Impossible Memory and Post-Colonial Silences: A Critical View of the Historical Clarification Commission (CEH) or Truth Commission in Guatemala (original) (raw)

The Truth Commission in Guatemala aimed to address the violence of the civil war (1962-1996) through documentation of war atrocities and the promotion of justice. However, it primarily recorded the testimonies of victims, neglecting broader systems of silence and the colonial legacies affecting Indigenous communities. This analysis critiques the Commission's limited effectiveness in revealing the complex relationships between Indigenous peoples and the genocidal state, ultimately arguing that the Truth Commission fostered an 'impossible memory' that obstructed a full understanding of historical injustices.