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| The Mothers of May Square
- their struggle for human rights |
More than 30 000 people are estimated to have disappeared
during the military dictatorship in Argentina from 1976 to 1983. On
our visit to Buenos Aires we are confronted with this dark chapter
of recent Argentine history as we meet some of the 'Mothers of May
Square'.
'Madres de Plaza de Mayo' is an organisation founded by the mothers
of these missing children, husbands, brothers and sisters. They derived
their name from May Square in Buenos Aires, which is where they started
their protests in 1977.
The fate of many of their missing family members is still unknown
today.
However, it is assumed that most of them were put in concentration
camps, tortured and killed by the police and the military. |
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| Banner displaying pictures of members of the
Japanese community in Buenos Aires who disappeared during Military
rule |
During our visit to their office, the mothers gave
a talk about the events that took place during the military dictatorship
and filled us in with their tragic personal stories. In their view,
the Military Junta, as it was known, together with the industrial
complex tried to create a neo-liberal economy lead by multinational
companies in 1970's Argentina. The regime prepared the ground for
this by brutally oppressing freedom of speech and quelling any signs
of opposition, be they students, socialists, workers or teachers.
According to the mothers, the military and industrial complex thus
sought its enemies on all levels of society and terrorised them with
all the inhuman methods inherent in a fascist regime.
Sometimes people would be forcefully taken away by plain-clothed police
and a few days later their dead bodies would be found in their families'
gardens or favourite bars. In most cases though, the 'disappeared'
people would never be seen again, leaving their mothers or wives with
no body to bury and no knowledge of their fates. This, one of the
Mothers of May Square points out, is the greatest terror for those
who are left behind - not knowing what happened to their loved ones. |
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| The White Head Scarf is the Symbol used by the
Mothers of May Square |
The conspiracy against the people under military
rule involved all levels of the state. Companies made lists of workers
they suspected to be socialists and then sold these lists to the military,
while bureaucrats forged and manipulated the victim's documents.
Today, 19 years after the end of the terror regime, the people who
were responsible for these crimes against humanity still haven't admitted
to their crimes or even acknowledged that they took place.
Many people are still too scared to speak out against them and those
who did have done so without being given any justice. In 1992 the
Argentine government passed a law called 'Punto Final Obediencea Debida',
which is basically an amnesty for the soldiers who tortured and murdered.
In contrast, there is no law in Argentina protecting political prisoners
and victims of state terror. The Mothers of May Square believe that
"the problem is not about Argentina, but about human rights. There
is an urgent need to make the international courts of human rights
more effective, so people and governments committing crimes against
humanity can be brought to justice." |
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| Rio de Janeiro-Ushaia / Peace Boat's 36th Voyage |
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PEACE BOAT is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. |
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