IV. FINDINGS OF FACT A. Context 1. On the serious human rights violations committed during the Argentine dictatorship 32. On March 24, 1976 the Argentine Armed Forces carried out a coup d’état that overthrew the constitutional government of María Estela Martínez de Perón, who had assumed the presidency after the death of President Juan Domingo Perón on July 1, 1974. As a result, a civic-military dictatorship was established that lasted more than seven years, characterized by serious and systematic human rights violations. 33. After receiving several complaints of serious human rights violations in Argentina before and after the coup d’état, the IACHR decided to make an onsite visit to the country, which took place from September 6 to 20, 1979. During that visit the Commission met with the highest-level public authorities, former presidents of the republic, representatives of different religious creeds, human rights organizations and relatives of persons disappeared, representatives of political organizations, professional associations, and trade unions, among others. In addition, it received 4,153 individual petitions denouncing human rights violations. The Commission visited the city of Buenos Aires and other localities, including Córdoba, Tucumán, La Plata, Trelew, and Resistencia. It also visited six prisons, two military detention centers, the Superintendency of Federal Security or Federal Coordination, Police Station No. 9 of Buenos Aires, and the Navy’s engineering school Escuela de Mecánica de la Armada. 34. After that visit the IACHR found the existence of serious human rights violations, such as the systematic use of torture, the forced disappearance of thousands of persons, and the existence of clandestine graves in cemeteries. It also verified the existence of a large number of persons who were detained for indefinite times, without precise charges, without process, and without an effective defense. In its report published in April 1980 the IACHR concluded that from 1975 to 1979, “numerous serious” violations of the fundamental rights and freedoms recognized in the American Declaration were committed in Argentina. 5 This visit took on great importance and represented a key moment for the family members of the disappeared and other victims, for it was the first time that an international organization verified in situ the existence of gross and systematic human rights violations and gave visibility to the situation internationally. 35. After the return of democracy on December 10, 1983, President Raúl Alfonsín created the National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons (CONADEP: Comisión Nacional sobre la Desaparición de Personas), an initiative that was recognized by the IACHR 6 , whose objective was to investigate the crimes committed during the dictatorship. The CONADEP prepared 7,380 files of complaints, and in September 1984 published its historic report, called “Nunca Más” (“Never Again”). 7 That report identified the existence of approximately 340 clandestine detention centers in Argentina and 8,960 persons disappeared, a figure that the report did not consider definitive since many cases had not been reported. At present the human rights organizations calculate that 30,000 persons were disappeared.8 In addition, the Secretariat for Human Rights of the Nation subsequently identified 762 places “used by the repressive forces of the State systematically or occasionally for clandestinely or illegally keeping persons deprived of liberty for political reasons since late 1974, and especially as of the application of the systematic plan of extermination carried out by the last civicmilitary dictatorship throughout the national territory.”9 IACHR. Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Argentina. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.49. April 11, 1980. Conclusions and Recommendations. IACHR. Report No. 28/92. Cases 10,147, 10,181, 10,240, 10,262, 10,309, and 10,311. Argentina. October 2, 1992, para. 42. 7 Informe de la Comisión Nacional sobre la Desaparición de Personas. Nunca Más. Editorial Eudeba. September 1984. Available at: http://www.desaparecidos.org/arg/conadep/nuncamas/ 8 Ministry of Culture. Presidency of the Argentine Nation. “El Nunca Más y los crímenes de la dictadura.” Edición Cultura Argentina, p. 12. Available at: https://librosycasas.cultura.gob.ar/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/LC_NuncaMas_Digital1.pdf 9 Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. Secretariat for Human Rights and Cultural Pluralism of the Nation. Informe de Investigación sobre Víctimas de Desaparición Forzada y Asesinato, por el accionar represivo del Estado y centros clandestinos de detención y otros lugares de reclusión clandestina. Annex V. List of clandestine detention centers and other places used for illegal imprisonment by State terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983. P. 1574. 5 6