User:Maggielopez2727/sandbox3

History
The memorial, The Eye That Cries, located in Campo de Marte, a park in Jesus Maria, a district of Lima, Peru was completed in 2005. It was conceptualized and executed by Lika Mutal, a Dutch artist from Holland. At the center of the memorial is a black stone which Mutal discovered near a pre-Columbian cemetery.

The memorial was built primarily as a way to commemorate the roughly 70,000 victims of the violence committed by both the Peruvian military government and the radical guerrilla group attempting to fight against the government and all those who opposed their communist ideologies. The primary guerrilla group was the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso in Spanish), a radically communist “terrorist” group who resisted those who opposed them through radical actions, including violence. The government armed forces only added to the violence by fighting the guerrilla group. Most of the crimes, which took place in a span of twenty years (1980-2000) remained unspoken of until the Peruvian Commission of Truth and Reconciliation (Comisión de Verdad y Reconciliación in Spanish) brought them to the public. After President Alberto Fujimori fled the country in 2000, human rights committees and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission began the process of reconciling the crimes that had occurred.

The Peruvian Commission of Truth and Reconciliation (CVR) filed a public report in 2003 where it spoke of the crimes that occurred during those two decades, and the rulings placed pressure on the Peruvian government to commemorate all of the victims. The CVC’s extensive reported stated that during those two decades of violence, 69,280 people had either died or disappeared, roughly 600,000 people became internal refugees, and 40,000 children became orphans. The truth commission also reported that the majority of the victims of the crimes were indigenous victims who lived in isolated highlands. The report stated that three out of four victims of the brutal crimes were indigenous, roughly 85 percent of all of the victims. The fact that the indigenous were among one of the most marginalized groups in society and that they lived in highlands away from main cities made it easy for the crimes of the Senderos and the military officials to go unreported. Their marginalization and their isolation made this highly victimized group silent and they were powerless both against the guerrilla group and the government.

Though the members of the Shining Path contributed to over half of the roughly 70,000 people killed during this twenty year period, 41 members were still added to the names of the victims in The Eye That Cries memorial. The reason these members were added was due to an armed conflict that occurred in 1992 in Castro Castro prison. Important leaders of the radical guerrilla were captured and imprisoned in Miguel Castro Castro penitentiary. In 1992 in Castro Castro, there was a military raid in which forty-one Senderos were targeted and killed during the span of four days. The names of those forty-one Senderos among the victims listed in The Eye That Cries would later cause a controversy since a large portion of the deaths had been at the hands of Senderos. Peruvians considered the Senderos to be terrorists as opposed to victims.

Social Implications
For the survivors, family, and friends of the victims of the violent crimes, The Eye That Cries memorial is a place where they are able to mourn the loss of loved ones. This memorial captures all of the loss, and suffering of the people who were affected by the crimes. For the family members whose loved ones were part of the large group of people who disappeared, the memorial is the only place they are able to mourn and remember. Many mourners come to the memorial and leave flowers next to the stone with the name of their loved one as a way to supplement the fact that their body was never recovered. Having this common, public place to remember has become an important way of keeping the memory alive. The site is a way for Peruvian citizens to attempt to reconcile all the crimes that were committed; along with having a site to mourn their dead, the memorial served as a way to finally publicly display the violent and complicated history of Peru. The memory of the dead and violence that Peru has experienced also serves as a way to strengthen democratic ideologies. The memorial site also has annual events such as a ceremony on El Dia De Los Muertos, along with serving as a location of Buddhist prayer ceremonies. The ruling of the Inter-American court and subsequent controversy has led to an increase in popularity and visits to the memorial site. .