Argentinean Genocide
The history of the genocide in Argentina has a living and powerful witness: Madres de Plaza de Mayo (The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo), an organization created by the mothers of "disappeared" children during the dictatorship in that country. They have been marching every Thursday at the Plaza de mayo-across the street from the Government House, since April 30, 1977 one year after the military coup. The women carry large signs with the photos of their children, and ask about their whereabouts, As a consecuence, some of the mothers also disappeared. After twenty-three years they have become a symbol of strength and courage around the world. Yet, after so long, the large majority of the perpetrators of such human right violation remain totally unpunished. In 1983, when democracy returned in Argentina, the government applied amnesty laws and pardoned all those responsible for the murders.
Many witness testimonies on Web pages,in novels, short stories, tales or poetry, lectures, and reports, teach people about the atrocities committed by the dictatorship against its political dissidents. there are testimonies about starvation, discrimination, an all kinds of torture in secret detention places; about mass murders of prisioners, about bodies burnt and buried in hidden mass graves, an about lethal drugs and "Death Fligts" where prisoners, often times still alive, were trhown from helicopters of Folker planes into the Rio de la Plata (De la Plata River) or the ocean. There are testimonies regarding the babies who were born in captivity under the worst conditions and them given to military families, while their mothers were murdered.
Some of those children, young adults now, were found by the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo (The Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo) another strong organization. Most of the disappeared children (about 500) are still living away from their real families, without the knowledge of their true identity.
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