hacer justicia ar

< Back to evidence

evidence: cartography

Identifying clandestine detention sites was, from the very outset, a goal of both survivors and human rights organizations as soon as they began gathering information and compiling preliminary lists of these locations.

It was also a central task later envisioned by CONADEP, as evidenced by the sketches and photographs contained in its archives. The members of the Commission visited many of these sites and, with the help of survivors, managed to identify the existence of 340 clandestine detention centers scattered across the country, most of them in military and police facilities. Later on, the State continued this identification endeavor, and the latest official record shows 814 sites recognized and registered in the Single Registry of Victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism (Registro Único de Víctimas del Terrorismo de Estado, RUVTE).

Sketch of La Escuelita-Bahía Blanca Clandestine Detention Center made by survivors Alicia Partnoy and Gustavo Darío López included in the Final Report of the archeological survey for the Clandestine detention center (2012). Comparison to the cadastral map from 1944 made by Memoria Abierta. Archive, Memoria Abierta.

Sketch of El Vesubio Clandestine Detention and Extermination Center made by Estrella Iglesias, who was detained and disappeared in this clandestine center. Archive: Vesubio and Puente 12 Commission.

Sketch of Pozo de Banfield Clandestine Detention and Extermination Center made by Comisión Nacional de Desaparición de Personas. Photographer: Leo Vaca. Archive, APDH.

Audiovosual Territorial Representation, Subzone 16. The tool was produced by Memoria Abierta in 2014 at the request of the National Court on Criminal and Correctional Matters No. 3 of the City of Buenos Aires within the framework of the First Army Corps case. Archive, Memoria Abierta.

Audiovisual Territorial Representation, ‘La Fronterita’ Sugar Mill. The tool was produced by Memoria Abierta in 2016 at the request of the Prosecutor's Office for Crimes against Humanity (Procuraduría de Crímenes contra la Humanidad, PCCH), Tucumán, within the framework of "Operation Independence" case. Archive, Memoria Abierta.

Subsequently and within the framework of criminal proceedings, especially after the reopening, on-site inspections of detention sites began to be conducted regularly, with the participation of judicial officials, survivors, and human rights organizations. These inspections were incorporated as evidence into the criminal proceedings.

judicial records

The Judiciary requested tools to conduct a more complete and complex reconstruction of captivity areas, similar to the ones that Memoria Abierta has been using for many years. These digital tools retrieve information from various sources and process it to prepare a visual representation: sketches, maps, plans, testimonies from criminal cases, court inspections, photographs, testimonies, and records of archaeological findings, among other data. They are combined to reconstruct both the spaces and their function within the repression system, as well as the victims' paths in and out of these places from the moment of their abduction.

oral testimony

Memoria Abierta Argentina 2025

With the support of