CASE STUDIES
Restorative Justice
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Author of case study: Marcela Torres Molano
Geopolitical location of space:
Piendamó, Cauca (Indigenous reservation)
Extant? Yes
Territory: 1999
Ancestral status and first encounter with perpetrators: 2012
End date: ongoing
This is a space of encounter of different Indigenous groups that wanted to launch an alternative proposal for the Colombian peace process in order to include the needs and rights of minority groups. Because Indigenous people do not feel represented by the official transitional justice process, they have created La María, a territory of peace, coexistence and dialogue, where they are able to integrate traditional rituals and spirituality as vital elements for the peace process.
In this territory, Indigenous guards and the T’ewalas (traditional medicine keepers) gather around a fire and a stove (symbolic elements of life) to manifest how peace has been a core value of the modes of life of all Indigenous groups of Colombia. They created their own encounter space in opposition to the official peace process.
This was not an official transitional justice process, but it was an encounter of an alternative form of justice called the Indigenous Special Justice (Justicia Especial Indígena). The purpose of this meeting was to initiate a culturally appropriate process that uses restorative actions and traditional knowledge as part of the peace building process. During the encounter, Indigenous people highlighted how the external dialogue between the national government and the guerrilla was not a holistic approach to conflict resolution. They argued that long lasting peace needs to be constructed on the basis of strong ties and modes of life that include everyday activities and restorative approaches.
This encounter was the first step of the Indigenous Special Justice approach. Because Indigenous people have the right to manifest and construct peace in their own terms, as well as to be acknowledged as an important part of the social fabric, they have decided to create their own restorative approach to the peace building process. For Indigenous people based in the Colombian territory, peace is a fundamental right that should be evidenced in daily life. As Indigenous people in Colombia have suffered from violence for centuries, it was crucial for them to be the ones facilitating dialogues and restorative actions for their own communities. Indigenous people have chosen not to delegate their agency to any institution or non-Indigenous individual.
Yes, they occupied ancestral territory (in a reservation area) that has both symbolic and physical importance for Indigenous people. This territory has an important connection to land, nature and life. They used fire and other symbolic elements and rituals that represent their modes of life.
Indigenous communities; Indigenous survivors; offenders, and government officials.
La María is a space of encounter conceived in opposition to the limitations of institutional approaches. Indigenous people support the official peace dialogues and the Peace Accord, but do not adhere to the official process.
This is a reservation territory of the Misak Indigenous people. It is an ancestral land that belongs to their communities.
La María reservation is located in the middle of the department of Cauca, next to the Pan American Highway, which connects the countries of the continental Americas. La María covers over 30 hectares of rural land of the Pubenza Valley. It is located 1600 meters above sea level, with an average temperature of 22º Celsius all year long. La María is home to many Indigenous demonstrations, social encounters, and negotiations with Colombian government. It does not have any churches or police stations.
Since 2002, Indigenous people of Cauca have negotiated with Colombian presidents in the La María reservation. In 2012, one of the encounters included the last Farc guerrilla group and representatives of the national government. As a result, the land was declared an ancestral territory of peace, coexistence and dialogue. Since then, La María has become an Indigenous-owned space for conflict resolution. It is one of the spaces where Indigenous political, social and cultural dynamics of resistance are promoted and implemented. It has become a symbol of resistance for Indigenous people across America (Mueses, 2012).
The peace dialogues and encounters in la María have also included Afro-Colombian populations, campesinos (rural land workers), and other minorities. It has been the scenario to maintain the independent peace agenda of Indigenous people, which includes the respect of traditional knowledge and other worldviews. Indigenous people have organised multiple humanitarian encounters with offenders in parallel to the Havana dialogues. In La María, Indigenous communities have called for the reparation of victims and the non-repetition of violent acts.
is an author, speaker, columnist, and podcaster in the fields of architecture and decorative arts. She is completing her MA in Art History at Concordia University, Montréal, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce with a major in Marketing from John Molson School of Business. She studied Industrial Psychology in Los Angeles, California. Sicotte is the author of two published books on design (2015, 2018) published by Les Éditions Cardinal.
is a Colombian PhD candidate in the Department of Art History at Concordia University. She has a background in architectural design and community activism and holds a master’s degree in Building and Urban Design from the Bartlett School of Architecture in London, England. Her interests focus on socially-engaged art, social movements, collaborative activism in post-conflict scenarios, collectively-produced art, and art produced in relation to the built environment.
is a PhD candidate in Humanities at Concordia University. His research focuses on spatial agency, social aesthetics, youth narratives, and graphic representations of urban memory. He has published on the relationship between children, play, and public space in Cartagena, Colombia. He has also worked as an editor on literary projects, including Territorio Fértil, which received the María Nelly Murillo Hinestroza award for Afro-Colombian literature.
is Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Architectures of Spatial Justice (Tier 2) at the Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture at McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada. Her research interests include low-income housing and participatory design, civil protest and urban design, and campus landscapes and race. Her publications include the co-edited book, Orienting Istanbul (2010) and solo-authored book, Istanbul Open City (2018).
is an artist and a professor of Art History at Concordia University. Her work focuses on women and the history of the built environment, urban landscapes, research-creation, and oral history. She has published on the spatial history of the suffrage movement, public art, gardens, and the politics of urban change. In addition to her research on the spaces of restorative and transitional justice, she is leading an oral history project on the urban memories of diverse Montrealers.
is Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre at Concordia University, Montreal (Quebec, Canada). He is also the second co-director of Concordia’s Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling. His latest publications explore listening in the context of post-conflict performances of memory. For instance, see ‘Facilitating voicing and listening in the context of post-conflict performances of memory. The Colombian scenario.’ In: De Nardi, S., Orange, H., et al. Routledge Handbook of Memoryscapes. Routledge: London. (2019), and his article ‘Not being able to speak is torture: performing listening to painful narratives’. International Journal of Transitional Justice, Special Issue Creative Approaches to Transitional Justice: Contributions of Arts and Culture. (March, 2020)
