Gonzalo Gamio Gehri
examine the issue of forgetting in the process of justice transitional *. Some companies have gone through long periods where the democratic system has been put on hold, or have faced bloody armed conflicts, decide - by a decision of a democratic government, at the initiative of civil society organizations, or under the influence of the international community in a context of institutional reconstruction - Looking back to the processes of violence or disruption of constitutional order, to inquire about their causes and their impact on people and institutions with a view to preventing the repetition occur both in the field of mentalities and in the social structures and policies. The memory work is associated with justice. This kind of projects fall under the rubric of so-called "transitional justice" because it is a form of research and political and legal action that takes place in recovery processes of democracy ("transitions"). Their argument states that it is possible to build a genuine democratic ethos or strengthen a culture of peace involves reviewing the violent past, assigning responsibilities and ensuring institutional and educational reforms based on knowledge of what (really) happened.
course, in difficult political transition, this is not the only existing position in the public debate about the relevance of clarification of the report about experiences of violence and repression of freedoms. A section of the (often self-proclaimed) "political class" - as well as the public sector - offer more "political" silence: leave things as are, not to investigate, advocate oblivion (not "reopen old wounds" and even raise an amnesty. Turn the page and move on. Some political transitions have defended and politically developed this idea. The English transition is a famous example of I have been describing. The restoration of democracy and the rule of law as well as the incorporation into the political landscape of organizations that had once been declared illegal, as the Communist Party, was an agreement of the parties involved silence for the crimes committed during the civil war and Franco dictatorship. This form of memory repression did not succeed in contexts extra-political. The number of books and films that deal with the English civil war and crimes of the Franco period - think Language butterfly, or the recent Pan's Labyrinth, among many others - highlight the need for many English to clarify the past.
What kind of neglect is present in this kind of preaching? Is it possible that the neglect of an oversight policy of silence "repairer", which can provide "health" to the community? Or is it a provision that only promotes the suppression of memory and impunity? It is clear that Memory work is a kind of dialectic between the re-sane and oblivion; Tzvetan Todorov has taught us that memory is a selective process - a form of insight that allows us to recognize what image of the past must be retained and what experiences can be forgotten. The absolute record of the past (computer memory) is impossible for the human spirit (would be a curse in the story line of Borges Funes the memoirist ). Victims may choose to follow the path to oblivion, once the period of mourning and action for justice. The true enemy of memory exercise is to build an "official history" a story designed by a dome which holds power, drafted to suit their interests, a story that reflects the experience of victims and denounces any form of injustice or oppression [1] . The "official story" is not the result of civic deliberation about what is appropriate, and neither recognizes the critical voice of those who have been directly affected by violence.
Paul Ricoeur speaks of "deliberate neglect", produced by an ethical decision. At one extreme, we have the need of forgetting who actually has settled with the past, has taken steps to prevent similar situations, and is able to look at the past in a less stressful and painful. This is a "relative neglect", it is rather a change of attitude to the experience. A certain disconnect with the bitterness associated with the re-sane. This type of arrangement is often associated with the allocation of forgiveness, but remember that this is a "grace" that can grant only the victim, and will not delete from the memory or the suspension of justice. At the other extreme we have what is called the "forgotten flight", associated with the intellectual tradition of tragedy Greek described as "willful blindness," is not wanting to see, not wanting to take notice of something " [2] . this author rightly points out that this kind of neglect is associated with failure. The officers have seen, but prefer to look the other way.
* This is the draft a brief excerpt from a research I am conducting for UARM and an American university.
[1] Revise Todorov, Tzvetan memory Abuse Cambridge, Polity Press 2000 pp. 15-16.
[2] Ricoeur, Paul "Forgetting the horizon of the limitation" at: Universal Academy of Cultures Why remember? Buenos Aires, 2002 p. Granicus 74.
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