Worksheet - Impunity and Accountability in Colombia - Revised by Mark Sommer

1. Defining Terms

We all use terms like peace and justice every day. In principle, everyone wants both. But sometimes they run at cross-purposes: In the shattered conditions following violent conflict, it may not be possible to attain peace without giving amnesty to those known to have perpetrated heinous crimes.

a. Ask students to consider the moral and practical quandaries that have arisen in specific post-conflict societies when combatants widely acknowledged to have committed crimes can only be induced to give up their guns in return for being given impunity to prosecution. What does it do to the integrity of judicial systems and to the victims’ sense of fairness when known criminals are permitted to go free? How do such individuals find closure when they often must continue to live in close proximity with those who committed crimes against them or their families?

b. In the light of these questions, ask students to consider the meanings of the concepts “impunity” and “accountability.” What do these terms mean to victims, perpetrators, governments and judicial authorities in the often brutal realities of post-conflict cultures?

c. Ask students to brainstorm a list of words that come to mind related to the concept of “Impunity”. Then ask them to do the same for the word “Accountable.”

d. What is the meaning of the term “transitional justice” and what are its essential principles? Ask people to work in small groups of 3-6 people to develop a list of these principles. Ask the groups to share their lists, reporting one principle at a time and not repeating any that other groups have already stated. At the end, discuss with the group what characteristics would NOT form part of a transitional justice process.

e. Four of the key elements of transitional justice are truth seeking, reparations, prosecutions, and guarantees that crimes will not be repeated. Keeping these components in mind, ask students to examine how the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) has worked in various countries. Divide the class into groups to research different ICTJ case studies and produce a short paper that answers the following questions: Are all four elements being addressed in each country? If not, what could be done to address the missing elements? Be sure to take cultural differences into consideration.

2. Trauma healing, Justice and Meaning Making
Radio host Mark Sommer points out that Margarita Morales transformed her personal tragedy into a purposeful life.

a. What do people lose as a consequence of war, violence or systemic oppression? What are the stages of grief and healing they must negotiate on the way to recovery? How do they find renewed hope, meaning and purpose in their lives in the wake of these inexplicable injustices? What can they look to formal judicial processes to address and what must they cope with on their own? How effective have transitional justice processes been in holding perpetrators accountable for their deeds? What can and do individuals and communities do to make peace with themselves and the perpetrators still living in their midst when often protracted judicial processes produce no conclusive outcome? Ask people to work in small groups of 3-6 people to generate a list of ideas about how (1) transitional justice processes address these losses on the individual, family, community, and national levels and 2) how individuals and communities address these losses when formal procedures don’t achieve a decisive outcome.

b. Ask students to write a one-page essay or poem describing how individuals and communities make sense of life and their sense of fairness in the face of inexplicable cruelty and injustice.

c. In class, ask class members to pair up. Ask students to share their own experiences of injustice, misfortune, and how judicial systems have dealt with them in their own lives. Ask one another to reflect on the following questions: How do we make positive meaning from senseless cruelty and incomprehensible tragedy? Do individuals heal best by dealing with their grief themselves or do they sometimes find new purpose in helping others struggling to recover from their own parallel losses? What roles can and have collective truth-telling and mutual support played in facilitating the healing process among victims of injustice?

3. Impunity

Despite extensive efforts to bring perpetrators to justice in Colombia’s long-running civil war, just a handful of secondary figures have been prosecuted and convicted for the crimes they committed. Those in positions of authority have remained beyond the reach of the law, fostering a culture of impunity and immunity to prosecution.

International criminal law has emerged in recent years in a concerted effort to curb and eventually eliminate impunity for human rights abusers. Using the statement, “International criminal law will end impunity,” identify the extremes of a spectrum—for example, the left corner of the room is total agreement with the statement and the right corner is total disagreement. Ask students to stand on the spectrum according to their degree of agreement or disagreement with the statement. Ask students to pair off to discuss with those closest to them why they are standing where they are. These groups can then share highlights from their discussion with the rest of the class.

a. In Colombia human rights abuses by paramilitary and guerilla groups are receiving more attention than military human rights abuses. Ask students to discuss the impact of allowing impunity for the military on attempts to hold paramilitary and guerilla groups accountable.

b. Ask students to produce a 3-5 page paper on the value and impact of strengthening civil society for the purpose of reducing cultures of impunity.

4. Impunity and Accountability

In Colombia, officials are trying to change a culture of impunity into one of accountability.

a. A “me vs. them” mentality drives people to perpetrate violence against their fellow citizens. In small groups, ask half of the groups to answer the following question: What can be done to transform this exclusive mentality into an integrative one? The other half should answer the question: What changes of attitude would support accountability instead of impunity? Groups can then share one or two highlights from their discussions.

b. Colombian jurist Uldy Teresa Jimenez discusses the case of “the Parrot” (Wilson Salazar Carrazcal, a member of the Hector Julio Peinado Becerra group) and describes an apology he made to the families of two of his victims. Were you surprised to hear that the family accepted his apology? What role do such encounters between victims and perpetrators play in achieving accountability and facilitating healing? In groups of two or three, ask students to role-play for 15 minutes an encounter between a victim and a perpetrator based on this situation. In a large group, debrief by asking students them to share what they learned in playing the roles of victim or perpetrator.

c. Ask students to research and write a report on the state of affairs in Colombia, Liberia, Sierra Leone or another region that has been the scene of violent conflict in recent years and draw up a plan for achieving judicial and community accountability. The plan should include benchmarks for 1 year, 5 years, 10 years and 20+ years.

d. How does accountability apply to groups and nations? In pairs, ask people to answer the following question: What does group accountability look like? Have the pairs join into groups of 4-6 to discuss their answers, and then respond to the following question: What does national and international accountability look like? Have groups share their answers with the class.

5. (Transitional) Justice Initiatives

“Transitional justice was a term created in order to explain the difficult forms in which justice could be met in the middle of transitions from authoritarian regimes into democratic governments and also from internal armed conflicts or internal wars into peaceful settlements.” ~Javier Ciurlizza, in “Impunity and Accountability in Colombia”

a. Economic inequality is endemic to Colombian society, with a small entrenched elite dominating both economic and political power over an impoverished majority. In groups of 4-6, ask students to discuss the following questions: How does economic inequality influence the efficacy of transitional justice initiatives? What can be done to reduce the negative impacts of entrenched inequality on the equitable administration of justice?

b. In groups, brainstorm how to reintegrate perpetrators/aggressors back into the community in ways that take into account accepted standards of justice and the safety of victims. Ask half the groups to conduct the exercise from the perspective of perpetrators/aggressors and the other half from the perspective of victims. Ask the groups to share their answers with the class.

c. In many instances, in their crimes offenders/aggressors are reacting to perceived injustices they themselves have experienced. In groups of four, ask students to discuss how being both a victim and offender at the same time impacts the justice process. Have two students from each group move to another group to discuss the importance of accountability in breaking the victim/offender cycle. (For information on the Victim/Offender Cycle, see Yoder, C. (2005). Little book of trauma healing: When violence strikes and community security is threatened. Intercourse: Good Books.)

d. In Colombia, the AUC (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia), a right-wing paramilitary force, has been partly funded by American businesspersons. Do these individuals carry a degree of responsibility for the Colombian conflict? Why or why not? If so, how might they be included in the justice process? Divide the class into groups to discuss these questions from the perspectives of Colombians and American businesspersons. The groups can be brought together to simulate a discussion between the two interested parties.

6. Compare/Contrast

This section provides a guided study to compare the case of Colombia with other post-conflict societies around the world.

a. Studies demonstrate that women play a unique role in putting an end to organized mass violence and in the subsequent healing process. Ask students to research what roles women have played in ending violent conflicts around the world, with each student choosing a specific country or region. Bougainville, Liberia, and Bosnia are examples of good case studies for comparison. Students should come to class prepared to compare the Colombian conflict with other conflicts. In groups, ask students to answer the following questions: How have women contributed to ending organized violence in this conflict and in the subsequent healing process? How have/can women contribute uniquely to the situation in Colombia?

b. The number of internally displaced people (IDP) in Colombia continues to grow. Research what issues and obstacles IDPs face and consider what accountability might mean for them. Ask students to compare and contrast the issues of IDPs in Colombia with the issues IDPs confront in other post-conflict societies like Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Serbia. Ask them to write a short reflection on what would need to be addressed in order for IDPs to experience a sense of justice?

c. Compare the law of Peace and Justice in Colombia with similar initiatives in countries such as Northern Ireland, Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste and Argentina. The class can be divided into groups of four, with each group assigned one country to compare with Colombia.
Ask each group to answer the following questions: What are the strengths and weaknesses of the initiatives in these countries? What lessons can Colombia learn from these case studies? How would these lessons change or strengthen the law of Peace and Justice in Colombia? Groups can then present their findings to the class.

Written by: Janet Hines
Revised by: Mark Sommer