history, their way of thinking, their cultural identity, the specific expressions of their
feelings, their memory.
115. Here they have made a mistake: it is impossible to impose obscurity. The
producers of bodies have not been able to annihilate the spirit of the victims, which
survives in their loved ones, who remember them with nostalgia, and, in short, in all their
social environment. The search for justice also covers the preservation of their memory,
the honor of the victims, of all the victims of terrorism (perpetrated by clandestine groups
as well as by the State itself). The demonstrations of cultural identity are equally under
the shelter and protection of the Law, as illustrated by the corresponding regulations of
numerous contemporary human rights treaties and treaties for the protection of cultural
goods and expressions.89
116. Similarly, good books, the most loyal friends of human beings, have not escaped
the voracity of warriors, murderers, and vandals throughout history. So much so, that
versions of the universal history of the destruction of books have already been
produced.90 Even when they have destroyed entire libraries, and books of those
persecuted who became universal authors (such as, among so many others, Dante
Alighieri), at different moments throughout history, invoking for this “State reasons”,
they have not been able to destroy them as bonds to memories. In effect, the memory of
the victims has survived the most horrible atrocities, despite the attempts to cover them
and impose obscurity.
117. For example, in his memories of the Spanish civil war, George Orwell denounces
the lies that led hundreds and hundreds of people to the armed struggle and death, and
that immediately sought to dishonor the dead.91 Before the possibility of having so many
lies go down in history, he confessed “the sensation that the concept itself of objective
truth is disappearing from the world."92 He also confessed his fear before the purpose of
the “leaders” in power of controlling not only the future, but also the past; “this
perspective”, - added G. Orwell, - "scares me much more than the bombs."93
.
Regarding the latter, cf. my Concurring Opinion (paras. 21-24) in the
Interpretation of Judgment (of 02.08.2006) in the case of the Moiwana Community
versus Suriname. And cf., in this regard, A.A. Cançado Trindade, "International Law for
Humankind: Towards a New Jus Gentium - General Course on Public International Law Part I", 316 Recueil des Cours de l'Académie de Droit International de la Haye (2005) pp.
379-396.
89
.
Cf., recently, F. Báez, História Universal da Destruição dos Livros (Das Tábuas da
Suméria à Guerra do Iraque), Rio de Janeiro, Ediouro, 2006, pp. 17-376.
90
.
Remember that, in his famous allegory 1984, G. Orwell outlines the structure of a
totalitarian State, in which an official department dogmatically tried to erase the entire
past.
91
.
92
G. Orwell, Lutando na Espanha, São Paulo, Ed. Globo, 2006 [reed.], pp. 273-275.
.
Ibid., p. 276. And, for an appreciation of the literary legacy of G. Orwell, cf.,
v.g., J. Meyers, Orwell - La Conciencia de una Generación, Barcelona, Vergara Ed., 2002,
pp. 173-225.
93
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