conservadoras e progressistas na instituição eclesial, travando guerras de posição segundo a concepção de Gramsci.</p><p><strong>Palavras-chaves:</strong> Regime militar; Igreja; Direitos humanos; Teologia da Libertação.</p><p><strong>Abstract:</strong> This article has purpose to approach the position of the Catholic Church, before the military regime and human rights. Our research has as its main source Revista Brasileira Ecclesiastical (REB) in the period from 1972 to 1986. Initially the Church supports the civic/military coup and then part of it denounces human rights violations by the regime. Thus, we identified conservative and progressive trends in the ecclesial institution, locking position of wars according to the conception of Gramsci.</p><p><strong>Keywords:</strong> Military regime; Church; Human Rights; Libertation Theology.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mkhululi Nyathi ◽  
Matshobana Ncube

November 2017 saw the Zimbabwean Defence Forces executing a military coup against Mr Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's long-serving President. The military sought to justify the coup on the basis that there were divisions in the party in government - ZANU-PF - and that it was stepping in to protect what it called the gains of the liberation struggle. The military demanded, among other things, the reinstatement of those ZANU-PF party members who had been removed from their government and party positions. By brazenly involving itself in politics, let alone aligning itself with a political party, the military violated a number of constitutional provisions that prohibit the involvement of the security services in politics. Several individual freedoms and liberties, including the right to liberty, freedom of expression, freedom of movement and the right to security and freedom from torture, were violated during the coup. There are also allegations that there was loss of life directly linked to the coup. In effecting the coup, the military immobilised the police service and arrogated to itself the role of civilian policing, including the setting up of roadblocks on major roads and arresting and detaining those it identified as 'criminal elements'. The Zimbabwean Defence Forces have a long history of serious human rights violations, including politically-related torture and murder. They also stand accused of chronic involvement in politics, including the unleashing of violence during elections on behalf of ZANU-PF. Therefore, there is no hope that human rights protection and promotion will be on the agenda of the post-coup government - itself consisting of the main coup leaders and most of the ministers that served in the repressive Mugabe government. There is a need to establish mechanisms to ensure that those responsible for the coup and its attendant human rights violations and crimes are brought to account.


2009 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boubacar N'Diaye

ABSTRACTThe 3 August 2005 military coup was Mauritania's best opportunity to turn the page on decades of the deposed quasi-military regime's destructive politics. This article critically analyses relevant aspects of the transition that ensued in the context of the prevailing models of military withdrawal from politics in Africa. It also examines the challenges that Mauritania's short-lived Third Republic faced. It argues that the transition process did not escape the well-known African military junta leader's proclivity to manipulate transitions to fulfil suddenly awakened self-seeking political ambitions, in violation of solemn promises. While there was no old-fashioned ballot stuffing to decide electoral outcomes, Mauritania's junta leader and his lieutenants spared no effort to keep the military very much involved in politics, and to perpetuate a strong sense of entitlement to political power. Originally designed as an ingenious ‘delayed self-succession’ of sorts, in the end, another coup aborted Mauritania's democratisation process and threw its institutions in a tailspin. This only exacerbated the challenges that have saddled Mauritania's political system and society for decades – unhealthy civil-military relations, a dismal ‘human rights deficit’, terrorism, and a neo-patrimonial, disastrously mismanaged economy.


2003 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nae Young Lee

New democracies face the arduous task of determining how to deal with gross human rights violations committed during their authoritarian pasts, or the “torturer problem,” to quote Samuel P. Huntington (1991). A new democracy can enhance its legitimacy if it brings human rights violators to justice, thus demonstrating the supremacy of democratic values, including the rule of law. By ensuring that no wrongdoer will go unpunished, the democratic regime prevents the danger of a future military coup d'état and future human rights abuses. Equally critical, it strengthens the power base of democratic forces by delegitimizing or even occasioning a purge of key authoritarian leaders, who often wield influence within the institutions of power, including the military, even after democratic transition. Punishing past wrongdoings constitutes an act of preempting a democratic reversal. In this sense, the question of the past becomes a struggle over power with today's authoritarian forces and for the future of third-wave democracy.


Author(s):  
Aoláin Fionnuala Ní

Principle 29 deals with restrictions on the jurisdiction of military courts. Under this Principle, the adjudication of human rights violations by military courts is explicitly excluded, and ordinary domestic courts are mandated as the only appropriate venue of judicial oversight. Nevertheless, military courts remain functionally important for the routine and uncontroversial deployment of military law consistent with international law. The chapter first provides a contextual and historical background on Principle 29 before discussing its theoretical framework and how military courts are used in various countries such as Ireland and Turkey. Issues arising when civilians find themselves within the jurisdiction of military courts are also examined, along with the difficulties of ensuring fair trials in military courts. This chapter shows that military courts, while certainly serving important functions within the military forces of states, remain subject to human rights and humanitarian law compliance.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vito D'Orazio

Sometimes states repress political campaigns harshly, and sometimes they do not. Why? I argue that military cooperation with liberal democracies constrains the state from using severe forms of repression against opposition campaigns. Liberal democracies face costs for human rights violations by their friends, and are likely to coerce the military from repressive actions. Such interconnectedness also socializes the military with democratic militaries that have strong norms against the use of widespread and excessive repression. However, the military is not the only repressing agency, and therefore this constraint does not act to prevent repression but rather to limit its severity. This theory is tested using the NAVCO data and a new, latent measure of military cooperation. I find that military cooperation with liberal democracies does not prevent the state from repressing opposition movements, but it does limit the severity. This finding provides evidence of one benefit to expanding multinational security cooperation initiatives involving liberal democracies.


Urban History ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 646-662
Author(s):  
JENNIFER T. HOYT

ABSTRACT:The last military dictatorship to come to power in Argentina is most well known for its atrocious human rights violations. However, this campaign of terror represents just one act carried out in the regime's efforts to counter leftist activities. The military sought to provide responsive administration as a means to pacify the nation. In the national capital, Buenos Aires, the military pursued a comprehensive set of urban reforms meant to streamline and control the metropolis. Cold War ideologies deeply penetrated the every-day and profoundly changed how citizens lived in Buenos Aires.


Asy-Syari ah ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-196
Author(s):  
Andrey Sujatmoko

AbstractReparation is an integral part of state responsibility for the past of gross human rights violations committed in any country and it is also legal obligation under international law. Those violations have ever committed in Argentina (1976-1983) and Chile (1973-1990) during the military dictatorship regime. The applied method in this study is descriptive-analytic with historical approach to the reparation efforts for the victims of the past gross human rights violations in those countries. The author concludes that the characteristic of the gross human rights violations committed in Argentina and Chile can be categorized as crime against humanity based on the Rome Statute 1998. Reparations programs by fullfiling economic and social rights of the victims of gross human rights violations have been done by both countries as well.  Keywords: Reparation, Victim, Violation AbstrakPemulihan adalah bagian integral dari tanggung jawab negara atas pelanggaran berat HAM masa lalu yang terjadi di dalam suatu negara dan hal itu juga merupakan kewajiban hukum menurut hukum internasional. Pelanggaran-pelanggaran tersebut pernah terjadi di Argentina (1976-1983) dan Chile (1973-1990) selama rezim diktator militer berkuasa. Metode yang digunakan dalam kajian ini adalah deskriptif analitis dengan pendekatan historis terhadap upaya upaya-upaya pemulihan terhadap para korban pelanggaran berat HAM masa lalu di kedua negara tersebut. Penulis menyimpulkan bahwa karakteristik pelanggaran berat HAM yang terjadi di Argentina dan Cile dapat dikategorikan sebagai kejahatan terhadap kemanusiaan berdasarkan Statuta Roma 1998. Program-program pemulihan dengan memenuhi hak-hak ekonomi dan sosial dari para korban pelanggaran juga telah dilakukan oleh kedua negara itu. Kata Kunci: Pemulihan, Korban, Pelanggaran


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