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About the Project
Argentinean Human Rights Digital Library of Periodical and Non-Periodical Publications
Project Grant
Memoria Abierta is an alliance of nine Argentinean human rights organizations, most of which were created during the last dictatorship (1976-1983) to denounce violations of that time and to support victims and relatives. The Argentinean human rights movement, with innovative strategies to fight oblivion and achieve justice, is known worldwide and referenced by other countries in which human rights crimes have been or are being committed. Therefore, it is important that history and documentation of the movement be publicly accessible. The project will digitize publications written by the organizations present a unique perspective detailing the trajectory of each organization.
Project Lead
- María Celina Flores
- Maria Alejandra Pavicich
Host Institution
Memoria Abierta
More Information
Collection Details
From 1976 to 1983, military dictatorship in Argentina overran the population with politically-charged attacks and threats of imprisonment against citizens. In response to this regime, various human rights organizations (HROs) were created. Memoria Abierta is a collective alliance of nine of these HROs that aimed to denounce social injustice and support victims of repression.
Memoria Abierta’s project with MEAP focuses on written works from these groups. The materials selected for the archive cover (1) the history of the HROs and their members, (2) forms of organization and intervention, and (3) the roles that these groups played in a sociopolitical context. The printed materials include magazines, booklets, newsletters, and newspapers-- making up approximately 1,600 publications that date from the 1970’s to present times.
Publications in the collection include but are not limited to Magazine of the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights (a newspaper covering politics, human rights, and justice advocacy), Bulletin of Relatives of the Disappeared and Detainees for Political Reasons (a periodic publication on missing persons, human rights violations, and HRO activities), and “Paz y Justicia” (a periodic bulletin on human rights in Argentina and Latin America).
These publications allow users to explore the history of the human rights movement as well as the sociopolitical context of organizations and interventions within the movement. The materials contextualize the HRO’s within their foundation histories, the challenges that they faced, and the actions they carried out against injustice.
Memoria Abierta has selected materials that reflect Argentina’s dictatorial state and its consequences that led to organized resistance. The content is especially significant in light of modern-day right-wing governments regaining presence within and surrounding the country. This political climate has created some set-backs in making accessible Argentina’s grim, repressive history. However, this archive takes a huge step towards highlighting the voices of those that advocated for a more democratic and inclusive system-- an ideology that echoes into the present day.
Publication Details
Carta Informativa is a newsletter published by Servicio Paz y Justicia América Latina, containing issues between 1989 and 1996. It centers around news from Latin America as a whole, primarily concerned with issues of human rights and human rights violations, social unrest, poverty, economic and social development and democratization processes, from nonviolent, secular Christian approach. It also informs of the activities from Servicio Paz y Justicia's branches in various Latinamerican countries, including Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay and Mexico, among others.
Explore Carta Informativa in the Digital Library
El Interbarrial is a monthly publication by Servicio Paz y Justicia Regional Sur (the Southern Cone branch of Servicio Paz y Justicia), containing issues between 1987 and 1990. It focuses on neighborhood activism in Argentina, predominantly in the city of Buenos Aires and its metropolitan area, with some emphasis on housing issues and poverty, from a secular Christian approach.
Explore El Interbarrial in the Digital Library
Página is a bimonthly publication by Servicio Paz y Justicia México (the Mexican branch of Servicio Paz y Justicia), containing issues between 1995 and 1996. It focuses on social work in Mexico, and contains information regarding the 1994 Peasant Rebellion in Chiapas and the political movement that followed. It takes on a nonviolent, secular Christian approach, with an emphasis on pacifism.
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Educação Popular is a publication by Servicio Paz y Justicia Brasil (the Brazilian branch of Servicio Paz y Justicia), consisting of issues from 1992. Its central topic is social change through popular education, and the work done by the organization towards it, with an emphasis on teaching nonviolence.
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Buenas Nuevas para el Pueblo is a publication by Servicio Paz y Justicia Ecuador (the Ecuadorian branch of Servicio Paz y Justicia), containing issues from 1987 to 1996. It centers around news from countries all over Latin America (such as Nicaragua, Honduras or Colombia), mostly concerned with social unrest, rebellions, human rights violations, indigenous peoples, democratization processes, and the work of the Servicio Paz y Justicia organization, from a nonviolent, secular Christian approach.
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Chile Hoy is a monthly publication by Servicio Paz y Justicia Chile (the Chilean branch of Servicio Paz y Justicia), containing issues from 1985 and 1986. Published during the latter years of the dictatorship begun in 1973, it is mostly concerned with State sponsored terrorism, ongoing militarization, and the struggle for democracy, taking on a nonviolent approach that emphasizes civil disobedience.
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