Centro de la Memoria Monseñor Juan Gerardi Guatemala
REMHI Historical Memory Recovery Project
This collection comprises the four volumes of the Proyecto lnterdiocesano Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica (REMHI) Informe Guatemala: Nunca más. It also includes publications derived from this report, which provide insight into the project's rationale; the causes and social, economic, and political context of the internal armed conflict; and the consequences and repercussions resulting from 36 years of conflict that even today continue to affect the victims and survivors.
The REMHI project was directed by Monsignor Juan Gerardi Conedera, who led it with deep conviction. His aim was to document the recent history of Guatemala through testimonies and documentation, arguing that knowing the truth about crimes and violations of human rights committed during the 36-year armed conflict was essential for the social peace of the country.
Full scans of the titles listed below can be found at http://www.odhag.org.gt/publicaciones/remhi-guatemala-nunca-mas/.
1. "Informe Guatemala: Nunca más" Volume I, Impactos de la violencia.
[Guatemala: Never Again Report. Volume I: Impacts of the violence]
From a psychosocial perspective, the report analyzes the consequences of the experiences of violence, the survivors' coping and resistance mechanisms, their perceptions about the causes of the events they suffered, and their demands to the State and society.
The Report tries to reconstruct that collective memory and respond to the expectations that people placed in the REMHI Project.
2. "Informe Guatemala: Nunca más" Volume II, Los mecanismos del horror.
[Guatemala: Never Again Report. Volume II: The mechanisms of horror]
This volume collects the voices of the victims, alongside revelations from the perpetrators, to help understand the underlying logic of the destruction.
The first part analyzes the dynamics of the massacres, especially between the period 1980-83, as well as the use of torture and the operational methods of the military intelligence units.
Subsequent sections discuss the ways the civilian population was drawn into the war, and how daily life was reorganized under military control. Finally, the text includes an analysis of the training mechanisms and group formation that enabled these atrocities. This record of horror can serve as a key element in ensuring that the recent history of Guatemala does not repeat itself as a tragedy.
3. "Informe Guatemala: Nunca más" Volume III. El entorno histórico.
[Guatemala: Never Again Report. Volume III: The historical context]
This volume is a historical overview that is not entirely original. A valuable body of literature serves as the source for several chapters, although it is worth noting that the history of the armed conflict in Guatemala is still a task yet to be fully addressed. There are at least two periods that, for different reasons, have been little studied from the perspective of the participants in the conflict: the first phase, which corresponds to the 1960s, and the more recent political era of elected civilian governments, specifically the period of the peace negotiations (1986-1996).
4. "Informe Guatemala: Nunca más" Volume IV. VÃctimas del Conflicto Armando Interno.
[Guatemala: Never Again Report. Volume IV: Victims of the Internal Armed Conflict]
A compilation of the names of people killed (in massacres and individually), disappeared, or tortured, as recorded by the REMHI project. As explained in the methodological notes for each chapter, the names are accompanied by details that help to identify the individuals, to the extent that the witnesses could provide this information: date of birth, location and date of the violation, and ethnicity.
The spelling of names has been preserved exactly as provided by the witness, given that in most cases it was not possible to verify the information against any personal identification document or in the civil registry records.
Finally, the general recommendations of the REMHI project are presented.
5. "Memoria, Verdad y Esperanza". Versión popular del informe REMHI: Guatemala: Nunca Más.
["Memory, Truth and Hope". Popular version of the REMHI Report Guatemala: Never Again]
This report aims to recall the acts of violence suffered by the individuals who provided their testimony to the REMHI project. Many of these testimonies reveal how the human rights of individuals and communities, especially Indigenous ones, were violated during the years of the armed conflict.
This book is a summary of the four volumes of the Guatemala: Nunca más report, and includes images that reinforce its content.
6. "La Memoria tiene la palabra".
["Memory has the word". Systematization of the Interdiocesan Project for the Recuperation of Historical Memory REMHI]
This volume offers a systematization of the Interdiocesan Project throughout the first three phases: Preparation, Compilation, and Processing/Writing of the Report.
It tries to make known what the REMHI Project was like from the inside: where the idea came from; how it came to fruition; what spirituality drove it; what were its understandings of memory, forgiveness and reconciliation; and what was its technical quality. The book emphasizes the contribution of the Project's participants in the different dioceses.
7. "Propuesta Pedagógica. Eduquémonos para el Nunca Más".
["Pedagogical Proposal. Let us educate ourselves for Never Again"]
From the moment the Proyecto lnterdiocesano Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica (REMHI) was conceived and developed, four basic stages were envisioned: preparation, the collection of testimonies, data processing and analysis, and feedback and follow-up. This final stage was left as a seed by Monsignor Gerardi, who with his martyrdom, nurtured the work of building a culture of peace and reconciliation, grounded in truth, justice, reparation for harm done, and forgiveness.
Education, for its part, stands as a pillar in the construction of this world. It is our duty to facilitate what we did not know how to achieve; and education provides the tools so that future generations might do better. Eduquémonos para el Nunca Más represents the union between the demand for truth and the building of a culture of peace.
This is a pedagogical proposal aimed at teachers, enabling them to address Guatemala's recent history with their students, from primary level through secondary education.
8. "Movilizando la memoria: a 10 años del REMHI".
[Mobilizing memory: 10 years since REMHI]
On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the presentation of the Informe Guatemala: Nunca Más, a study was conducted on the process set in motion by that report -- a process which has included, over the course of a decade, the participation of many actors in Guatemalan society, spanning both civil society and the state.
This document attempts to capture the various efforts towards truth, justice, and reconciliation promoted by these actors at the national and international level. It expresses solidarity and gratitude towards all of them, and at the same time, offers an apology to those who, due to various factors, it was not possible to reach in carrying out this investigation.
9. "Conociendo nuestra historia construimos la paz". 01 Juntando los hilos de la historia.
["Knowing our history, we build peace." 01 Pulling together the threads of history]
This document is a contribution toward building a more comprehensive history in Guatemala, closer to the truth as experienced by the communities.
It offers insight into the reality lived by victims of the armed conflict, their version of what happened, which contributed to and supported the Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico at the time.
It provides an overview of the history of Guatemala, based on Volume III of the Informe Guatemala: Nunca Más and enriched with the contributions of the Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico (CEH).
10. "Conociendo nuestra historia construimos la paz". 02 Los daños que nos ha dejado la violencia.
["Knowing our history we build peace." 02 The damage that the violence has left us]
This publication makes a brief attempt to reconstruct a series of complex and distinct experiences resulting from political violence -- at the individual, family and community levels, for children and for women. It also highlights how people sought for possible explanations for what occurred and the ways in which they coped with the violence they suffered in those years.
11. "Conociendo nuestra historia construimos la paz". 03 Asà hicieron la violencia.
["Knowing our history, we build peace." 03 How the violence was perpetrated]
This volume examines the "Mechanisms of Horror", in which a State whose institutions should have ensured the well-being of the population, devolved into a State that harshly repressed the people; a State which was organized with the objective of repressing anyone who thought or expressed dissenting views, under the pretext of being at war.
This material offers an opportunity to analyze and understand who carried out these actions and how they did so.
12. "Conociendo nuestra historia construimos la paz". 04 Que nuestro corazón se haga fuerte.
["Knowing our history, we build peace." 04 May our hearts become strong]
This publication is part of the voice that cries out to be heard, ensuring that we can see what happened in Guatemala during the armed conflict, and understand the need to fundamentally transform unequal relationships, so that human rights violations against anyone will never again occur with impunity.