Dokumentations und Informationszentrum Menschenrechte in Lateinamerika http://www.derechos.org/diml/ TRUTH AND JUSTICE FOR A REAL DEMOCRACY In Peru, we have lived fifteen years of violence generated by subversion. Its defeat in the military field is foreseen in the not to distant future. Only by recognizing and facing truth, and applying justice, can the impunity aspired by the criminals who thrive at times of violence, be defeated. Impunity, forgiveness without conditions, forgetting, do not produce national reconciliation. The open wounds are always left, the injustice with the victims, the unending complaints of the families, the wrath and rancor of society, the pain of the survivors. Peru needs a Truth Commission, formed by members whose public conduct, moral solvency and independence, assure that its objectives are obtained, and that must also count on the support of the UN. Here the problem of impunity becomes complicated, as the Commission, in addition to bringing light to the denunciations since 1980 within the framework of a counter-subversive war that was initially framed as ideologic, will have to recognize that recent (1990-95) violence also has the purpose of covering up the activities of drug trafficking and the administrative corruption in which high spheres of this government are involved. This Commission must investigate the accusations made by both sides of the conflict, the State and the subversives, looking for the whole truth, without limitations. It must inform the country of the specific truth, mentioning individual responsibilities, publicly identifying those who participated with different degrees of responsibility for human rights violations; it must show that when the politic will of investigation exists, it is possible to identify the authors and end the cover up; it must refer the investigated and punishable cases to the Courts that assure the enforcement of the laws, showing the difference with the previous impunity; it must promote national reconciliation that guarantees that those punishable acts will not be repeated again. The State, on its side, must push for the development of the judicial processes, recognizing the dignity of the victims and giving support to them or their families. Written by General Robles in Crime and Impunity, "The grupo Colina and Power". APRODEH, Lima, January 1996 (page. 91) (Translated from the original Spanish).