Restorative Justice is a new movement that focuses not on punishing the guilty but on repairing the harm caused by crime. Restorative programs are being developed around the world that work with inmates, victims and the community to explore ways to repair the harm, heal victims, restore the dignity of offenders, rebuild broken relationships and strengthen the community.
Over the years we’ve heard about restorative justice, and we’ve also heard about alternative ways that indigenous communities in southern Mexico have responded to crime. In one incident, one man killed another in his own community. The community’s elders had him arrested, and he was given a choice: he could be turned over to the District Attorney, tried, and probably sent to prison for a long time, leaving two families without husbands and fathers instead of one; or he could commit to providing for the needs of the dead man’s family as well as his own, for the rest of his life. He chose the second option, knowing that the whole community would watch him to make sure that he fulfilled his commitment!
We had heard about all this but hadn’t paid much attention until one day in July 2007, during a Servants’ Council meeting. Gabriela Pacheco, our Coordinator, was in mourning; her brother had been shot to death in Mexico City when he tried to resist a mugger. All of the Servants gave their condolences and offered support, but one of them, Guillermo, went further: Ever since I heard what happened to your brother, he said, I have been so ashamed! Because I have done that to people; I have killed people while mugging them. And I can’t stand to think that I could have done that to your brother!
Gabriela responded: Until now I didn’t know what crime brought you here, and now that I know, I still want to be your friend. Furthermore, let me say to all of you that what happened won’t make me stop coming to visit you. On the contrary, this makes me more committed than ever to continuing with our program; we must work to stop the violence!
This was an unplanned restorative moment! An offender took responsibility for the harm he caused and thereby regained some dignity, and a victim was healed a little in the process. After this special moment, we began to contact organizations and individuals in Mexico and the U.S. who were promoting this concept. In September 2008 we were invited to take an inside look at the Resolve to Stop the Violence Project (RSVP), a program for violent offenders run by the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department. We watched as a victim told her story to a room full of violent offenders at the county jail, who then gave feedback on how her story had touched them. Inmates then broke into groups to process what they had heard, and we were impressed to see them relate that story to the violent acts they had committed and help each other identify key moments when they could have chosen not to use violence. We heard that over the ten years that RSVP has existed, program participants have been much less likely than non-participants to be incarcerated again for a violent crime.
We also discovered that, coincidently, the state of Oaxaca is on the forefront of the Restorative Justice Movement in Mexico! Changes are being implemented in the trial process in Oaxaca to allow pretrial diversion to mediation and restorative solutions to crime. We met Lorena Perez, a psychologist, head of the new Restorative Justice Department in the office of the state Attorney General, and asked her to lead workshops in Tehuantepec.
On February 27, 2009, Lorena led a half-day workshop in the prison, with the help of a woman who was a crime victim. The woman told her story in detail and the inmates participating were moved, some to tears! Lorena also led a Peace Circle, where participants took turns sharing a personal experience related to the word “mother”. Participants were asked not to respond to each other’s reflection but simply to listen with respect. One participant couldn’t speak; he just cried! (The Peace Circle is a good technique for bringing offenders and victims together to talk about a crime.) At the end of the workshop, Guillermo said: This is true rehabilitation! This is what they should be doing with us while we’re in prison!
The following day, Lorena and her assistant gave a full-day workshop for people involved in prison ministry from around the state of Oaxaca. Several participants expressed interest in continuing to explore Restorative Justice in their communities and in the prisons where they served.
On August 22, 2009, we led a small workshop on Restorative Justice at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, Pleasant Hill, California. We heard that the movement was born out of national reconciliation processes after civil wars in several countries, and alternative indigenous responses to crime in several others. We heard that the Juvenile Justice system in New Zealand is now based on Restorative Justice, and that communities across the U.S. are implementing Restorative processes.
The Oaxaca Prison Ministry will continue to promote Restorative Justice in the Tehuantepec Regional Prison. We invite you to support this work and to help spread the word about Restorative Justice. The name “Tequio” refers to the volunteer labor that is expected of every member of an indigenous community in Oaxaca. We are all members of a global community, and are called to give our time and energy to bringing peace to that community.
Monday, July 12, 2010
2009 Annual Report
Gabriela Pacheco, our Coordinator, continues to do a wonderful job. Her right arm is Eleazar Hachá, who came to us as a Jesuit Volunteer for a year and stayed to become the backbone of the team, which also includes others from the community who help out when they can.
Gabriela and Eleazar traveled to several major Mexican cities in 2009 to sell inmates’ crafts at craft fairs. These trips took them away from the prison at times, leaving the Servants’ Council to run some activities without them. Fortunately, the 2009-2010 Servants’ Council was stronger than ever and took the initiative to carry out activities! This is a welcome change; previously, nothing would happen in the prison if a team member wasn’t present.
The Servants’ Council is unusual in another way: there are three women on the Council (Xhunashi, Alicia and Rosalba) and all of them are quite active.
The fundraising inside the prison continues to improve. Fairs on the basketball court, with food for sale and bingo and other games, have become a fixture. In 2009 enough money was raised through fairs and raffles to repair the prison chapel roof, which had leaked a lot during the previous rainy season.
The year 2009 brought three new areas of focus of the ministry:
Restorative Justice— a fresh way to look at crime. On February 27 we brought Lorena Perez, a psychologist from Oaxaca City, into the prison to conduct a workshop for inmates, with the help of a woman who was a crime victim. The following day, they held another workshop for people involved in prison ministry from around the state of Oaxaca. (For more information on Restorative Justice, and why we want to integrate it into the ministry, please see the separate article.)
Gardening— Bill Williams (Tequio Foundation Board member) and Linda Reeve, landscape architects and longtime supporters of the ministry, visited at the end of February and planted a garden in the prison! They worked with inmates to plant potted flowers and shrubs, vegetable seeds and flower seeds throughout the prison, in planter boxes made by the inmates. We had soil and sand trucked in, and they mixed in sawdust from the prison carpentry shops and coffee grinds from the prison kitchen. Bill and Linda marveled at the friendly reception they received in the prison and the helpful hands that appeared whenever they needed them. As Bill writes, they experienced “a partnership of involvement that pulled us so close so quickly – nothing like a little sweating and dreaming together for bonding.”
Recycling and composting—Patrick Lairson (son of Kathy Lairson, Tequio Foundation Board President) volunteered at the prison in June and July, setting up a program to recycle plastic bottles and turn food scraps into compost. The huge consumption of soft drinks in plastic bottles had doubled the volume of garbage produced, forcing the city garbage truck to make an extra visit to the prison every week. Food waste in the garbage attracted flies and caused strong odors—and the garbage area is right behind the prison chapel! Working with our inmate Servants’ Council and the inmates’ garbage collection team, Patrick arranged for recycling receptacles to be placed around the prison and the plastic bottles sold to a recycling company next door to the prison! Then he helped inmates build a compost bin from a barrel; now there is fertilizer for the flowers, shrubs and vegetables planted in February!
These are in addition to activities that have become traditions in the prison:
•Gifts for children on Three Kings’ Day (Epiphany) on January 6 and Children’s Day on April 30
•The Passion Play on Good Friday
•Blessing of the new Servants’ Council on Pentecost
•Workshops on law and human rights given by interns in the Summer
•Prisoners’ Day on September 24
•The “Olympics” in November— three-legged races and other fun competitions.
•The Posadas from December 16-24
•Weekly worship
•Weekly choir rehearsal
•Weekly legal advising
•Weekly children’s workshops
•A community bulletin board that is updated with new material every month
•Occasional workshops on health
•Talent shows throughout the year
Such a wealth of activities enriches a great deal of lives; out of a prison population of about 500 men and women, about 200 people participate in one or more activities, and the rest of the population benefits too, from the better environment created in the prison.
In August 2009, after 10 years of the Oaxaca Prison Ministry, Aurelia and I began an extended visit to the States. Please be assured that I continue to supervise the ministry; I check in regularly with Gabriela to advise her and cheer her on. My absence provides an opportunity for our staff to grow, lessening their dependence on my direct intervention. We are confident that with your continued support the ministry will continue to thrive!
Paul Riek
General Director
Oaxaca Prison Ministry
Gabriela and Eleazar traveled to several major Mexican cities in 2009 to sell inmates’ crafts at craft fairs. These trips took them away from the prison at times, leaving the Servants’ Council to run some activities without them. Fortunately, the 2009-2010 Servants’ Council was stronger than ever and took the initiative to carry out activities! This is a welcome change; previously, nothing would happen in the prison if a team member wasn’t present.
The Servants’ Council is unusual in another way: there are three women on the Council (Xhunashi, Alicia and Rosalba) and all of them are quite active.
The fundraising inside the prison continues to improve. Fairs on the basketball court, with food for sale and bingo and other games, have become a fixture. In 2009 enough money was raised through fairs and raffles to repair the prison chapel roof, which had leaked a lot during the previous rainy season.
The year 2009 brought three new areas of focus of the ministry:
Restorative Justice— a fresh way to look at crime. On February 27 we brought Lorena Perez, a psychologist from Oaxaca City, into the prison to conduct a workshop for inmates, with the help of a woman who was a crime victim. The following day, they held another workshop for people involved in prison ministry from around the state of Oaxaca. (For more information on Restorative Justice, and why we want to integrate it into the ministry, please see the separate article.)
Gardening— Bill Williams (Tequio Foundation Board member) and Linda Reeve, landscape architects and longtime supporters of the ministry, visited at the end of February and planted a garden in the prison! They worked with inmates to plant potted flowers and shrubs, vegetable seeds and flower seeds throughout the prison, in planter boxes made by the inmates. We had soil and sand trucked in, and they mixed in sawdust from the prison carpentry shops and coffee grinds from the prison kitchen. Bill and Linda marveled at the friendly reception they received in the prison and the helpful hands that appeared whenever they needed them. As Bill writes, they experienced “a partnership of involvement that pulled us so close so quickly – nothing like a little sweating and dreaming together for bonding.”
Recycling and composting—Patrick Lairson (son of Kathy Lairson, Tequio Foundation Board President) volunteered at the prison in June and July, setting up a program to recycle plastic bottles and turn food scraps into compost. The huge consumption of soft drinks in plastic bottles had doubled the volume of garbage produced, forcing the city garbage truck to make an extra visit to the prison every week. Food waste in the garbage attracted flies and caused strong odors—and the garbage area is right behind the prison chapel! Working with our inmate Servants’ Council and the inmates’ garbage collection team, Patrick arranged for recycling receptacles to be placed around the prison and the plastic bottles sold to a recycling company next door to the prison! Then he helped inmates build a compost bin from a barrel; now there is fertilizer for the flowers, shrubs and vegetables planted in February!
These are in addition to activities that have become traditions in the prison:
•Gifts for children on Three Kings’ Day (Epiphany) on January 6 and Children’s Day on April 30
•The Passion Play on Good Friday
•Blessing of the new Servants’ Council on Pentecost
•Workshops on law and human rights given by interns in the Summer
•Prisoners’ Day on September 24
•The “Olympics” in November— three-legged races and other fun competitions.
•The Posadas from December 16-24
•Weekly worship
•Weekly choir rehearsal
•Weekly legal advising
•Weekly children’s workshops
•A community bulletin board that is updated with new material every month
•Occasional workshops on health
•Talent shows throughout the year
Such a wealth of activities enriches a great deal of lives; out of a prison population of about 500 men and women, about 200 people participate in one or more activities, and the rest of the population benefits too, from the better environment created in the prison.
In August 2009, after 10 years of the Oaxaca Prison Ministry, Aurelia and I began an extended visit to the States. Please be assured that I continue to supervise the ministry; I check in regularly with Gabriela to advise her and cheer her on. My absence provides an opportunity for our staff to grow, lessening their dependence on my direct intervention. We are confident that with your continued support the ministry will continue to thrive!
Paul Riek
General Director
Oaxaca Prison Ministry
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