The Frontiers of Memory: Human Rights as Potential Limits to the Construction of Memory in Colombia's Law on Victims - Núm. 53, Septiembre 2022 - Revista Derecho del Estado - Libros y Revistas - VLEX 910497742

The Frontiers of Memory: Human Rights as Potential Limits to the Construction of Memory in Colombia's Law on Victims

AutorRosa Ana Alija Fernández - Diego F. Tarapués Sandino - Elisenda Calvet Martínez
CargoAssociate Professor of Public International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain) - Associate Professor of Constitutional Law, Faculty of Law, University of Santiago de Cali (Cali, Colombia) - Assistant Professor of Public International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain)
Páginas55-88
Revista Derecho del Estado n.º 53, septiembre - diciembre, pp. 55-88
ROSA ANA ALIJA FERNÁNDEZ*
DIEGO F. TARAPUÉS SANDINO**
ELISENDA CALVET MARTÍNEZ***
The Frontiers of Memory:
Human Rights as Potential Limits
to the Construction of Memory
in Colombia’s Law on Victims****-*****
Las fronteras de la memoria:
los derechos humanos como potenciales
límites a la construcción de la memoria
en la Ley de Víctimas colombiana
ABST RACT
Increasing demands for the international recognition of a human right to
memory tend to disregard the potential conflict between this right and other
* Associate Professor of Public Internationa l Law, Faculty of Law, University of Bar-
celona (Barcelona, Spain). PhD in Law from the University of Barcelona. Contact: ral ija@
ub.ed u orcid i d: 0000-0002-5565-711X.
** Associate Professor of Constitutional Law, Faculty of Law, University of Santiago
de Cali (Cali, Colombia). Master of Laws (ll.M.) and PhD Candidate from the Georg-
August-Universität Göttingen (Germany). Contact: dtara pues@us c.edu. co orcid i d: 0000-
0003-0048-655X.
*** Assistant Professor of Public International Law, Faculty of Law, University of
Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain). PhD in Law from the University of Barcelona. Contact: eli-
sendacalvet@ub.edu orcid id: 0000-0001-6634-7902.
**** Recibido el 7 de abril de 2020, aprobado el 23 de febrero de 2022.
Para citar el artículo: al ija ferná nde z, R. A., tarap ués sandi no, D. F. y
calvet ma rtínez , E. The Frontiers of Memory: Huma n Rights as Potential Limits to the
Construction of Me mory in Colombia’s Law on Victim s. En Revista Derecho del Estado,
Universidad Externado de Colombia. N.º 53, septiembre-diciembre de 2022, 55-88.
doi: htt ps://doi.org/10.18601/01229893.n53.02
***** This paper came out of the research project Las f ronteras de la memoria. L os
derechos humanos c omo marco delimitador de l a construcción de la mem oria en Colombia,
funded by the Institut Cata là Internacional per la Pau in the fra mework of its multi-year
Pla n (2015 ricip 00007). All tran slations are the authors’ own unless otherwise indicated.
The authors would like to than k the reviewers for their thoughtful comments.
Rosa Ana Alija F., Diego F. Tarapués S., Elisenda Calvet M.
Revista Derecho del Estado n.º 53, septiembre - diciembre de 2022, pp. 55-88
56
recognized human rights in transitional justice processes. Relying on the
lessons learned from the Colombian Victims and Land Restitution Law, this
article provides an overview of the rights (both of the victims themselves
and of the perpetrators) that might collide with, and impose restrictions on,
an eventual right to memory, while discussing the practical safeguards in
the design and implementation of the policies of memory that are necessary
to accommodate the rights in conflict.
KEYWORDS
Memory, human rights, Colombia, transitional justice, international law.
RESUME N
Las crecientes demandas para que se reconozca internacionalmente el
derecho a la memoria tienden a no tener en cuenta el potencial conflicto
que puede surgir entre este derecho y otros derechos humanos reconocidos
en los procesos de justicia transicional. Tomando como punto de partida la
Ley colombiana de Víctimas y Restitución de Tierras, este artículo ofrece
un panorama de los derechos (tanto de las víctimas como de los victimarios)
que pueden entrar en colisión con un eventual derecho a la memoria –e
incluso imponerle restricciones–, y aborda las salvaguardias prácticas en el
diseño e implementación de políticas de memoria que resultan necesarias
para acomodar los derechos en conflicto.
PALABRAS CLAVE
Memoria, derechos humanos, Colombia, justicia transicional, derecho inter-
nacional.
SUMARIO
Introduction. 1. Scope and content of the State’s duty to preserve memory.
1.1. The State’s duty to preserve memory as a principle linked to the fight
against impunity. 1.2. The duty to preserve memory in Colombia’s Law on
Victims. 2. Human rights that might come into conflict with the construc-
tion of memory. 2.1. Construction of memory and rights to due process. 2.2.
Right to privacy and right to honor. 2.3. Freedom of expression. 2.4. Cultural
rights (participation in cultural life). Conclusions. References.
The Frontiers of Memory: Human Rights as Potential Limits to the Construction…
Revista Derecho del Estado n.º 53, septiembre - diciembre, pp. 55-88
57
INT RODUCT ION
As international human rights law currently stands, the States’ duty to pre-
serve the memory of gross human rights violations committed in the past
would appear to be crystallizing. This duty is included both in the set of
principles on human rights and the fight against impunity prepared by Louis
Joinet – adopted by the United Nations (un) Commission on Human Rights
in 19 97[1] – and in the update carried out by Dianne Orentlicher in 2005.2
Although these principles have not been adopted by the States as a binding
international legal instrument, both documents are key to the institutionaliza-
tion3 of a trend that began in the 1990s, with the undertaking to remember,
honor and commemorate the victims of the Holocaust that emerged from the
diplomatic conferences on the subject,4 and which continued with the 2001
World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and
Related Intolerance, where the question of the preservation of the historical
memory of slavery, the slave trade, apartheid, colonialism and genocide was
addressed.5 Likewise, the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to
a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International
Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian
Law (hereinafter Reparation Principles) include among their measures of
1 United Nations. Question of the Impunity of Perpetrato rs of Human Rights Vio-
lations (Civil and Politic al). Revised Final Report prepared by Mr. Joinet pursuant to
Sub-Commission Decision 1996/119. Doc. E/cn.4/S ub.2/ 1997/2 0/Rev.1, 2 O ctob er 199 7
[hereinafter Joinet’s Principles].
2 United Nations. Report of th e independent expert to up date the Set of principles to
combat impun ity, Diane Orentlicher. Addendum. Upda ted Set of principles for the protection
and promotion of hu man rights through action to comb at impunity. Doc. E/cn.4/2005/102/
Add.1, 8 February 2005 [hereinafter Upd ated Set of Principles to Combat Impuni ty).
3 United Nations. Report of the Sp ecial Rapporteur in the f ield of cultural rights,
Farida Shaheed. Memorialization processes. Doc. a/hrc/25/49, 23 January 2014, para. 25
[hereinafter Report on Memorialization Processes].
4 The Stockholm Internat ional Forum on the Holocaust. Declara tion. 30 Januar y
2000, para. 6. Available at: https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/sites/default/files/
stockholm_4csilver.pdf (last accessed: 21 February 2022).
5 World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrim ination, Xenophobia and Related
Intolerance. Durban Declaration, paras. 57, 58 and 102. In United Nations. Report of the
World Conference against Racism, Ra cial Discrimination, Xenophob ia and Related Into-
lerance. Durban, 31 August-8 Sept ember 2001. Doc. a/conf.189/12. On the “moral” nature
of the obligation, see Bottigl iero, I. Redress for Victims of Crime s under Internatio nal
Law. Leiden/Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2004, 177-178.

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