U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has instructed relevant Department personnel to identify for declassification and release State Department documents related to human rights violations committed in Argentina during the 1976-to-1983 military dictatorship.
Office of the SpokesmanNovember 17, 2000
STATEMENT BY CHARLES F. HUNTER, ACTING SPOKESMAN
U.S. to Release Documents on Argentina's Human Rights Abuse During
Period of Military DictatorshipThe Secretary's action comes in response to several requests. The United States has received mutual legal assistance treaty requests from the Governments of Argentina and Spain for documents in connection with criminal investigations of human rights violations committed in Argentina during the military dictatorship.
In August of this year, the Secretary met in Buenos Aires with the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, who asked her to release any information the United States may have about Argentines who disappeared and children who were kidnapped during the military dictatorship.
Members of Congress have also written the Secretary urging the Department to declassify as many documents from this specific period as possible.
In response to these requests, the Secretary has instructed relevant offices within the Department to identify documents that relate to Operation Condor; disappearances and child kidnapping in Argentina from 1976 - 83; the laws and decrees specified in the Spanish request; and specific individuals and events listed in the mutual legal assistance treaty requests and a congressional letter. Once the identification and declassification process is completed, the documents will be released by the Department in a manner consistent with the standards established by the Guatemala and Chile declassification initiatives.
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