Speeches
in Signing of Agreements
Signing of Agreement with the Public Prosecutor’s Office
Speech by CVR President
Madam Public Prosecutor,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Because of the nature of its mandate, intimately linked with
safeguarding human rights in our country, the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission has always perceived in the Public Prosecutor’s
Office a natural interlocutor. The affinity of our missions
has been expressed in several activities directed to recover
the truth on violence actions that were tried to be buried
forever. In this way, signing this agreement is actually the
formalization of an active link that has already produced valuable
fruits and that, we are sure, will continue producing them
in the following months.
In a country where institutional precariousness is known
as one of the deepest reasons of our great social and political
problems, the task we are performing and that we will perform
in the future becomes particularly relevant. To a great extent,
in our hands lies the possibility of showing Peruvians that
our country can change, that Peru has a capacity to mend past
omissions, that the organizations in which the Peruvian state
and society express themselves are now ready to fully comply
with the functions for which they were created, that is, defending
the citizens and the rule of law.
Cooperation between our two institutions will be through
a very appropriate relationship, the Specialized Prosecutor
for forced disappearances, out-of-law executions and clandestine
burial exhumations. We are sure that our common task will be
now more efficient and, hence, beneficial for citizens who
expect acknowledgement and justice for too long.
According to the agreement we sign today, interinstitutional
cooperation between the Public Prosecutor’s Office and
the Truth and Reconciliation Commission shall comprise exchange
of information, mutual support for developing investigations,
coordination for the sensitive task of exhumating human remains
in common burials and the protection of direct and indirect
witnesses.
Therefore, there is a broad range of activities that are
covered by this indispensable interinstitutional agreement
to better achieve our goals, related activities, to consolidate
our democracy by means of exposing the truth on past violence
and acknowledging the victims and their families, that is,
restoring long delayed justice in our country.
As we know, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission must
have an inevitably short life. Its existence for an indefinite
period would only denature its essence and the goal for which
it was created. In this period - we are sure - we shall reach
many important achievements to recover justice. But the wrongs
to straighten are big, the truths to discover are many, the
responsibilities to be determined are elusive and numerous.
Thus, we are also convinced that at the end of our mandate
there will still be tasks to be completed. This is why it is
important that Peruvians learns that there are permanent institutions
genuinely committed with these urgent tasks and that they will
be there with their doors open to receive the numerous Peruvians
that will still seek that elementary justice that oftentimes
is simply knowing where their beloved ones lie dead. This is
why signing this agreement is very encouraging for the Truth
and Reconciliation Commission, because it point out that the
Public Prosecutor’s office is and shall be one of those
institutions with which Peruvians of all kinds can count now.
Therefore, madam Public Prosecutor, Nelly Calderon, I thank
you for this gesture of support and commitment with seeking
the truth, recovering justice and, eventually inaugurating
a path towards the reconciliation of Peruvian society.
Salomon Lerner Febres
President
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
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