National Commission of Enquiry into Disappearances- Bolivia

Background

In 1952, the National Revolutionary Movement (NRM) led a revolution which finally ended with its gaining the Bolivian Presidency. Under the mandate of President Victor Paz Estenssoro (1960-64), the NRM introduced universal suffrage, organised agrarian reform and nationalised the country’s principal tin mines. However, in 1964, a military junta removed Victor Paz Estenssoro from office and replaced him with René Barrientos Ortuno. His death, in 1969, gave way to a period of political instability until, in 1971, the NRM and several military officers installed Hugo Banzer Suarez as President. The latter governed in partnership with the NRM until 1974, when he threw the civilians out of office, replaced them with a military government and suspended political rights. Accused of human rights violations, and with his country in the throes of a financial crisis, he organised elections in 1978. In 1980, after various elections tainted by electoral fraud, General Garcia Meza grabbed power in a violent coup d’état. His regime, which only lasted one year, was well known for its numerous human rights abuses, its collusion with drug traffickers and its errors in economic mismanagement.

When Meza was forced out of power in 1981 following a military rebellion, three other military governments followed on during the next 14 months, until October 1982 when elections were again organised. These elections resulted in a victory for Hernan Siles Suazo, 22 years after his first electoral mandate (1955-60).

On 28 October 1982, President Suazo signed Supreme Decree No 241 which established the National Commission of Enquiry into the Disappearances (“Comision Nacional de Investigacion de Desaparecidos”).

Mandate

The National Commission of Enquiry into Disappearances possessed a limited brief since cases of torture, summary executions, arbitrary arrest or even violations of property rights were outside of its remit. Only the cases of enforced disappearances, therefore, were within the scope of its investigations. The Commission was to concentrate its work on the period of military dictatorships covering the years 1964 to 1982.

Composition

The Commission was made up of 8 members under the direction of the Bolivian Under-Secretary for Defence. It included members of the two principal Bolivian NGO’s on the question of disappearances: The Permanent Assembly of Bolivian Human Rights (“Asemblea Permanente de Derechos Humanos de Bolivia”) and the Association of Families of Disappeared Prisoners (“Asociacion de Familiares de Detenidos”).

Operations

The National Commission of Enquiry into Disappearances is the First Truth Commission to be set up in Latin America. It received information on 155 disappearances covering the period between 1967 and 1982. The Commission received letters and photographs from families, as well as reports from investigators and medical experts employed by it. Whereas in some cases it was able to discover the human remains of a certain number of those who had disappeared, the greater part of the enquiries were inconclusive.

Report

Since it was dissolved before completing its investigations, this Commission was unable to submit a report. It is important to note that the whereabouts of the Commission’s written documents are unknown at today’s date. The office of the Bolivian National Archives has stated that it is not in possession of these documents and no one knows, officially, if they still exist or if they have been destroyed.

Postscript

As a result of this failure of the Commission, the Centre for Bolivian Catholic Workers, the Catholic and Methodist Churches, the Simon Sain University of La Paz, Journalist Unions, Human Rights Organisations and families of the victims of dictatorship, with the support of several political figures, instituted proceedings against General Luis Garcia Meza and 55 of his close collaborators, first of all in February 1994 before the National Congress, then in April 1996 before the Supreme Court. In 1992, after more than six years of hearings, Luis Garcia Meza and Luis Arce Gomez were sentenced to 30 years in prison by the Bolivian judicial authorities. Today, Garcia Meza is serving his sentence in Chonchocoro prison, La Paz, after being extradited from Brazil. Around 50 other persons involved in this case have also received sentences.