Documenting Oral History to Understand War Crimes in Isolated Communities

Guatemala’s Civil War and the Search for Truth

During Guatemala’s 36-year civil war, nearly 200,000 people were killed, disappeared, or suffered other human rights abuses, primarily by state security forces. The REMHI Project began in 1994, one year before the 1995 Peace Accords, as an initiative of the Human Rights Office of the Archbishop of Guatemala, under the leadership of Archbishop Juan Gerardi. While a truth commission had been outlined as part of an earlier Peace Accord, it had not been established, and the church felt that the commission would be unable to meet expectations due to extreme divisions and the degree of violence suffered by the society.

The Church Facilitates Reconciliation

REMHI therefore decided to use the structure of the church and the enormous network of people associated with it to open a space for dialogue on the violence, and to facilitate the work of a future truth commission. The church publicized the project through posters, flyers and radio spots. Each participating parish nominated two parishioners as “facilitators of reconciliation.”

REMHI’s approach differed from other reconciliation efforts in its grassroots mobilization of individuals, especially victims of the violence, who often served as facilitators. Across the country, close to 800 facilitators collected and analyzed testimonies from 5,000–7,000 people who had suffered violence, torture or the loss of a family member. Since the violence was ongoing, the collection of testimonials was carried out at great risk to the church and its members.

Guatemala: Never Again

Analysis of the testimonies demonstrated that state security forces were responsible for most of the human rights abuses during the war. A final report, Guatemala: Never Again, was released in four volumes and presented to the public on April 24, 1998. Tragically, Archbishop Gerardi was assassinated two days after the report was released; military personnel were later convicted for his death.

Building a Culture of Peace

Despite the Archbishop’s death, many of the same facilitators have continued the project. They have presented participating communities with project results, helping place individual and community experiences into a historical and national context. When translations become available in local languages, participants are given copies of a popularized version of the report, meant to be read aloud in group discussions. From the report, they learn that what happened to them was not their fault and that it happened to many throughout the country.

Facilitators have also assisted communities in their reconciliation efforts, contributing to the construction of a culture of peace by promoting nonviolent methods to resolve conflict. This process has occurred in conjunction with the ongoing exhumations and reburial of victims’ remains, which form an important part of the healing process in Mayan culture. REMHI has also contributed to work of the Guatemalan truth commission (the Commission for Historical Clarification), supporting witnesses and the participation of community organizations and providing testimony.

What we can learn from this Tactic:

History is often written by the powerful, leaving victims of abuse voiceless. In Guatemala, a group collaborated with war-ravaged communities to document their experiences, creating a report that initiated reconciliation. REMHI’s approach can support truth commissions or help in places without such mechanisms, especially where victims are excluded. The Catholic Church’s trusted network enabled the collection of personal stories, though limited funding and significant risks, including threats and assassinations by human rights violators still in power, posed challenges. Despite these dangers, this tactic empowered survivors and contributed to the healing process.