Hijos, Children of the Disappeared

The HIJOS group is an Argentina-based association formed by sons and daughters of disappeared, murdered, and exiled people during Argentina's last military dictatorship (1976–1983). Its main objectives are [Page 683]to explain and remind all world citizens about what happened in Argentina during that period, to demand justice and punish the genocides, and to help all children of the disappeared recover their “stolen” identities. The HIJOS motto is not to forget, not to forgive, and to look for justice.

The group was formed in 1995 by a number of young people who met in a series of public homages paid to university students in 1994 in Buenos Aires. HIJOS is a Spanish acronym that stands for “Hijos por la Identidad y la Justicia contra el Olvido y el Silencio”; that is, Children for the Identity and Justice Against the Forgetting and the Silence (CIJAFS).

From 1976 on, in Argentina as well as in other Latin American countries, military dictatorships ruled the country, creating a state of panic among the population. These regimes, in most cases secretly supported by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and international companies, were supposed to be fighting an internal war in their countries against communism and subversives. In Argentina, Jorge Rafael Videla's regime pursued all resistance movements, such as the Montoneros, and murdered, kidnapped, tortured and stole the properties and lives of most members. Also, many people not at all related with the movements, for instance university students or members of opposition political parties, were also kidnapped, tortured, and many times murdered.

The military regime also was guilty of another crime: the disappearance of those kidnapped. This meant that the family and friends of such people never had any news from them.

Many children born in the so-called detention centers (clandestine places where kidnapped people were imprisoned), were stolen from their parents and delivered to other families with a new name. It is widely known that Argentina's last dictatorship balance was of 30,000 disappeared and more than 10,000 dead.

The children who form HIJOS are descendant of those disappeared and murdered people, and they seek justice. Since its founding, the number of members has been progressively growing. The group has a significant public recognition for permanently leading demonstrations in search of their objectives. They demand that those responsible for disappearances and murders who were pardoned during Carlos Menem's administration (1989–1999) be taken to trial once again and definitely condemned.

They also demand restitution of the identity of many “stolen” children. Along with efforts of the Madres and Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo movements, in recent years many children have undergone DNA analysis to find out that those who raised them were not their biological parents. With the help of specialists and the National Genetic Bank, many “stolen” children have become aware of the names and pictures of their biological parents, and therefore recovered their true identity.

The group also offers a significant space for discussion about the identities of the disappeared, to share experiences and feelings, and to recreate the history through their personal stories.

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