The numeric codes scribbled on the yellow aged pages contain names, fingerprints and photographs of victims. They are Guatemala’s National Police Archive, and the subtle symbols of the country’s genocide.
During a 2011 trip to Guatemala, Stephanie Wood, a UO research assistant, was invited to see the archives. Overwhelmed by the content of the archives that documented thousands of human injustices from a 36-year-long genocide, Wood and Steve Huter, Director of the Network Startup Resource Center, sought the help of UO journalism professor, Gabriela Martinez and history professor, Carlos Aguirre. Together they created a documentary in an effort to increase the awareness of the archive’s existence.
“I think it is important to tell the story of what this archive signifies for the tragic history of Guatemala,” Martinez said. “And for the present time as the nation and the state is trying to make amends with their past.”
Both Martinez and Wood hope this documentary can shed some light on human rights abuses.
From 1960 to 1996, the Mayan indigenous population in Guatemala endured a reign of genocide. Many of them largely backed the leftist guerrilla groups in favor of socialistic change against the government and the elite.
About 200,000 lives were lost during the war, but the majority of deaths was between 1975 through 1985. An estimated 45,000 more disappeared.
Nine years after the genocide ended in 2005, 80 million police archives were found in a warehouse, containing about a century’s worth of history. Guatemala’s National Police Historical Archives are inside the skyscraper stacks of documents that chronicle human abuses and murders the government once denied having ever occurred during the nation’s internal war.
“(The Archive is) crucial for the history of Guatemala not only for issues of justice but also for their rebuilding of (Guatemala’s) historical memory,” Martinez said.
These detailed documents are being used as evidence to try police officers and officials involved in the heinous acts.
“It’s so huge for the families to bring closure to what was a really bad situation where someone would just be plucked off the streets of Guatemala city — a labor leader, student or teacher — and disappear,” Wood said.
Many of the police officers and officials involved in the conflict in the late 20th century are still active in their line of work today. For this reason, the workers of the Archivo Historico de la Policia Nacional (AHPN) are working quickly to digitize the content and store the digital records safely outside of the country as there is always the fear and potential that the archives will be shut down by those implicated.
“I interviewed people who were seven, eight years old and they witnessed their parent’s being shot,” Martinez said. “How do you survive and become a decent human being after that — and they are very decent.”
Her documentary connects the stories of Guatemala’s National Police Historical Archive and the individuals who experienced human rights abuses during Guatemala’s civil wars between 1960 through 1996 and its impact on contemporary Guatemala.
Martinez will premiere the documentary, “Keep Your Eyes on Guatemala”, on Thursday Oct. 24 at 6 p.m. in 221 Allen Hall.
“We shouldn’t forget or ignore it’s part of history,” Martinez said. “It’s part of Guatemala’s history and it’s part of human history.”