Doing justice was possible in Argentina. Multiple factors aligned: the persistent ethical demand of human rights organizations, the courage of survivors, the support of broad sectors of society, the receptiveness of governments in other countries, and the willingness of the different government branches.
And Doing justice was not merely about condemning and punishing. The trials helped us understand the events with a rigor no social debate could demand from itself. It gave us an opportunity to listen to those who had survived and to the families of the victims as well. It set the stage to revisit activists’ lives and actions. It threw disobedient sons and daughters to the spotlight. We could also hear the statements made by the military, police, and intelligence officers. Some of them provided information that confirmed the testimonies of the victims. All this enabled us to draw on a map the repressive action taking place on every corner of the country with times and places.
A vast amount of documentary evidence was collected, organized, and presented in connection with these trials. As such, this document archive constitutes a highly significant contribution to historical memory. Part of this document archive has been included into museum scripts for memorial sites, such as the On-Site Museum at the former ESMA, headquarters, which is entirely based on testimonies and documents gathered during the judicial investigations.
The judicial proceedings were also a place to redress both victims and survivors. They also facilitated the location, identification, and return of the bodies of numerous disappeared persons, undoing - with immense effort - the impunity that the last dictatorship had so hard sought to secure.
oral testimonies