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History
The project was initiated by Bolivian Emma Bolshia Bravo Cladera, who was forced to leave Bolivia in 1972 and Chile in 1974 due to political reasons, and Andrés Gautier, a Peruvian-born Swiss citizen committed to the struggle of the Latin American peoples.
As Bolivia was the only South American country not to have a centre committed to the rehabilitation of persons affected by torture, these two psychologists decided to found one themselves.
With this goal in mind, they visited Bolivia in 1996 and laid their first contacts with institutions, medical professionals and persons affected by torture and other forms of state violence. Starting that year, they undertook the following actions in Bolivia and Switzerland :
July 1997: In association with the President of the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights in Bolivia (APDHB, Asamblea Permanente de Derechos Humanos de Bolivia) Dr. Waldo Albarracin, the idea rises to organize a symposium on the psychological consequences of torture, inviting experts from other Latin American centers, to evaluate Bolivia´s situation and it´s professional potential.
December 1997: APT (Asociación por la Prevención de la Torture , based in Geneva) becomes partner in the organization of the first International Symposium on the Consequences of Torture and State Violence.
March 1998: Fundraising campaign in Switzerland for the organization of the 1 st International Psychotherapeutical and Juridical Symposium on the Consequences of Torture and State Violence.
September 1998: Contacts with persons affected by torture, with Bolivian experts and other human rights organizations.
June 14 18, 1999: The 1 st International Symposium on the Consequences of Torture and State Violence, focusing on psychotherapeutical, juridical and prevention themes, is held in La Paz .
June 14, 1999: Meeting of Bolivian and foreign healthcare specialists, planning the foundation of ITEI.
June 21, 1999: Constitution of the first workgroup for the foundation of ITEI, supported by a network of organizations and private persons (APDHB, Asociación de Familiares de Desaparecidos (ASOFAMD), Amnesty International (AI), Unión de Mujeres de Bolivia (UMBO), Movimiento Franciscano de Justicia y Paz, Fundación La Paz as well as private persons Gertrudis Pfäfflin and Mónica Alarcón.
This workgroup meets periodically until the end of 1999, during which time Emma Bolshia Bravo returns to Switzerland . Thanks to the financial support of ICRT, Gertrudis Pfäfflin can take over the coordination in Bolivia . Bearing of the administrative costs by Emma Bolshia Bravo C. and Andrés Gautier and the offering of workspace by APDHB, ASOFAMD and Maria Elena Lora also enable continuation of the work.
September 1999 August 2000: Fundraising campaign in Switzerland for the publication of the Protocols of the Symposium.
September 2000: Start of the first work in education, research and rehabilitation of ITEI by it´s first workteam: Emma Bolshia Bravo Cladera, Jenny Gruenberger and Andrés Gautier.
November 2000: Presentation of the Protocols of the Symposium in La Paz .
January 25, 2001: Foundational Act of ITEI.
August 28, 2001: Official inauguration of ITEI in Casa de la Cultura , La Paz.
March 8, 2003: Opening of an ITEI office in Cochabamba , consisting of Zulema Callejas, Tamara Gonzalez and Isabel Chuquimia.
August 18, 2003: Opening of an ITEI office in El Alto, consisting of Marcelo Flores, Lucy Poma, José Pardo y Cecilia Cárdenas.
Testimonies
Government of Paz Estenssoro, 1964 the truth is that I screamed and that my screams must have been heard up to the government palace. I knew I was 3 months pregnant, and that it was a boy and that I lost it. I felt a great anger, not only because I felt tortured, but also outraged in that which a woman most wants: her female dignity and the right to be a mother all that had been taken from me. Dictatorship of Banzer, 1971 so I don´t know how much time I spent in that dark cell before I was made to serve them. One night seven masked men entered, carrying a candle. They hit me to the ground, tore off my clothes and then one after the other raped me. Dictatorship of Garcia Meza, Caracoles, 1980 They had made about 10 of my comrades undress. Naked, they made them sit on the ice. They sat there shaking from head to toe. ´Now you will talk.´ they said. ´We don´t know anything, we don´t know anything.´ They could hardly speak because of the terrible cold. Then, for all of us to see, they made them walk in file, naked. Government of Jaime Paz Zamora , 1992 ´We are going to kill you, you are one of the disappeared, we´re going to eliminate you, you are not worth anything.´ They draw a revolver, put it to your head and pull the trigger. And when that doesn´t function, they say: ´We are going to hand you over to the Security Forces of the army.´ You can be sure that if the army is bad, then the security forces are doubly bad, barbarians, that have no compassion at all. They then tell you: ´The soldiers want you, they will destroy you, they want to destroy you. Don´t forget this have already done this to those of the CNPZ, and they tortured the Peruvian to death. It`s not at all strange that they are going to do this to you.´ |