Saturday 24 March 2012

International Right to Truth Day

Although this blog generally focuses on 24 March as the anniversary of the 1976 coup in Argentina, the day also has wider significance: it's been declared the International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims by the United Nations. That date was chosen in particular because it was the day on which Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero, of El Salvador, was assasinated in 1980.

The International Center for Transitional Justice is also supporting the day with a special website. In particular, it is concentrating on Indonesia, Colombia, Kenya, Lebanon and Bosnia & Herzegovina. Particularly interesting from my point of view is this piece about a travelling memory museum project in Colombia:

Memory Reconstructs Society and Reestablishes Rights (ICTJ)

Thanks to Cameron Sinclair from the ICTJ for drawing my attention to this issue.

4 comments:

Colin Snider said...

March 24 is also the day that the Argentine military officially removed the government of Isabel Peron, ushering in the 7 year "Dirty War" dictatorship.

Lillie Langtry said...

Hence the first line of this post! :-)

Colin Snider said...

Ah, yes - sorry. (This is what happens when you're reading well past when you should have gone to bed).

Lillie Langtry said...

Lol! Not to worry, comments are always nice, I just couldn't let that one pass! :-)