The duty and the right to memory in the Colombian Law on Victims

Abstract

The article shares some thoughts regarding memory in the so-called Law on Victims in Colombia. First, the article contains an analysis of the extent to which the Law on Victims ensures the right to memory, taking as a theoretical framework the content and extent of this right as it has been developed by the Inter-American Court on Human Rights, and that should encompass both an individual and a collective dimension. The article argues that this Law is not systematic enough and that it does not allow for the individual dimension of the right to memory to be properly ensured. Thereafter, the article analyzes the duty of memory established by the Law, which –in the opinion of the author– does not properly incorporate the victims’ perspective.