Restorative Justice Speaking Tour in Argentina and Chile
by Marty Price
An Invitation and an Honor
In May, 2006 I had the unique opportunity to spend two weeks on speaking tours of Argentina and Chile as a restorative justice expert. Initially, I was invited by the Argentine Ministry of Justice. The Chilean Ministry of Justice requested that my tour be extended to Chile after they learned I would be coming to Argentina. The tour was sponsored and paid for by the U.S. Department of State’s Democracy and Human Rights International Information Program. The tour program was called, "Restorative Justice: Practices and Pitfalls - How to Make it Work."
A Bigger Vision for the TripAs a pioneer in the restorative justice field, I felt confident that I could provide valuable expertise, experience and resources. But, as I considered the possibilities, I quickly realized there was more possibility present than one person could bring. Together with a group of restorative justice colleagues, we created a vision for the potential of this trip - a vision much larger than what one person alone could offer or provide. We saw the potential to build bridges between the RJ movement in North America and the new, but growing RJ movement in South America. And by building bridges between the RJ movements, to build bridges of brotherhood and understanding between North American and South American nations and their respective peoples. Obviously that was not something I could do on my own.
Becoming an Emissary
I imagined that I would like to make this trip on behalf of the North American restorative justice movement and any organizations or individuals who would want to contribute to, and be a part of this project. I wasn't thinking about official "sponsorships," but more of a cooperative venture with colleagues who would want to share their knowledge and resources with Argentina and Chile. And I would be able to tell the people of Argentina and Chile that I was bringing many hands reaching out with resources and support for their growing RJ development. I posted an invitation on the Victim Offender Mediation Association email group and a group of leaders in the restorative justice movement responded. On our first conference call, Spanish language materials were offered and connections were made with others in our field who have worked in South America. The others provided connections to Argentines and Chileans who were presently engaged in the development of mediation and restorative justice in those countries.
Acknowledgements
The seeds of a restorative justice cultural exchange were planted. It could not have happened without the generous contributions of time and expertise provided by Lynette Parker, Anita Gilbertson, Vernon Jantzi, Alejandra Diaz, Monica Herrera, Barbara Raye, Jane Riese, Vicki O’Connor, Vicki Shoap, Kathy Vaughan, Vicki Griffin, Chris Stockwell-Goering, Barclay Law, Leo Zapata, Jill Breslau, Cathy Holt and Shawn Gallaway. Professors Howard Zehr and Mark Umbreit (without whom there would be no North American restorative justice movement) contributed directly, but more importantly, provided continuing guidance and mentoring over many years. I will have to acknowledge as a group dozens of authors of articles that I left in appreciative hands in Argentina and Chile.
If there is anyone whose contributions I have neglected to acknowledge here, please know that the omission was accidental and your support made a difference. I cannot adequately express my gratitude and appreciation to Kim Wright, of The Cutting Edge Law Magazine and Healers of Conflicts Law & Conflict Resolution Center. Kim devoted countless hours to making this project a success, supporting our efforts and being my “personal cheerleader.”
Reporting on the Speaking Tours (and more acknowledgements)
Vis-à-vis the U.S. Department of State, my official capacity remained "expert speaker" and that was indeed my role, to some extent. But I learned at least as much as I taught. I'll share some of my learnings in this article.
From the perspective of a "restorative justice missionary" I felt the speaking tours were tremendously successful. I credit much of the success to the cultural attaches at the U.S. embassies in Argentina and Chile, who had the job of "programming" my speaking tours. Their expertise at "programming speakers," their cultural competency and their intimate involvement with the "Justice Undergoing Change" movement in South America made it possible for me to have a far broader impact than I ever could have imagined. Many thanks are due to cultural attaches Mirta Detrizio and Martha Buckley of the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires, Monica Alcalde and Carolyn Turpin of the U.S. Embassy in Santiago, Chile, who were my cultural guides and constant companions. Special thanks to Estelle Baird of the U.S. Department of State’s Democracy and Human Rights International Information Program, Washington, D.C.
On a typical day, I would make three major "live" presentations, each to an audience of a few hundred or more. Many of the people who attended my presentations traveled a considerable distance to do so and sometimes filled the nearby hotels. Sandwiched between the major presentations each day, there were typically press conferences, TV or radio interviews or "courtesy calls" to visit high-level justice system officials. In addition to the "live" presentations, there were also digital video conferences, in which I delivered my presentations from a high-tech broadcast studio. In the studio, I faced a bank of a dozen or more TV monitors and on each monitor, I saw a large audience, each in another province in another part of the country. Each audience saw me on a large screen monitor and could interact with me, with the help of a facilitator who "directed traffic." The result of this sophisticated programming was that, by the end of my tour of each country, virtually every decision-maker and person of influence in the criminal justice systems in Argentina and Chile had heard my restorative justice message and had an opportunity to dialogue with me. Through these modalities, I met or dialogued with the Ministers of Justice, Supreme Court justices, judges, national and regional prosecutors, and public defenders, mediators and victim advocates, court administrators and corrections officials, and professors of law, criminology, psychology and sociology. There was an especially important meeting with the board members of the Justice Studies Center of the Americas, a think-tank of the Organization of American States – an influential presence throughout all of Latin America.
Meetings with national officials were always face-to-face, often with more pomp and circumstance than that to which I am accustomed, commonly presenting me with an engraved plaque, certificate, autographed book or other tangible acknowledgment of their appreciation of my visit. Such warm welcomes were typical.
The reception to my presentations was, to me, nothing less than phenomenal, marked by openness, curiosity and enthusiasm. By the end of each presentation, audience members were literally jumping out of their chairs with comments and questions for me. There was never enough time to meet the desire for more sharing of information and experiences. Presentations and meetings always included an explanation that I was speaking on behalf of a large group of contributors to a restorative justice cultural exchange, rather than presenting myself as an individual expert.
Cultural, Legal and Socio-Political Reflections
Nonetheless, it was still difficult to avoid being seen and related to as an expert. One of my cultural learnings had to do with the notion of expertise and how it is perceived. Depending upon the professional level of the audience, there were sometimes more comments than questions and sometimes speeches disguised as questions. The speeches seemed more intended to impress listeners than to share knowledge. I learned that, in some circles, asking questions was viewed as exposing a lack of expertise - not a desirable thing. So I also learned that the regularity with which I answered questions with "I don't know the answer to that" - then suggesting how the answer might be learned, left no doubt, ironically, that I was an expert. True experts, I learned, were free to say "I don't know." People who lack expertise, or who lack confidence in their expertise, need to "fake it" by providing something that sounds like an answer to the question that was asked.
The significance of the "Justice Undergoing Change" movement in South America cannot be underestimated. Both Argentina and Chile are in a period of profound legal transition, from hundreds of years of an inquisitorial criminal justice system, to just a few years experience with an adversarial system, such as we have always had in the United States. In the inquisitorial system, judges made accusations of criminal behavior, investigated the accusations, dismissed the charges or conducted a trial, rendered verdicts and pronounced sentences. There were no juries and no prosecutors; defense attorneys were only for wealthy defendants. Rights of the accused, to the extent that they existed in writing, had little means for enforcement. With judges responsible for all aspects of the criminal justice process, it is easy to understand that criminal trials could span as much as ten years. In a vast number of cases, an arrest was tantamount to a conviction, because most defendants would spend as much or more time in jail awaiting trial, than the prison term to which they could be sentenced if found guilty. Bail, too, was only for the rich. If the defendant was ultimately found guilty, he/she would often receive a sentence equal to the time already spent in jail and then be released. For those found not guilty, the injustice was, of course, immense. For both the guilty and the innocent, the raw truth in the expression “justice delayed is justice denied” could not be any more evident.
Restorative Justice in South America and North America – Comparing Notes
Although it was no accident that I was invited to Argentina and Chile during "Justice Undergoing Change," it also seemed somewhat ironic to me. In North America, the restorative justice movement has come, at least in part, in response to the inequities, injustices and inefficiencies of our adversarial criminal justice system. In Argentina and Chile, prosecutors and public defenders are seen as "a breath of fresh air" - the gatekeepers and providers of a more modern, more democratic, adversarial criminal justice system. (Juries still have not arrived.)
Because adversarial criminal justice, with prosecutors and public defenders are "the new way" (and indeed a great improvement over the old way) I initially imagined that my restorative justice message, advocating healing outcomes for all, rather than the narrow, adversarial focus on “winning the case,” might be met with a great deal of resistance. But to my delight, I found the newness of adversarialism, in the context of the spirit of "Justice Undergoing Change," fostered openness to notions of restorative justice (rather than commitment to the win/lose battle in court.) In my mind, I contrasted that openness with the resistance to the restorative justice movement that has been typical in the U.S. and other countries that have been steeped in adversarial criminal justice for hundreds of years. South Americans are in the midst of change - they feel it is long overdue, they like it and they want even more. They seemed to see restorative justice as yet another way to modernize and “democratize” the way they do criminal justice, and to introduce even more fairness and efficiency - for which they hunger – or simply, “more just” justice.Continuing the Cultural Exchange
I have been invited to return to Argentina in Spring 2007, for two months, to teach a restorative justice course in the PhD program at the John F. Kennedy Argentine University School of Law in Buenos Aires, as well as to deliver a keynote address at a national RJ conference in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego (at the southern tip of the continent.) While I was in Chile, the Masters in Criminology program at Universidad Central in Santiago, Chile also asked me to return as a visiting professor, to teach a restorative justice course and to establish a victim-offender mediation clinical program at the University. I hope to be able to also return to Chile. New South American friends and colleagues will be co-teaching and co-training with me, continuing the cultural exchange.
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