Memory and Trauma: Soldier Victims in the Colombian Armed Conflict

Ulf Thoene,Roberto García Alonso,Camila Andrea Blanco Bernal

doi:10.1177/2158244020940696

Ulf Thoene, Roberto García Alonso + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020940696

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Abstract

The Colombian government signed a revised version of the Havana Peace Deal with the country’s main guerrilla group, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), in November 2016, giving rise to a set of new opportunities and challenges for the South American nation. Societies that make the transition from conflict to peace need to seek truth, justice, and reparation concerning massive and systematic violations. Thus truth, history, and historical memory (HM) are central to reconciliation and play a key role in fulfilling the national and international obligations of the state. HM in Colombia has emerged mainly from the voices of victims, generating a narrative of events in which the discourses of members of the Armed Forces has, by and large, tended either to be out of place, or is regarded as the perpetrators’ account. Military personnel have usually been perceived to be offenders or perpetrators; finding the “truth” based on narratives of traumatic events is complex. This research contributes to the debate on HM in Colombia and the right to truth, exploring the narratives and emotions of traumatized soldiers who suffered permanent physical injuries, and presenting the results of an interdisciplinary project conducted via a series of in-depth interviews. It brought to light important accounts and deeply negative feelings toward the perpetrators of violence and the government, but also mixed feelings about the institution of the military that soldier victims continue to harbor.

Highlights

Colombia has been plagued by internal conflict for a number of decades
It is difficult to write a “true” version of the past based on the stories of victims due to the very nature and characteristics of autobiographical memories, especially when they are traversed by traumatic experiences, because trauma significantly complicates the situation
Approaching historical memory (HM) using a constructivist perspective, this paper presents the findings of a qualitative study of interviews conducted in Colombia, in which soldiers spoke about themselves in relation to the military institution during the Colombian armed conflict

Summary

Introduction

Colombia has been plagued by internal conflict for a number of decades. The Colombian government signed a revised version of the Havana Peace Deal with the country’s main guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), in November 2016, bringing about a set of new opportunities and challenges for the South American nation. Societal transitions usually require drawing a clear dividing line between a violent and turbulent past and ensuring a peaceful, participatory, and democratic future Against this background, the society and its leaders must face responsibility for past human rights violations. The victims have been converted into the central aspect of debates about transitional justice Prosecuting perpetrators of such crimes and human rights violations, providing reparations to victims, reforming abusive institutions and, most importantly, revealing the truth about the past and promoting reconciliation are among the key objectives of transitional justice History and historical memory (HM) are considered key aspects to advance truth and reconciliation and to fulfill the national and international obligations of the state (Bell, 2006)

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