An Account of the Experience at the First International Congress "Culture of Peace: For a Dialogue Between Persons Deprived of Their Liberty and the Costa Rican Penal System," June 22nd and 23rd, 2017

Abstract

This article describes the experience of the First International Congress "Culture of Peace: for a dialogue between persons deprived of their liberty and the Costa Rican penal system," held on June 22nd and 23rd, 2017, at the Chorotega regional campus of the National University (UNA for its Spanish acronym). This paper describes the design, substantiation, execution, and results of the activity. The Center of General Studies of the National University and the Chorotega regional campus coordinated the congress. The meeting was attended by scholars and students from the National University, the Costa Rican Humanistic High School, and the University of Costa Rica. Also, officials from the Ministry of Justice and Peace and the Judiciary, persons deprived of liberty, persons who were deprived of liberty, and some relatives of the persons deprived of liberty attended the congress. The participants addressed the Costa Rican penitentiary phenomenon through a series of strategies that the National University had already developed and in accordance with the 2017 Declaratory of the National Council of Rectors (CONARE for its Spanish acronym) for the public universities of Costa Rica to reflect on and develop actions around life, dialogue, and peace. The paper details the methodological strategy of the event; the strategy encouraged dialogue, respect, and openness for the participation of all attendees. The working groups presented their conclusions, which were in relation to the proposal for a culture of peace in penal institutions, challenges of the Costa Rican penal system, social conditions of exclusion, more effective post-penitentiary processes, and public policies: all within the framework of the New Humanism.