International Seminar to Discuss Creation of Memory Site at Former Colonia Dignidad

Original article: Seminario internacional abordará creación del Sitio de Memoria en la ex Colonia Dignidad

The Association for Memory and Human Rights at Colonia Dignidad is inviting participation in an international seminar aimed at fostering discussion and realization of a future memory site located in the former German enclave.

Recently, the decision by the government to expropriate part of the land to formally establish the memory site, recognizing the work done by human rights organizations, has faced obstacles, causing delays in the process.

This and other issues will be discussed at the seminar «Memory, Archives, and Future Projections: Debates and Challenges Surrounding Colonia Dignidad,» starting the morning of Thursday, January 15, at the National Archive in Santiago, featuring the panel ‘Challenges and Opportunities for Developing the Colonia Dignidad Memory Site’.

This initial event will include participation from Verónica Torras of Memoria Abierta and the Network of Latin American and Caribbean Memory Sites; Pietro Sferrazza from the Human Rights Center at the University of Chile; and Lelia Pérez from the Association for Memory and Human Rights at Colonia Dignidad.

At noon on the same Thursday, the panel ‘Advances in the Right to Truth and the Role of Archives in Relation to Crimes Against Humanity Committed at Colonia Dignidad’ will take place. Participants will include Tamara Lagos from the National Search Plan Archives Table; Valentina Rojas, Coordinator of the National Memory Archive at the National Archive; and Magdalena Garcés, Coordinator of the National Search Plan from the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.

On Friday the 16th, a discussion titled ‘The Human Rights Movement in Light of the New Political Scenario in Chile’ will occur at the Catholic University of Maule Extension Center in Talca, featuring Roberto Celedón, Deputy of the Republic for District 17 in the Maule Region; journalist and councilor of Ñuñoa, Alejandra Valle; and Verónica Torras from Memoria Abierta and RESLAC.

Finally, on Saturday the 17th, there will be a guided visit to the Colonia Dignidad Memory Site.

«Colonia Dignidad is of significant interest for the National Search Plan and for Courts, as a site for clarifying human rights violations and uncovering the truth about the detained and disappeared in Chile. This truth has been sought for over 50 years,» stated representatives from the Association for Memory.

«Despite the public awareness of the crimes committed there over the past decade, full truth and comprehensive justice remain elusive goals. The creation of a memory site at the former Colonia Dignidad faces a complex web of truths and experiences that transcend a single narrative. This space must honor the memory of various victim groups, whose intertwined stories display a multifaceted history of horror and resistance,» added the human rights organization.

The Citizen