Coletta Youngers papers, 1977-2004 and undated

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Access restricted: Accession (2008-0151) is closed for 25 years, until 2033.
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Summary

Creator:
Youngers, Coletta
Abstract:
Human rights researcher and policy advocate at the Washington Office on Latin America. The Coletta Youngers Papers span the dates 1977-2004, and consist of reports and scholarly research, clippings, correspondence, and government documents related to socio-political conditions and human rights issues in Perú, gathered by Youngers while living in Peru during the 1980s and researching her 2003 book on political violence in Perú.
Extent:
21 Linear Feet
Language:
Material in English and Spanish
Collection ID:
RL.01424

Background

Scope and content:

The Coletta Youngers Papers span the dates 1977-2004, and consist of reports and scholarly research, clippings, correspondence, and government documents related to socio-political conditions and human rights issues in Perú, gathered by Youngers while living in Peru during the 1980s and researching her 2003 book on political violence in Perú. The collection is divided into the Printed Material and the Subject Files Series; there is also a separate listing at the end of this finding aid of printed works transferred to the Duke University Perkins Library general collections. Beyond the research materials in these series, there are currently no additional personal papers of Youngers in the collection. The Printed Material Series contains published reports on human rights circulated by a wide variety of organizations working inside and outside Perú. Most of the Perú-based human rights organizations are connected with the Coordinadora de Derechos Humanos (CNDDHH), an umbrella human rights organization based in Lima. Youngers' research files on human rights issues and a subseries of Peruvian and Latin American serial publications complete the Printed Material Series. The Subject Files Series contains files and informal reports of the CNDDHH and associated human rights organizations, most notably the Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos (APRODEH), El Centro de Asesoría Laboral del Perú (CEDAL), and the Instituto Defensa Legal (IDL). Further documentation of human rights abuses by government and rebel factions, drug policy files, papers related to former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori's security advisor Vladimiro Montesinos, and the Maoist guerrilla group Sendero Luminoso complete the collection. Material in this collection documents the complex links between Peruvian government policy and international pressure, and the violent tactics employed by revolutionary groups as well as agents of the Peruvian government. Further, it chronicles the consequences of those actions, especially for rural and indigenous populations and local human rights advocates. The collection also contains numerous U.S. government documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act which give insight into U.S. diplomacy, military and drug policy. Substantial portions of the collection are in Spanish. Aquired as part of the Human Rights Archive.

Biographical / historical:
Chronology
Date Event
1975
Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) founded
1980
Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path), Maoist guerrilla group, became active in Perú
1982
Youngers interned at Washington Office on Latin American (WOLA)
1983
Eight Peruvian journalists killed at Uchuraccay
1985
Youngers earned a Masters Degree in Public Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University
Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos founded in Perú
1985-1987
Youngers served as Project Manager at the Perú-Chile Office of the Catholic Relief Services, where she developed, monitored and evaluated rural and urban development and human rights projects by Peruvian NGO's
1987
Youngers began working at Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA); currently monitors, analyzes, and disseminates information on political developments, human rights and U.S. Policy in the Andean region of South America
1990
Alberto Fujimori elected president of Perú
1992
Fujimori dismissed Peruvian legislative and judicial branches in "self coup"
1997
Youngers published "Reluctant recruits: The U.S. military and the war on drugs" (August) (WOLA), and "The only war we've got: Drug enforcement in Latin America,"NACLA Report on the Americas, Vol. I, No. 2 (September/October) (WOLA)
1998
Youngers published "Drug Certification Doesn't Make the Grade" in The Christian Science Monitor (February 17)
2000
Youngers published Deconstructing Democracy: Perú Under President Alberto Fujimori (WOLA)
Fujimori resigned in the wake of public outcry over an election bribery scandal involving his advisor Vladimiro Montesinos
2002
Youngers published "Collateral Damage: U.S. Drug Control in the Andes" (WOLA) and "Perú's Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos: A Case Study in Coalition Building" (WOLA)
2003
Youngers published Violencia Politica y Sociedad Civil en el Perú: Historia de la Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos
2005
Youngers co-edited, with Eileen Rosin, Drugs and Democracy in Latin America: The Impact of U.S. Policy, which came out of the Drugs, Democracy, and Human Rights (DDHR) project directed by Youngers and Rosin at WOLA
2006
Montesinos, Fujimori advisor, sentenced to 20 years in prison for arms trafficking
2007
Fujimori extradited to Perú to stand trial for his involvement in massacres and "disappearances" at Los Barrios Altos and La Cantuta
Acquisition information:
The Coletta A. Youngers Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in July 2007.
Processing information:

Processed by Christian Ferney, November 2007

Encoded by Christian Ferney and Paula Jeannet Mangiafico, January 2008

Portions of this collection have not been ordered and described beyond their original condition.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

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Restrictions:

Access restricted: Accession (2008-0151) is closed for 25 years, until 2033.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Coletta Youngers Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University