IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Information on the human rights organization Children for Identity and Justice, Against Forgetting and Silence (Hijos por la Identidad y la Justicia, Contra el Olvido y el Silencio, HIJOS) can be found in ARG34356.E of 11 May 2000.

According to media reports, the organizations HIJOS and Madres de Plaza de Mayo have participated jointly in several demonstrations held since November 1997 (El Tribuno 13 Oct. 2000; la Nación 16 Nov. 1997; ibid. 24 Mar. 1998; ibid. 18 June 1998; 18 July 1998; ibid. 2 May 1999). For the most part, these demonstrations have taken the form of public denunciations (escraches) of individuals suspected of involvement in human rights abuses during the period of military rule (ibid. 24 Mar. 1998; ibid. 18 June 1998; ibid. 18 July 1998; ibid. 2 May 1998).

Among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate, only one report referred specifically to an action against police violence in which members of HIJOS and the Madres de Plaza de Mayo were participants (El Tribuno 13 Oct. 2000). In this case, representatives of the two organizations were among roughly 200 individuals who took part in a commemoration of the third anniversary of the 1997 killing of Sebastián Bordón, allegedly at the hands of Mendoza police officers (ibid.). No reports of the treatment by police of individuals participating in this event could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

La Nación [Buenos Aires]. 2 May 1999. "Escrache de Hijos." http://www.lanacion.com.ar [Accessed 13 Dec. 2000]

_____. 18 July 1998. "Videla: protestas callejeras en rechazo a la prisión domicilaria." http://www.lanacion.com.ar [Accessed 13 Dec. 2000]

_____. 18 June 1998. "Manifestación frente al domicilio de Galtieri." http://www.lanacion.com.ar [Accessed 13 Dec. 2000]

_____. 24 March 1998. "La nueva cara del rechazo social." http://www.lanacion.com.ar [Accessed 13 Dec. 2000]

_____. 16 November 1997. "Manifestación de protesta en Córdoba contra Menéndez." http://www.lanacion.com.ar [Accessed 13 Dec. 2000]

El Tribuno [Salta]. 13 October 2000. "Ceremonia ecuménica a tres años del asesinato de Bordón." http://tribuno.salnet.com.ar/ [Accessed 13 Dec. 2000]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB databases.

LEXIS-NEXIS.

Unsuccessful attempts to contact one oral source.

Internet sites including:

Amnesty International.

Canal 9 Televida [Mendoza]. Sintesis de noticias. Aug.-Dec. 2000.

Clarín [Buenos Aires]. 1997-2000.

Comisión de Familiares de Víctimas Indefensas de la Violence Social (COFAVI)

Corrupción Policial, Judicial y Politica en la República Argentina.

Coordinadora contra la Represión Policial y Institucional.

Cuyo Noticias [Mendoza]. Aug.-Dec. 2000.

Derechos.

Diario Los Andes [Mendoza]. Feb.-May; Sept.-Dec. 2000.

Human Rights Watch.

La Nación [Buenos Aires]. 1997-2000.