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| H.I.J.O.S. | |
|---|---|
| Name | H.I.J.O.S. |
| Formation | 1995 |
| Type | Non-profit |
| Headquarters | Buenos Aires |
| Location | Argentina |
| Fields | Human rights, Activism |
H.I.J.O.S. is an Argentine human rights organization formed by children of victims of forced disappearance during the Dirty War (Argentina), aiming to seek truth, justice, and remembrance. Founded in the wake of Argentina's transition from the National Reorganization Process and the repeal of the Full Stop Law and Due Obedience Law, the group has engaged with courts, cultural venues, and transnational networks. Its membership and activities intersect with trials such as those involving the ESMA (Escuela de Mecánica de la Armada), public commemorations at the Plaza de Mayo, and collaborations with entities like Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, Madres de Plaza de Mayo, and international bodies including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Formed in 1995 after legal and civic mobilizations linked to leaders like Estela de Carlotto and institutions such as Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales and Centro de Información Judicial, the organization emerged amid debates involving the Argentine National Congress and rulings from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Founders included relatives of disappeared persons whose cases had been pursued in courts in Buenos Aires, Rosario, and Córdoba, drawing on precedents set by trials at tribunals in Mar del Plata and petitions to the United Nations Human Rights Committee. Early alliances connected them with cultural figures from the Teatro Cervantes scene, journalists from Página/12 and Clarín, and intellectuals linked to Universidad de Buenos Aires and Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
The collective's declared aims align with efforts by Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, Centro Cultural Recoleta, and legal strategies used by Foro por la Memoria to promote trials, archival access, and public memory. Objectives include supporting prosecutions before courts in Argentina and international bodies like the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, opposing amnesty measures such as the Ley de Punto Final and advocating legislative reforms debated in the Argentine Senate. The group situates its aims alongside campaigns by Serpaj and petitions to institutions including the International Criminal Court and diplomatic outreach through embassies of Spain, Italy, and France.
Activities have included public demonstrations at sites such as Plaza de Mayo, artistic interventions at venues like Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and street actions near Congreso de la Nación Argentina, legal accompaniment in cases tried at courts in Federal Court of Argentina and engagement with prosecutors linked to figures like María Servini de Cubría. They employ tactics comparable to those used by Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo and H.I.J.O.S.-contemporary collectives in demonstrations that have intersected with events honoring victims of the AMIA bombing and campaigns around Nunca Más exhibits. The organization has also produced publications, collaborated with filmmakers working with Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales and artists associated with Latin American art biennales, and used symbolic acts in legal spaces such as petitions to prosecutors and submissions to the Supreme Court of Argentina.
Chapters operate in metropolitan and provincial centers including Buenos Aires, Córdoba (city), Rosario, Santa Fe, Mar del Plata, Neuquén, and Mendoza, coordinating with provincial human rights commissions and municipal memorial sites like Parque de la Memoria. Organizational structures mirror networks found in groups such as Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo Línea Fundadora, maintaining local assemblies and national coordinations that liaise with university legal clinics at Universidad Nacional del Litoral and cultural institutions including Centro Cultural Kirchner. International links extend to solidarities with movements in Chile, Uruguay, Peru, Mexico, and collaborations with activists who participated in forums at Mercosur summits and conferences at the United Nations.
The organization's methods have provoked debates involving media outlets such as La Nación and Clarín, and critiques from political actors in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies and conservative sectors aligned with former Argentine Armed Forces figures. Legal disputes have arisen over demonstrations near trials presided over by judges with profiles in the Supreme Court of Argentina and in cases linked to detention centers like ESMA (Escuela de Mecánica de la Armada). Some critics compared confrontational tactics to controversies surrounding street protests by groups like Piqueteros and invoked national security arguments advanced by veterans' associations, while supporters pointed to precedents in transitional justice pursued in South Africa and by truth commissions such as the National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons.
The group's activism contributed to renewed prosecutions after annulment of amnesty laws and to sentencing in cases related to disappearances tried in courts across Buenos Aires, La Plata, and Tucumán, influencing jurisprudence cited by litigators in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Cultural interventions influenced memorial practices at sites like Parque de la Memoria and exhibitions at the Museo de la Plata, and shaped public discourse in media outlets such as Página/12 and Telam. The organization's approach informed generational activism in Latin America, resonating with initiatives by Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, pedagogical programs at Universidad del Salvador, transnational human rights curricula at CLACSO, and continuing debates in legislative bodies like the Argentine National Congress.
Category:Human rights organizations in Argentina