May 12th, 2021

Read in Spanish here.

The Latin American Regional Group of the Memory Studies Association expresses its solidarity with Colombia and Brazil for the assassinations, grave human rights abuses and acts of violence perpetrated by state agents in recent days.

Human rights organizations, NGOs and academic institutions have documented and denounced the following facts:

In Colombia, there have been registered 47 assassinations -39 due to police violence-, 1,278 people were injured, 28 of them with eye injuries, there have been 365 physical aggressions, 12 cases of sexual violence, close to one thousand arrests and more than 500 people have been reported missing after having been arrested in the midst of protests, among other violent acts that occurred since April 28, 2021 in the framework of the National Strike (Source: Temblores ONG and Indepaz).

In Brazil, the intervention by the Civil Police in Jacarezinho (Rio de Janeiro) left a balance, so far, of 25 people dead (Source: Amnesty International), 28 according to other sources plus two injured (Source: Maré).

We condemn these acts and demand an end to the violence against the population, the violation of human rights and to the criminalization of poverty and racism, which are at the basis of these aggressions.

We stand in solidarity with the Colombian and Brazilian people and with those who have been affected by this violence, and share the consternation of the citizenry at the breakdown of democracy and the rule of law. We advocate for the respect and guarantee of the human rights of all people in the region, including the right to mobilize for social demands, and to fight for the defense of a dignified life.

We demand that justice be done, complying with the due investigation and punishment of the outrageous crimes committed, in accordance with the norms and standards established by the international human rights system.

We adhere to the call of the National Observatory of Memory Processes of the National University of Colombia (https://www.onalme.co/post/no-podemos-olvidar) to avoid media confusion, censorship and any kind of limitations to the access to the internet or the use of social networks by citizens in their right to inform, and to record and denounce cases of violence.

We furthermore invite everyone not to forget the victims of yesterday and today, the responsibility and debt of the State towards them and towards the population, the complicity of some powerful groups of society, and the need not to cease in the permanent struggle for the defense of human rights.

1. Luz Maceira

2. Rike Grunow, Switzerland

3. Carolina Aguilera, Chile

4. Anna Mastromarino Italia, Università di Torino

5. Paulo Endo (Universidade de São Paulo/Brasil)

6. Mónika Contreras Saiz, MemoriAL

7. Fernando Chacón, El Salvador

8. María Juliana Angarita, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada

9. Hernán Lopez Piñeyro, Argentina

10. Neyla G Pardo A

11. Veronica Troncoso, Chile

12. Adriana Rudling, Chr Michelsen Institute, Bergen, Norway

13. Sergio Beltrán-García, Mexico

14. Sjamme van de Voort, Sweden

15. Juliana Espinal, United States

16. Anouk Guiné, Peru/France, Université Le Havre Normandie y Red Iberoamericana Resistencia y Memoria

17. Camila van Diest, Chile/France

18. Alicia Salomone, Chile

19. Lucero de Vivanco, Chile, Universidad Alberto Hurtado

20. Fabiola Arellano Cruz, MemoriAL

21. Julián Penagos Carreño, Colombia

22. Helen Dixon British Nicaraguan, Universities of Brighton and Sussex, UK

23. María Angélica Tamayo, Mexico, IIS UNAM – PBP

24. Silvana Mandolessi, Belgium

25. Anahí Troncoso Araya, Chile

26. Rosela Millones Cabrera, Universidad de Chile

27. María García Alonso, UNED, Spain

28. Cara Levey, UCC, Ireland

29. Isabel Piper Shafir, Universidad de Chile

30. Claudia Feld, CONICET, Argentina

31. Maarten Geeroms, Belgium, Universidad de Gante

32. Leonardo Pascuti, Germany, KU-Eichstätt-Ingolstadt

33. Natalia Ruiz Rubio, Spain/United States

34. Paula Tesche Roa, Chile

35. Andrea Cagua, Germany, MemoriAL

36. Karen Worcman, Brazil, Museu da Pessoa

37. Milena Gallardo Villegas, Chile

38. Iván Mauricio Gaitán Gómez, Universidad Nacional de Colombia

39. Roberto Deras, UCA, El Salvador