of which they were victims. 62 63. "Operation Condor" amounted to “repression coordinated among the South American dictatorships" framed within a period "of persecution of political opponents without borders," 63 reflected in a variety of actions, including the following: (a) political surveillance of exiled dissidents or refugees, with subsequent exchange of information; (b) covert counterinsurgency actions, and (c) joint extermination actions directed against specific groups or individuals, for which "special teams were formed" that, “within and outside the borders of their countries," 64 committed kidnappings, torture, murders, and forced disappearances, among other crimes. 64. Between 1973 and 1974, 65 because of the prevailing political situation in the region, people of different nationalities sought refuge in Argentine territory. However, following the establishment of the dictatorship in Argentina in 1976, the repressive actions of "Operation Condor" against activists and opponents of the dictatorial governments in the region intensified there. 66 Among other actions carried out within the framework of Operation Condor, between July and October 1976, joint operations were conducted by Argentine and Uruguayan security forces “in which more than 60 persons of Uruguayan nationality [were] kidnapped in Buenos Aires.” 67 65. The repressive activities carried out during the period of the military government in Argentina in the context of "Operation Condor" included the "systematic and widespread practice" of “abducting, holding, and hiding" children after their parents went missing or were executed. 68 Domestic courts have recognized the use of this practice during the time of the dictatorship, as follows: [T]he shared pattern was that all the mothers of the abducted children—as well as almost all the fathers— were victims of the repression […] and as a result, the children were left at the mercy of the forces who took part in disposing of them […]. After the abduction was carried out, the children appear to have been sent to a variety of different destinations, although in no case were they turned over to their relatives despite the constant, insistent, and diverse claims and searches carried out consistently by [them], before both national and international authorities […]. [I]t has been possible to prove the existence of a systematic and widespread practice of abducting, holding, and hiding minors—including by making their identities uncertain, altering them, or suppressing them—on the occasion of the kidnapping, captivity, disappearance, or death of their mothers in the context of a general plan of annihilation that was deployed against part of the civilian population on the grounds of combatting subversion, implementing methods of State terrorism from 1976 to 1983 […]. 69 62 Cf. Judgment issued by Federal Oral Criminal Court No. 1 on August 9, 2016, case No. 1504, 1951, 2054, and 1976 (evidence file, volume IV, annex 8 to the answering brief, folios 5354 and 5363). 63 Cf. Expert report signed by Francesca Lessa (evidence file, volume XII, affidavits, folio 16994). 64 Cf. Case of Gelman v. Uruguay, supra, par. 51, and Judgment issued by the Federal Oral Criminal Court No. 1 on August 9, 2016, case No. 1504, 1951, 2054, and 1976 (evidence file, volume IV, annex 8 to the answering brief, folio 5375). 65 Although "Operation Condor" was formalized in November 1975, there is evidence of repressive actions in Argentina starting from the end of 1973 and beginning of 1974. Cf. Case of Gelman v. Uruguay, supra, par. 47. 66 According to expert witness Francesca Lessa, Argentina was the country where the coordinated repression took place with greater intensity, especially in the city and province of Buenos Aires. Cf. Expert report signed by Francesca Lessa (evidence file, volume XII, affidavits, folios 16996 and 17001). 67 Cf. Case of Gelman v. Uruguay, supra, par. 56. According to the expert witness Francesca Lessa, the largest number of victims of Operation Condor were Uruguayan nationals, especially political opponents who were in Argentine territory between 1976 and 1978. Cf. Expert report signed by Francesca Lessa (evidence file, volume XII, affidavits, folio 16996, 16998 to 17001). 68 The Working Group on Forced or Involuntary Disappearances indicated that “[a] specific phenomenon that occurred […] during the time of the military dictatorship from 1976 to 1983 in the Argentine Republic was the forced disappearance of children,” adding that “[t]he boys and girls were abducted, stripped of their identities, and taken from their relatives.” Cf. Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, Mission to Argentina, January 5, 2009, UN Doc. A/HRC/10/9/Add.1, para. 10. 69 Cf. Judgment issued by Federal Oral Criminal Court No. 6 on September 17, 2012, cases No. 1351, 1499, 1604, 1584, 1730, and 1772 (evidence file, volume IV, annex 18 to the answering brief, folios 15446, 15465, and 20