Title: Argentine Lawmaker Denounces Demolition of Human Rights Secretariat and Sites of Memory
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Meta Description: Union for the Homeland lawmaker, Victoria Montenegro, denounces the dismantling of Argentina‘s human rights secretariat and sites of memory by officials Alberto Baños and Mariano Cúneo Libarona.
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Argentine legislator Victoria Montenegro, representing Union for the Homeland (UxP) and chairing the Buenos Aires City Legislature’s Human Rights Commission, made a grave accusation this Friday. She denounced Secretary Alberto Baños and Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona for "destabilizing" the Secretariat of Human Rights (SDH) and putting at risk Argentina’s sites of memory through mass layoffs and defunding key areas (Source).
Montenegro presented a complaint before Judge Daniel Rafecas at Comodoro Py Federal Court Number 6. She argued that recent measures taken by Baños and Cúneo Libarona gravely compromise the preservation of sites of memory and the transmission of Argentina’s recent history.
Especially affected is the Espacio Memoria y Derechos Humanos, located in the former Escuela de Mecánica de la Armada (ESMA) – a former detention center during Argentina’s military dictatorship. With 252 workers dismissed and another 300 potentially at risk, the SDH faces a critical situation in an area with fewer than 800 employees (Source).
Montenegro asserts that the officials have violated Law 26.691, which protects former clandestine centers, endangering Argentina’s historical memory and legal investigations into human rights abuses during the dictatorship. Consequently, Baños and Cúneo Libarona were charged with abuse of authority and breach of responsibility.
Moreover, the legislator stated that the Ministry of Justice’s layoffs have impacted various areas in the sites: conservation, maintenance, education, and public attention. She also warned that the government is selling territories where clandestine centers once operated, despite a lack of innovation decrees issued by federal courts (Source).
Montenegro stressed, "These measures threaten the implementation of the State’s commitments in matters of grave human rights violations, which constitute part of Argentina’s identity and are consecrated in our Constitution, thereby risking international responsibility."
protesting workers at Esma this January 2nd. (Image: Perfil)
Tensions escalated when workers from Esma protested on January 2nd against the closure of the Haroldo Conti Cultural Center and another wave of mass layoffs. Upon arrival, they found biometric registers deactivated and a list detailing who could enter to work. The protest received broad criticism, with the Association of State Workers (ATE) accusing the government of utilizing police to communicate layoffs (Source).
The closure of the National Archive of Memory, responsible for preserving documents related to human rights violations during the dictatorship, also sparked outrage. Despite official claims that these centers will be "restructured" and not closed, employees, unionists, and political figures insist that the government is dismantling infrastructure critical for preserving historical memory (Source].
ATE called for a unified assembly to reject what they perceive as an attempt to dismantle fundamental organizations for Argentina’s memory.
In response to these events, Buenos Aires Governor Axel Kicillof condemned the "brutal adjustment" of the national government’s memory, truth, and justice policies. "We repudiate these measures that constitute a transgression against human rights in a country that has been democratic for 41 years, solidified under the "Never Again" consensus" said Kicillof on his Twitter account.
The governor also highlighted that the province has established a specialized provincial unit for investigating forced disappearances after President Javier Milei closed the special investigative unit within the National Commission for the Right to Identity (CONADI), the entity responsible for searching for babies stolen during Argentina’s last military dictatorship.
