Interviews with Maria Vasquez Gomez and Catarina Menéndez-Paciencia, part 3 of 3
Title | Título:
Interviews with Maria Vasquez Gomez and Catarina Menéndez-Paciencia, part 3 of 3
Other title | Título alternativo:
B-roll of Acteal massacre site
Description | Descripción:
The Women's Caucus was formed in February 1997, to intervene in the ongoing Preparatory Committee meetings for the establishment of an International Criminal Court at the United Nations. Women realized that without an organized caucus, women's concerns would not be actively defended in the documents and process of creation of an International Criminal Court. The legal issues in the ICC are complex and sensitive. They require people from different legal systems and cultures to arrive at a consensus on specific issues that may challenge local traditions or beliefs. The gender-related issues are particularly sensitive, as they are not as well understood. Gender-related crimes are often perceived to be private or individual crimes that do not rise to the level of international human rights law, or that are perceived to be taken care of by a "neutral" statute. However, the experience of women has been that neutrality usually results in leaving out crimes against women and the ways that women, because of their socially constructed roles in society, are disproportionately affected. It was these concerns that the Women""s Caucus sought to address in the process of creation of an International Criminal Court. By advocating the codification of crimes of sexual, reproductive and gender violence, and inclusion of gender sensitive processes and criteria for personnel, the Caucus tried to ensure that the Court has capacity to implement justice for women. | Part 3 of 3. This video contains footage from Acteal, a village near the town of San Cristobal in Chiapas state, Mexico and interviews with two women who describe the horrors of the December 1997 massacre in which paramilitaries shot at a crowd of primarily women and children who were gathered in the village church. The village was targeted because of its sympathies with Zapatista rebels. The women recount what happened and the aftermath, including how justice has still not been served, with many of the perpetrators still unpunished and in the same community. Footage begins with people chatting inside a wooden structure. Cut to crowd of people outside the building, some who appear to be reporters. Activist Rigoberta Menchu walks away in the background. Cut to a crowd of people ascending steps. Cut to Rigoberta Menchu walking as reporters try to ask her questions and take her photograph, while a crowd looks on. Cut to interview with Maria Vasquez Gomez. She introduces herself and describes the massacre. She was away from the village at the time and therefore was not present for the violence, but nine members of her family died. When asked whether women were targeted directly, she says that many paramilitaries do not want women asserting their rights. Many men and women died in the massacre, including women who were raped by paramilitaries. The next interview is with Catarina Menéndez-Paciencia, a young woman injured during the attack (in Tzotzil, translated to Spanish and English). She describes what happened during the massacre and then shows the scar on her hand. She begins to cry as she talks about her injuries and how she cannot work. She says that perpetrators are still free and asks for organizations to help her find justice. The next portion of the footage is of Menéndez-Paciencia watching the rain from her home, and b-roll of a small shrine with a photograph, her home, and the village. At the end of the tape a local man leads the cameraperson to the church where the massacre took place - it has bullet holes in the walls and is filled with coffins.
Contributor | Contribuidor:
WITNESS (Creator) and Women's Caucus for Gender Justice (Creator)
unedited footage, metraje sin editar, moving image, interviews, entrevistas, b-roll, and b-roll
Extent | Alcance:
01 hours
Rights - Use & Reproduction | Derechos - uso & reproducción:
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Language | Idioma:
English, Spanish, and Tzotzil
Place of publication | Lugar de publicación:
Brooklyn (N.Y.)
Topic | Tema:
Armed conflict and persecution--War crimes, Conflicto armado y persecución--Crímenes de guerra, Civil and political rights--Women's rights, Mujeres--Derechos--Derechos políticos y civiles, Armed conflict and persecution--Paramilitaries, Conflicto armado y persecución--Paramilitares, Armed conflict and persecution--Mass killings, Conflicto armado y persecución--Asesinatos en masa, Civil and political rights--Children's rights, Niños--Derechos--Derechos políticos y civiles, Armed conflict and persecution--Sexual violence, Conflicto armado y persecución--Violencia sexual, Economic, social, and cultural rights--Social and cultural rights--Indigenous populations, and Derechos económicos, sociales y culturales--Derechos sociales y culturales--Poblaciones indígenas
Place Name | Nombre del lugar:
North and Central America--Mexico--Chiapas--Acteal, América del Norte y Central--México--Chiapas--Acteal, North and Central America--Mexico--Chiapas--San Cristóbal de las Casas, and América del Norte y Central--México--Chiapas--San Cristóbal de las Casas
General Note | Notas generales:
A/D flag: physDigital; Generation: original; Signal format: NTSC; Carrier number 1 of 1
UTL DAMS PID:
hrdi:83c6144b-cab8-446a-bff7-6d88f7f7cc28
Local Identifier| Identificador local :
B01433-1-0_00_00_00 and witness_ihwe_3104
Related Resource – Host | Recursos relacionados:
Women's Caucus for Gender Justice's Footage for "If Hope Were Enough" Documentary (title) and https://txarchives.org/hrdi/finding_aids/00005.xml (uri)