Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980 Volume XXIV, South America; Latin America Region

95. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs (Derian) to Secretary of State Vance and the Deputy Secretary of State (Christopher)¹

Washington, January 26, 1979

SUBJECT

• Next Steps in Argentina

The increasing magnitude and brutality of Argentine human rights violations convince me that it is time for us to take additional measures to underscore our concerns and bring pressure to bear on the Junta to make improvements. Only substantial pressure across a broad front is likely to have any real effect, and there are a number of things we can and should do.

The situation is clearly deteriorating:²

—38 bodies, many of them without heads or hands, were recently washed ashore on one of Argentina’s Atlantic beaches. A Buenos Aires newspaper which had investigated the report killed the story at the direction of the Presidential Press Office.

—Our Embassy estimates that about 55 disappearances a month take place in Argentina. The International Red Cross representative in Buenos Aires recently characterized the disappearances as “a calculated policy” of the Argentine authorities.³

—For the past three weeks, security forces have arrested and threatened to imprison mothers of the disappeared who have held weekly silent demonstrations in the capital’s main square for the past two years. This heavy-handed police intimidation follows by only a few weeks the soothing promises given the mothers by a Presidential Palace spokesman at Christmas.

—An officer of the Argentine Permanent Assembly for Human Rights told our Embassy in December that security forces simply murdered a couple in their own home without bothering to take them to a detention center.⁴ The same source said he had received other recent reports of such killings.

—We continue to receive numerous highly credible reports that torture is used routinely in the interrogation of detainees.⁵ The electric “picana,” something like a supercharged cattle prod, is still apparently a favorite tool, as is the “submarine” treatment (immersion of the head in a tub of water, urine, excrement, blood, or a combination of these).

—Prison treatment of the 3,200 acknowledged political detainees has deteriorated sharply in recent months,⁶ according to the International Red Cross representative in Argentina. Torture, beatings, and dietary neglect are common for them and for the unacknowledged detainees held in secret military facilities. Another source reported that fifty female detainees recently transferred between prisons “have not been exposed to the sun for so long that their skin color is greenish. . . Some have lost their eyesight. Many are mentally deranged.”⁷

These developments illustrate the reasons why I believe we should, at a minimum, take these actions:⁸

—Vote “No” on all IFI loans to Argentina which do not clearly meet the basic human needs criteria, and at least invite other donor countries to take similar action.⁹

—Switch from “Yes” to “Abstain” on IFI loans which meet the basic human needs criteria.

—Instruct our Delegate to the UN Human Rights Commission to make a strong statement condemning Argentine human rights violations.

—Begin to deny commercial licenses of military-related equipment destined to the Argentine Armed Forces, as we now do with equipment for the police.¹⁰

—Deny or delay Export-Import Bank financing for new projects in Argentina.¹¹ If necessary, we should seek a Presidential determination under the Chaffee Amendment that denial would advance U.S. human rights objectives.¹²

—Mount major new diplomatic effort to persuade foreign arms suppliers to stop selling military and police equipment to Argentina.¹³

—Give careful consideration to suspending or halting entirely the pipeline of U.S.-origin military equipment purchased by Argentina under earlier programs.¹⁴

—In connection with, and explanation of, the above measures, issue a strong public statement condemning the continuing deterioration of Argentine human rights practices.

We simply have to begin to take measures like these if we expect to see any meaningful improvements. There is no longer any doubt that Argentina has the worst human rights record in South America. We cannot wait for the Inter-American Human Rights Commission visit at the end of May. While we hope that Argentine Government preparations for the visit, and the visit itself, will result in some improvements, we should not rely exclusively on this event. A high-ranking Foreign Ministry official recently said his government plans to stonewall the Commission on the disappearance issue.¹⁵

We would not be alone in taking more forceful measures. I understand that both Canada and the UK share the view that the situation is worsening. Canada, as a result, has halted transfers—not just of arms—to the Argentine military.¹⁶ Both countries, as well as some Scandinavian countries, are seriously considering opposing IFI loans to Argentina.

1. Source: National Archives, RG 59, Office of the Deputy Secretary: Records of Warren Christopher, 1977–1980, Lot 81D113, Box 28, Human Rights—Argentina IV. Secret. Printed from an uninitialed copy. A stamped notation on the memorandum indicates that it was received in D at 6:02 p.m. At the top of the memorandum, an unknown hand wrote, “WC—Here is Patt’s thinking on Argentina, which I mentioned in my memo for your meeting Friday.” Reference presumably is to Friday, February 2.
2. An unknown hand bracketed the word “deteriorating” and wrote “not improving substantially” in the right-hand margin. In a January 29 memorandum to Lake, Feinberg wrote: “Whether the Argentine situation is getting worse, in terms of body counts, will be debated by some, but I would argue that the behavior of the Argentine security forces is now more alarming, in that anti-government terrorism has been virtually eliminated for over a year. Current violations, therefore, are part of a simple and systematic policy of repression of non-violent political opposition.” (National Archives, RG 59, Bureau of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, Chron and Official Records of the Assistant Secretary for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, Lot 85D366, [unfoldered material])
3. An unknown hand highlighted this paragraph and underlined the phrase “55 disappearances a month.”
4. Not found.
5. An unknown hand underlined the phrase “torture is used routinely.”
6. [text not declassified]
7. In a meeting with Harris, Hinojose discussed the case of her niece Lillian Vogeler and events in Villa Devoto prison. (Memorandum of Conversation, between Hinojose and Harris, December 4, 1978; National Archives, RG 59, Bureau of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, Chron and Official Records of the Assistant Secretary for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, Lot 85D366, [unfoldered material])
8. An unknown hand underlined the phrase “at a minimum, take these actions.”
9. An unknown hand underlined the phrase “IFI loans.”
10. An unknown hand underlined the phrase “commercial licenses of military-related equipment.”
11. An unknown hand underlined the phrase “Export-Import Bank financing.”
12. Reference is to an amendment to the Financial Institutions Regulatory and Interest Rate Control Act, sponsored by Chafee. The amendment prohibited the Export-Import Bank from denying applications for nonfinancial considerations unless the President determined that it was in the national interest and would advance U.S. policy, including human rights policy. Carter signed it into law as P.L. 95–630 on November 10, 1978.
13. An unknown hand underlined the phrase “to persuade foreign arms suppliers.”
14. An unknown hand underlined the word “pipeline.”
15. An unknown hand highlighted this sentence. In telegram 627 from Buenos Aires, January 23, the Embassy reported that Arlia “bluntly stated that the issue of the ‘desaparecidos’ was not an area of concern as there was nothing the government could do to resolve this problem. The disappearance reports would be a question of the government’s word that they had no information on the cases against that of parents and others claiming that government forces were responsible.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D790034–0196)
16. An unknown hand underlined this sentence.