hacer justicia ar

facts

On March 24, 1976, the Argentine Armed Forces staged a coup d'état and established a system of illegal and clandestine political repression throughout the nation.

Its immediate predecessor was Operation Independence. It was ordered in early 1975 by the constitutional government of the province of Tucumán, located in the northern region of the country, which happened to be the epicenter of the policy of clandestine detention, torture, and forced disappearance that would be later implemented across the entire country.

To put repression into practice, the Military Junta –made up of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force– divided the country into five zones, each controlled by different Army units. The State Intelligence Secretariat, along with military and police intelligence departments played a crucial role in the persecution of individuals. Clandestine detention centers were the backbone of the system. In all, there were 814 detention centers established in military and police premises and other agencies’ facilities. Thousands of people were kidnapped and taken there by the Armed Forces and the Police. Most of them were murdered, with very few surviving. According to the estimates, approximately 30,000 political activists, union leaders, students, workers, journalists, members of armed and/or grassroots organizations fell victim to this repression.

Casa Rosada in the morning of March 24, 1976. Photographer: Héctor “Puchi” Vázquez. Puchi Vázquez’s photographic collection. Memoria Abierta.

Detail of Communiqué No. 1 of the Military Junta published in La Razón newspaper on March 24, 1976. Photographer: Leo Vaca. Archive, Infojus Noticias.

Soldiers in Tucumán during Operation Independence, 1975. Photographer: Miguel Ángel Cuartirolo. Documentary collection, Familiares de Desaparecidos y Detenidos por Razones Políticas.

Reconnaissance of the Clandestine Detention Center that used to operate in the Officers' Casino at Escuela de Mecánica de la Armada carried out by Comisión Nacional sobre la Desaparición de Personas in 1984. Photographer: Enrique Shore. Documentary collection, CONADEP, Archivo Nacional de la Memoria.

Exhumations conducted at the beginning of the constitutional government. Laura Bonaparte observes skeletal remains. Photographer: Roberto Pera. Archive, Familiares de Desaparecidos y Detenidos por Razones Políticas.

Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo raising a sign during a demonstration demanding the return of disappeared children. No date. Documentary collection, Madres de Plaza de Mayo - Línea Fundadora.

Skyvan PA-51 aircraft used for death flights. The photograph was taken in 2013 at Fort Lauderdale Airport, Florida, United States. Photographer: Giancarlo Ceraudo.

The abducted people were subject to sustained torture and isolation in these clandestine detention centers as a way to punish them and obtain information. In addition, women were also victims of sexual violence. Moreover, some of these centers served as clandestine maternity wards where many children born in captivity were kidnaped and then given to other families and registered under false identities. The search for these individuals who are now adults continues.

The Military Junta determined that the corpses of detainees murdered were not to be handed over to their families. Thus, it established disappearance as a central feature of the repressive system. They resorted to different methods for the final disposal of the victims: they were thrown into Río de la Plata from planes –from the death flights–; they were buried in clandestine graves; they were dumped in open fields or on the streets after staging armed confrontations. In many cases, the bodies were collected by the police forces and buried as unknown individuals or N.N. (No Name) in cemeteries across the country. In addition, in many cases, the repressive structure misappropriated the material possessions of the individuals abducted.

oral testimonies

Memoria Abierta Argentina 2025

With the support of