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HUMAN RIGHTS
Human rights and youth in Latin America
A struggle for human dignity.
by Graciela Melitsko, Argentina
The concept of Human Rights has traditionally been the subject of a political and ideological dispute. Many people have tried to maintain the traditional approach which fails to recognize civil and political rights as human rights and that these are equally important as economic, social and cultural rights, and that all these rights are fundamentally based on issues of equity. It is necessary to avoid these contradictions since human rights are interdependent.
If we look at recent Latin American history we see that the violation of human rights happened in two ways: first, the establishment of regimes that led to the torture and deaths of students, workers, politicians and intellectuals and forced hundreds of thousands of people into exile; second, the implementation of state policies that adversely affected numerous important economic and social measures achieved through public pressure. The overcoming of dictatorships in the region has not meant the abandonment of certain terror policies, nor has it reversed the increasing economical marginalization of the majority of the Latin American population.
With the "proceso de redemocratizacion", have Human Rights become an issue of the past?
Anoche sone
con los hambrientos, los locos
los que se fueron, los que estan en
prision.
Y hoy amaneci, cantando esta
cancion
que ya fue escrita hace tiempo atras.
Y es necesario cantar de nuevo una
vez mas.
Last night I dreamt
with the hungry and the mad
with those who left, with
those who are
imprisoned
Today I woke up, singing this song
that was written long ago
and it is necessary to sing
it once again
Most of the human rights groups in Latin America were created during times of dictatorship to denounce the atrocities committed by the Armed Forces in the name of peace, or against the "communists". After the fall of military governments have human rights violations disappeared? Does this mean that these organizations do not have a reason to exist in future decades?
Although many people around the world were informed about what had happened in Latin America during the military regimes, many consider that with our new democracies we should close these sad chapters of our history and see the electoral regimes and all the liberties that have been won since then with new eyes.
Democratization of the Political System with the Permanence of the Military Power.
The transition from military to civilian electoral regimes is called the "redemocratization process". These political shifts were not accompanied by a strong decrease of power or status for institutions like the secret police, the armed forces, intelligence agencies, etc. For instance, Pinochet in Chile, past president and responsible for human rights abuses during his time as president, retains his position as head of the Army, and the elected president lacks the authority to remove him or any other top military commander from their posts.
In Argentina, some of the newly elected officials tried to bring the military to trial for crimes against the civilian population such as killings, kidnappings and torture. But they did not get very far. After a historic trial where seven different members of the military junta were condemned to prison in December 1986, the President introduced a law which limited the prosecution of military officers. This law was followed by yet another one, a law which absolves all those under the rank of colonel from crimes against civilians, because they were only following what they believed to be lawful orders. This measure pardoned most of those responsible for the thousands of deaths between 1976 and 1983 in Argentina. In 1990 the new President, Carlos Menem, decided to pardon the remaining military condemned to life imprisonment by Argentina Supreme Court. In conclusion, the regimes and laws can change, but the power still remains in the hands of those that took it by force.
The young democracies in Latin America continue repressive practices for which the majority of victims are young people. Murders of street children in Brazil are an everyday occurrence, young people are often killed in Argentinean jails, arbitrary detainments take place in Mexico, there are violent reactions to peaceful demonstrations in Chile. These are all usual occurrences in Latin America and an example of the low value placed on human life. Along with this we find censorship and control of freedom of expression of students and activists. Any criticism of the dominant social-economic system is seen as threatening to the new democracies.
The social memory of our societies in Latin America is plagued with fear and lack of trust of human relationships, both of which prevent young people from participating in collective organizing. The years of dictatorship continue to show its lasting psychological and social effects.
Youth, Human Rights and Participation
Youth growing up in the eighties and nineties spent their childhood under dictatorships in Central and South America. Many have grown in exile facing the challenge of a different language, culture and a loss of their roots and sense of belonging.
There are not homogenous concepts and values among Latin American youth, nor is there a unified youth movement. The young generation that preceded me, began to participate in policy making in the seventies, and was oppressed, tortured and forced into both internal and external exile. The current history is being affected by the fear in people to speak up and organize to confront the different social and economic issues. The memories of the generations before us still exist in the minds of people, particularly because the issues around which youth organizes are still the same. For example in Brazil students organized against the privatization policies of education and political corruption.
By the end of the century 50% of Latin American and Caribbean population will be under 15 years old. Two thirds will be under 30. The majority do not have a participatory space and or play a leadership role in political parties and there is not a common ground between the state and the young people. Youth lack real opportunities to design their own fate and the development model being used will result in the further marginalization and double the rate of hunger and mortality among youth. On this issue, the Economic Commission for Latin America (CEPAL), states that economic crisis will lead to social-political crisis, resulting in conflicts. If young people are the most affected it would be in that generation that conflict will come about.
If we continue with the current development model the region will be divided into two sectors: one comprised of those who have the economic resources to buy food, health services, education and secure a livelihood, and the other, which will be the majority, who will not have access to the means of subsistence and lack the political representation to effect change. In order to avoid reality, people build walls around them thinking that what they cannot see does not exist. It is necessary to create awareness at national, regional and international levels about the problems to promote action from young people in response to this crisis and to begin looking for solutions, but this can only take place if human rights are respected. Our hope is in the ability of youth to build a society based on solidarity, that will allow us to take hold: the future.
"Eventually (environmentalists) have to ask the questions: Who made this mess and why? It is in trying to answer those questions that you get in trouble. Because those messing up the environment are powerful."
Wangari Matthai
Cite as: Youth Sourcebook on Sustainable Development. Winnipeg: IISD, 1995. Online. Internet. http://iisd.ca/youth/ysbk044.htm.