The past is a foreign country
On investigative cultures that investigate mass violence across cultures
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl.2386Palabras clave:
Violencia masiva, atrocidades, investigación, cultura, historia, delincuencia internacionalResumen
Las investigaciones penales internacionales no son solo ejercicios jurídicos, sino también epistemológicos y culturales. Basándose en el trabajo del autor en los ámbitos de la práctica de los derechos humanos, los tribunales internacionales, el periodismo y la investigación histórica, este ensayo señala que la investigación de la violencia masiva está enmarcada en contextos culturales e históricos que a menudo chocan con las instituciones internacionalizadas, y cuestiona la supuesta universalidad de la justicia internacional y analiza el desajuste recurrente entre los actores jurídicos de élite y los entornos locales —a menudo no occidentales— en los que intervienen. Estructurándose en torno a los límites heurísticos de la investigación de las atrocidades, las culturas diferenciadas de la investigación (1) penal y (2) histórica, y la extrañeza tanto del tiempo (el pasado) como del lugar (otras sociedades), el ensayo sostiene que la divergencia más profunda radica no entre el derecho y la historia, sino en la orientación del fiscal hacia la condena en lugar de hacia la búsqueda de la verdad, una orientación de la que ni el historiador ni el juez de instrucción participan. El ensayo defiende la investigación internacional como una labor colaborativa, con base histórica y culturalmente reflexiva, que se nutre tanto de la cultura y la historia como del derecho.
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