GENEVA - UN human rights experts* today expressed serious concern over regressive measures in Argentina that risk undermining four decades of exemplary progress in memorialisation, truth, and justice and warned that reports of a possible pardon for military personnel convicted of international crimes would represent a grave setback for accountability.
"Since the return to democracy in 1983, Argentina has established itself as a global benchmark in transitional justice," the experts said, taking stock of progress and challenges on the 50th anniversary of the beginning of military dictatorship in Argentina.
They took note of transitional justice milestones in Argentina, including CONADEP, the Trial of the Juntas, the prosecution and criminal punishment of over a thousand perpetrators of crimes against humanity, the National Genetic Data Bank, the National Commission for the Right to Identity, the restoration of the identity of forcibly disappeared children, and the establishment of dozens of sites and policies of memory.
"Although there have been oscillations and gaps, for decades the country has made major progress in the fight against impunity and to ensure the rights to truth and memory," the experts said. "Unfortunately, today we are seeing a rapid deterioration of Argentina's global leadership in this area."
The experts have raised concerns with the Government on six occasions regarding the regressive measures adopted since 2024, including the reduction of the role of the state in promoting criminal investigations for crimes against humanity, obstruction of access to archives of the dictatorship and the weakening of mechanisms for reparation and support of victims.
In recent years, the Argentinian government has also dismantled institutions for memory, the search for disappeared persons, the preservation of archives, and the promotion of human rights, the experts said.
"These measures undermine the foundations of transitional justice, democracy and the rule of law, while weakening guarantees of non-repetition," they said.
"We urge authorities to restore dismantled institutions and policies without delay and cease actions that erode historical legacy."
The experts recalled that the Argentine State has a legal obligation to guarantee truth, justice, reparation, memory, and non-repetition. "This is not optional."
They expressed serious concern about public denials and glorification of serious human rights violations committed during the dictatorship, stigmatising discourse against victims and human rights organisations, and the discrediting of transitional justice policies.
"The authorities must refrain from resorting to disinformation and hate speech in relation to these crimes and their victims. Attempting to rewrite the past with denialist or revisionist narratives constitutes another alarming setback and a violation of human rights," they said.
The experts urged the government not to pardon military personnel convicted of heinous crimes after rumours began to circulate on social media.
"Pardons for serious human rights violations are strictly prohibited under peremptory norms of international law," they warned. "Argentina cannot make the same mistake again. It must rather consolidate and build on its successful transitional justice legacy to ensure effective reconciliation and non-recurrence."
The experts have been in contact with the relevant authorities.
