Alumni Magazine Spring 2010 - Green Meadow Waldorf School

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Justice for Conflict and Post-Conflict StatesWar in TranslationSurvivor of Violence by Ann HunkinsAnn Hunkins ’84Itraveled to Nepal for acollege semester in 1986and learned Nepali onan immersion program,living with a homestayfamily who spoke very littleEnglish. I fell in love with thecountry, and more specifically,with a young Nepali manwhose English about matchedmy Nepali. We were marriedfor five years, during whichtime I transferred to ColumbiaUniversity, where I studiedNepali intensively. In 1991,I began translating Nepalishort stories on a Fulbrightgrant. Over the next fifteenyears, I traveled back andforth to Nepal, developingrelationships with writersthere, working on a long-termproject photographing andinterviewing Nepali authorsabout their lives, while workingas a photojournalist in the US.Nepal has a long and troubledhistory of political upheaval.Long before my arrival, themonarchy had strenuouslyopposed Nepal’s multi-partydemocratic development.When a 1990 movement fordemocracy ended in a bloodbath,King Birendra agreedto a return of the multi-partysystem, resulting in Nepal’sfirst democratic electionsin thirty years. The king,however, retained controlof the armed forces. A smallparty called the Maoistssprang up. Frustrated withthe corrupt politics of thefledgling democracy, theytook to the jungles with gunsin 1996. In June 2001, the kingand most of the royal familywere killed in a massacre thathas never been satisfactorilyexplained, leaving Gyanendra,the king’s much-hatedyounger brother, on thethrone. It was Gyanendra whofirst deployed Royal NepalArmy soldiers, rather thanpolice, against the Maoists,after a rebel attack on an armybase. In 2005, King Gyanendrasummarily dismissed Nepal’s24 | Alumni Magazine
GJustice for Conflict and Post-Conflict Statesdemocratic government. Theconflict escalated into a fullscalewar.In late 2005, I was inKathmandu giving interviewsabout a Nepali novel I’d justtranslated, editing films, proofreadingEnglish manuscriptsand translating poetry. Whilethe news was full of reports ofcountrywide unrest and almostdaily clashes between theRoyal Army and rebel forces,it was still possible to live inKathmandu and feel the warwas remote. I wanted to beinvolved, to make a positivecontribution. Two friendstold me that the UN Officeof the High Commissioneron Human Rights (OHCHR)was looking for internationaltranslators. I called and washired immediately, flying off toJanakpur on my first missionjust after the New Year, 2006.Before the huge, grinding UNbureaucracy could even catchup to my paperwork, I wasdescending into the freezingfog of southern Nepal, wearinga blue UN vest and cap, a twowayradio in hand, but withoutany briefing about what myjob entailed. I was far fromprepared for what lay ahead.During the three months Iserved as translator, I traveledcentral and southern Nepalwith UN teams typically madeup of two or three HumanRights Officers, a SecurityOfficer, a driver and a nationalor international interpreter.One of the Human RightsOfficers served as teamleader. The HROs were highlyexperienced, having served inBosnia, Rwanda, the Congoand other war-torn countries.No training was requiredfor translators beyond acompetent knowledge ofthe language. Internationaltranslators were preferred forcertain missions because oftheir neutrality.My first trip into the fieldlasted nine fifteen-hour days.On the third day, we visited aprison where we interviewedfourteen prisoners in a row,half of whom didn’t speakNepali. The TV was blastinga Hindi film, and an old manburst into tears. Many morewaited to talk with us, but wehad to move on to the nextjail, village and battlefield.Nearly every interview at thatfirst jail (and later jails) wentlike this: Do you know whyyou’re here? No. What’s thecharge against you? I don’tknow. Have you been givenany documents related toyour case? No. Have you hadaccess to a lawyer? No. Haveyou been presented beforea judge? No. How long haveyou been here? Months. Wereyou tortured? Yes. When weinformed the jailer he washolding people illegally, heargued that they were Maoistterrorists, detained underNepal’s terrorist act. He saidhe had their papers in safekeeping,that the prisonerswere lying about torture andthat they had had a courthearing. In some places,we contacted lawyers andasked them to visit individualprisoners, on a pro-bono basis,but we often heard later thatjailers denied them entry.Torture was routinethroughout the country.OHCHR conducted numerousinterviews of torture victimsin the field and in our offices.We spoke with men who, fora year, had lain blindfoldedon a floor in a Royal NepalArmy barracks, right in themiddle of Kathmandu, andwere dragged out periodicallyfor beatings and shocks.Translated interviews suchas these were gathered andincluded in a report to the UNGeneral Assembly regardingviolations of the GenevaConvention.Even when a Nepali legalprocess gets underway inNepal, the police and thecourts are by no means inagreement. The judicialprocess often goes like this:Nearly every interview at that first jail...went like this...What’s the charge againstyou? I don’t know... Have you had accessto a lawyer? No....Were you tortured? Yes.A man is brought to court,handcuffed, flanked by police.His attorney argues beforethe judges that the man hasbeen illegally detained andthat there was no proof he wasinvolved in any kind of terroristactivities. The prosecutionresponds, saying they caughtthe man carrying a radio, tworounds of ammunition and afolded pair of combat dressshorts. They cannot producethese articles. The defensecounters that the man was onan ordinary trip to town to buyoil and salt for his family andthat he has never been knownto be involved in Maoistactivities. The judges retireSpring 2010 | 25
Page 1: ContentsAlumni MagazineSpring 2010F
Page 4 and 5: Community NewsSchool NewsGreen Mead
Page 7 and 8: Teacher Feature: Changing of the Gu
Page 9 and 10: Teacher Feature: Changing of the Gu
Page 11: Teacher Feature: Changing of the Gu
Page 15 and 16: Four for the LawA Reasonable Person
Page 17 and 18: Four for the Lawto prove, with evid
Page 23 and 24: WashingtonWhat we think of as “no
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Page 29 and 30: GJustice for Conflict and Post-Conf
Page 31 and 32: To truly know the world,look deeply

Alumni Magazine Spring 2010 - Green Meadow Waldorf School

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