French
Spanish
GLOBAL MOVEMENT FOR A CULTURE OF PEACE

On the left below please find an article from CPNN, and on the right its discussion.
Please note that links to the discussion no longer work directly.
Instead, Use the following address http://cpnn-world.org/discussion/xxx.htm
where xxx is the topic number in the failed address obtained when you click on the discussion.
If this doesn't work, click here.

Learn Write Read Home About Us Discuss Search Subscribe Contact
by program area
by region
by category
by recency
United Nations and Culture of Peace
Global Movement for a Culture of Peace
Values, Attitudes, Actions
Rules of the Game
Submit an Article
Become a CPNN Reporter


UN rights office praises identification of 114th Argentinian 'Grandson of Plaza de Mayo'
an article by UN News Centre

The United Nations human rights office today [August 8] called on authorities around the world to redouble their efforts to find people missing due to enforced disappearances following reports that an Argentine grandmother discovered the identity of a grandson born during the military dictatorship in the country 37 years ago.


UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President of Argentina, and Estela Carlotto, founder and president of the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, receiving UNESCO’s Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize on 14 September 2011 - © UNESCO/Danica Bijeljac

click on photo to enlarge

“Enforced disappearance is a human rights violation that repeats itself daily for the families of the disappeared,” said Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR). “We call on authorities in all parts of the world to redouble their efforts to discover the fate of such individuals and to ensure that the rights to justice and reparation are realized.”

The grandson of Estela de Carlotto, the president of the Association of Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, was reportedly identified through a DNA test.

Ms. Carlotto never met her grandson, who was born in 1978 during her daughter's clandestine detention by the military. The daughter was killed two months after the birth, with the body returned to Ms. Carlotto. The father was illegally detained by the Government and also killed.

The grandson is one of an estimated 500 children who disappeared during Argentina's 1976-1983 military dictatorship. Only 114 children have been located.

“The courage, perseverance and determination that the grandmothers of missing children in Argentina have shown in the last three decades continue to inspire human rights defenders around the world,” Ms. Shamdasani said in reference to the Association of Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo.

Ms. Carlotto founded that non-governmental organization in 1977. It aims to ensure that violations of children's rights such as those that occurred during the military dictatorship never happen again by demanding the prosecution of all those responsible for the tragedy.

In 2010, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) awarded the Grandmothers its Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize for their “tireless battle for human rights and peace by standing up to oppression, injustice and impunity.”

In today's press briefing, the OHCHR spokesperson stressed that the Grandmothers and other associations in the region have made great contribution to the human rights system, and have advanced the application of scientific methods towards resolution of human rights issues.

DISCUSSION

Question(s) related to this article:


Rights of the child, How can they be promoted and protected?

* * * * *

Latest reader comment:

The Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989, as an important addition to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.


This report was posted on August 10, 2014.