On 24 March 1976 the government of Isabel Peron, the second wife of Peron, is overthrown in a military coup headed by general Videla. The recurring overthrows of civilian rule by military coups and rules have marked the last hundred years of Argentina’s history. The coup of 1976, however, is known to have been the most brutal. Mass persecution of the left opposition, the so called montoneros is intensified and thousands are detained, tortured and killed – or “disappear”.
Democracy at last
After the Falkland fiasco in 1982 it becomes evident that the Argentine government has no chance of surviving. In 1983, under president Raul Alfonsin Argentina returns to democracy and the investigation of the abuses committed by the dictatorship starts. The CONADEP committee is set up under the leadership of the Argentine author and human rights defender Ernesto Sabato. The mandate of the committee is to gather testimonies about torture cases and “disappearances”.
In spite of his good intention to seek the truth , Raul Alfonsin paves the way for the amnesty laws which in 1989 becomes constitutional under the government of president Menem. By adopting the principle of impunity for acts committed under coercion the amnesty laws in fact offered impunity for those involved in the atrocities. Not until this year no one challenged this principle. Some politicians have argued that these are unconstitutional and have asked for their repeal. They are now awaiting the final decision of the Supreme Court.
How many?
The number of people who “disappeared” varies from a few thousand to around 30.000. The official number is 3000 killed. CONADEP’s number is approximately 13.000. Human rights organizations claim that 30.000 people “disappeared” in Argentina and they say that many families failed to report “disappearances” out of fear of reprisals .
Until recently little has been done to shed light on deeds of the past. In spite of protests from human rights organizations, politicians have actively advocated their propaganda of oblivion; “let us not dwell on the past but let us go on”. For years highly profiled human rights organizations like MADRES (The mothers of the May Square), ABUELAS (The grandmothers), and HIJOS (The children) have demanded to know the truth of the faith of their loved ones.
The survivors
ARHISTA, the society for the reconstruction of Argentine history, is an independent society of women who represented the opposition under the dictatorship. They were detained, tortured, and lost their “companeros”. They call themselves the survivors. For many years they have worked to bring the truth out in the open. Two years ago they finally succeeded. The Argentine judiciary ordered full investigation and identification of the “disappeared”. ARHISTA is the only organization in Argentina doing this kind of work. So far their nationwide voluntary activity has resulted in a dozen identifications; in Buenos Aires, in Santa Fe, and now in Cordoba.
In Cordoba City, members of Arhista share an apartment with people from the Argentine forensic anthropology team (EAAF). The two Arhista members, Alicia Dasso and Beatriz Pfeiffer, usually live in Santa Fe, ten hours away. During the weeks when working on the identification, however, they live in Cordoba. Their own painful experiences and their strong urge to know the truth gives them the energy to go on. They have the full support of their families who understand how important their work is; important not only to themselves but to Argentina as a nation.
Mission impossible?
- Finding remains is not enough. We begin with the official lists of reported disappearance cases, says Beatrice. The problem is that the only information they give us are names. We have to gather additional information to every single name; information from hospital files, police files, civil files, from the morgues, and from families: Can you give us any special physical characteristics? Can you tell us what happened that night? Where do you think they were taken? Who took them?
- These talks often bring pain to the families, and in some cases fear. For twenty years they have suffered in uncertainty, and maybe finally rsigned to their faith. Arhista opens deep wounds – and they cannot promise them anything except keep on working with their testimonies.
Increased consciousness
- In order to be able place every individual case into a greater perspective we have to try to get a picture of what actually happened, Beatriz explains. In most cases the location of the torture centers is known, and we know where the dead bodies were dumped. For many years it was difficult to bring people to talk to us, but today Arhista thinks that people have realized that hope of a better future depends on a settlement with the past.
The process has been very time consuming. In January 2003 the exhumation in San Vicente church yard in Cordoba began. Prior to that, Arhista spent two years working on documentation. After three months the remains of approximately 130 bodies have been dug out.
In the Cordoba morgue the remains are put together and all relevant specific features are registered: Sex, assumed age, signs of violence, illness and wounds, tooth fillings. Specific features are compared to the documentation gathered by Arhista. Arhista has established a blood bank where blood and bone samples of relatives of the disappeared are taken. A laboratory in Cordoba is checking DNA links between the samples and the samples of the remains. Their work is done on a voluntary basis. Local or international funding has proved difficult. In spite of economic support from the national and provincial government Arhistas and EAAF have limited means.
Final place of rest
As of today four persons have been identified in Cordoba. – Our work is not done before the dead are returned to their families, Beatriz continues. To the families this means that the circle is closed. To Argentina it means evidence; evidence of the truth - evidence that it actually happened!
Due to lack of information and documentation, most of the remains cannot be identified. In the cities where they have been allowed to work, memorials have been built. Here the unidentified have been buried. In some cases families of identified victims have expressed the wish to bury them along with the unidentified. – Their families feel that this is where they belong, says Beatriz.
“Disappeared” returned to grandmother
While we are talking, the telephone rings and good news are received: Menendez, Cordobas executioner during the dictatorship, has been detained and may stand trial. And this happens in spite of the fact that the amnesty laws have not yet been amended.
A few years back the Argentine Supreme Court ruled that the amnesty laws did not apply to cases where the offended was below 18 years of age. This ruling made it possible to start prosecution in the many cases where women had given birth in detention and had their children taken away and given to military families.
One of the San Vicente cases is such an example. Horacio Pietra Galle was born in detention. After the killing of his mother and father he was given to a military family. However, his adoptive mother did not want to keep him and gave him to the family’s maid who brought Horacio with her to the USA. Suspecting that Horacio might be the son of a “disappeared”, his new adoptive mother closely followed the development in Argentina from her exile. In the meantime Horacio’s grandmother reported her grandchild missing.
Thanks to documentation in Cordoba, links between samples of the remains of Horacio’s mother and blood test of Horacio and his grandmother, his identity could be established. A young man was given a new identity. He is now working for ABUELAS in Buenos Aires helping others to establish their true identity and learn about their past.
Is Argentina ready for this?
An amendment of the amnesty laws is not altogether unproblematic. An enormous amount of information will have to be published and thousands of individual cases may be brought to court. - I am not sure if Argentina is ready for this process, neither our judiciary nor our people, Beatriz says with a sigh. – In spite of increased consciousness, I fear that we still have a long way to go before we as a nation are able to tackle all the things that a settlement with the past may imply. Until we have the full and unconditional support of the politicians, our achievements will not succeed, Alicia adds.
Taking one step at a time. That is what this is about. Little by little our efforts to settle with the past will achieve support from the politicians, the judiciary, and the Argentine people. San Vicente tried to keep their secret about a few victims of the past. Arhista will continue to search for thousands of others.
Signe Prøis er frilansjournalist, hun kan kontaktes på
Translated by Laila Belle
Read more
- Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team: www.eaaf.org.ar
- You may contact Arhista on e-mail: arhista@arnet.com.ar
- Amnesty's documents on Argentina
