Permanent Assembly for Human Rights
Encyclopedia
The Permanent Assembly for Human Rights (in Spanish, La Asamblea Permanente por los Derechos Humanos (APDH)) is an Argentine
non-governmental human rights
organization; founded in 1975.
(1976–1983), in the House of Spiritual Exercises within the Church of Santa Cruz, as a result of an initiative of Rosa Pantaleón. Other founders included the Bishop of Neuquén, Jaime de Nevares; Rabbi Marshall Meyer; Bishop Carlos Gatinoni; Alicia Moreau de Justo; Raúl Alfonsín
; Oscar Alende; Susana Pérez Gallart; Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and Alfredo Bravo.
The APDH played an important role in the defense of human rights during the military dictatorship. Later it supported the work of CONADEP fights against the impunity of the crimes against humanity committed during the National Reorganization Process.
, defending the protection of life, human dignity, and social coexistence. In order to ensure the legal protection of human rights, the APDH participates in the following organizations:
• The United Nations
(with Category II Consultative Status)
• UNESCO
´s Memory of the World Register: documental heritage of the APDH
• IEM Space for the Memory Institute
• INADI National Institute Against Discrimination
, Xenophobia
, and Racism
• PIDHDD Argentine Chapter of the Interamerican Platform for Human Rights, Democracy and Development
• National Network NO A LA TRATA (an organization which works to stop trafficking, slave trade, and commercial sexual exploitation
of children and adolescents)
and analyzes them with regard to human rights. These tasks include:
• Denouncing human rights violations
• Negotiating before public authorities, institutions and entities specifically relevant to these rights
• Developing educational initiatives aimed at educating individuals about these rights
• Spreading National Constitution rulings : pacts, declarations, conventions, etc.
• Advising victims of human rights violations
• Working with brother organizations to ensure that human rights are respected
• Promoting the sanction of those laws necessary to ensure the protection of human rights
and the organization has subsidiaries in other cities throughout Argentina.
Its principle tasks include:
• Watching over the prosecutions of crimes against humanity committed between 1976 and 1983;
• Keeping the memory of this period alive as a reminder of the necessity of civic action;
• Organizing documentation from and about the mechanisms of repression;
• Collaborating in the improvement of national and international standards of human rights;
• Permanently acting before the government to prevent and denounce human rights violations.
• Board of Directors: Made up of members from the Presidents’s Council. They meet monthly. They examine the reports of the Secretaries. They also determine what actions to take in order to fulfill the objectives set out by the Presidents’s Council’s agenda.
• Executive Committee: Composed of the presidents, vice-presidents, secretaries on the board of directors, the treasurer, and the coordinating secretary. It meets weekly. It carries out tasks established by the Board of Directors and keeps them updated on their progress.
• Committees: Specialized groups composed of specific commissions which carry out the committees´ aims. They gather information about the state of the nation, carry out studies, and produce reports and proposals of documents. They organize conferences, debates, seminars, and publications.
In 2008, the three co-presidents of the APDH are Methodist Bishop Aldo M. Etchegoyen, Sister Martha Pelloni, and Mr. Miguel Monserrat.
Some of the individuals that compose the APDH are: journalists Santo Biasatti and Luisa Valmaggia, writer Ernesto Sábato
, religious leaders Monsignor Justo Laguna and Rabbi Daniel Goldman
, painter Noé Jitrik
, singer León Gieco
, scientist Federico Westerkamp, lawyer Raúl Zaffaroni, and labor unionist Marta Maffei.
• National Security, a republican system of government and individual rights (Seguridad Nacional, sistema republicano de Gobierno y derechos individuales)
• The Forced Disappearance of Persons (La Desaparición forzada de Personas)
• The Disappearance as a crime against humanity (La desaparición como crimen de lesa humanidad)
• “Racism and violence” (about ethnic groups in history within scholarly texts) (Racismo y violencia (sobre la historia y las etnias en los textos escolares))
• The working woman and her rights (La mujer trabajadora y sus derechos)
• Domestic violence – Battered women (Violencia familiar-Mujer golpeada)
• Drug addicts, Victims or Culprits? (Drogadictos, ¿víctimas o culpables?)
• Life Workshops “Human Rights Education” (Talleres de Vida" Educación por los derechos humanos)
• Women’s human rights 50 years after the Universal Declaration (Los derechos humanos de la mujer a los 50 años de la Declaración Universal)
• Found guilty by society, unpunished by the law (Culpables para la sociedad, impunes por la ley)
• Women’s rights, are they human rights? (Los derechos de la mujer, son derechos humanos?)
• Estimates of the Dirty War
(Las cifras de la guerra sucia)
• Reproductive rights are human rights (Los derechos reproductivos son derechos humanos)
• Economic issues and human rights (Orden económico y derechos humanos)
• Fundamentals of human rights (Fundamentos de los derechos humanos)
The following publications (in Spanish) can be viewed on-line:
• Memory and the Dictatorship (Memoria y Dictadura), 2006
• Discrimination: A didactic perspective from human rights (Discriminación: un abordaje didáctico desde los Derechos Humanos), 2006
• Córdoba: Córdoba (city), Río Tercero, Villa María.
• Entre Ríos: Concepción del Uruguay.
• Formosa: Formosa (city).
• Mendoza: San Rafael.
• Misiones: Posadas.
• Río Negro: Bariloche, El Bolsón.
• San Luis: Merlo, San Luis (city).
• San Juan: San Juan (city).
• Santa Fe: Rosario.
• Santiago del Estero: Santiago del Estero (city).
• Tierra del Fuego: Ushuaia.
• Tucumán: San Miguel de Tucumán (city).
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
non-governmental human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
organization; founded in 1975.
History
The Permanent Assembly for Human Rights was founded on December 18, 1975, three months before the military coup that marked the beginning of the dictatorship known as the National Reorganization ProcessNational Reorganization Process
The National Reorganization Process was the name used by its leaders for the military government that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. In Argentina it is often known simply as la última junta militar or la última dictadura , because several of them existed throughout its history.The Argentine...
(1976–1983), in the House of Spiritual Exercises within the Church of Santa Cruz, as a result of an initiative of Rosa Pantaleón. Other founders included the Bishop of Neuquén, Jaime de Nevares; Rabbi Marshall Meyer; Bishop Carlos Gatinoni; Alicia Moreau de Justo; Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín was an Argentine lawyer, politician and statesman, who served as the President of Argentina from December 10, 1983, to July 8, 1989. Alfonsín was the first democratically-elected president of Argentina following the military government known as the National Reorganization...
; Oscar Alende; Susana Pérez Gallart; Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and Alfredo Bravo.
The APDH played an important role in the defense of human rights during the military dictatorship. Later it supported the work of CONADEP fights against the impunity of the crimes against humanity committed during the National Reorganization Process.
At Present
Currently, the APDH works to consolidate democracyDemocracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
, defending the protection of life, human dignity, and social coexistence. In order to ensure the legal protection of human rights, the APDH participates in the following organizations:
• The United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
(with Category II Consultative Status)
• UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
´s Memory of the World Register: documental heritage of the APDH
• IEM Space for the Memory Institute
• INADI National Institute Against Discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
, Xenophobia
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
, and Racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
• PIDHDD Argentine Chapter of the Interamerican Platform for Human Rights, Democracy and Development
• National Network NO A LA TRATA (an organization which works to stop trafficking, slave trade, and commercial sexual exploitation
Sexual exploitation
Sexual exploitation may refer to:*Sexual slavery*Sexual exploitation and abuse in humanitarian response...
of children and adolescents)
How It Works
The APDH follows current events in ArgentinaArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and analyzes them with regard to human rights. These tasks include:
• Denouncing human rights violations
• Negotiating before public authorities, institutions and entities specifically relevant to these rights
• Developing educational initiatives aimed at educating individuals about these rights
• Spreading National Constitution rulings : pacts, declarations, conventions, etc.
• Advising victims of human rights violations
• Working with brother organizations to ensure that human rights are respected
• Promoting the sanction of those laws necessary to ensure the protection of human rights
Activities
The APDH is primarily made up of volunteers. Its headquarters are located in Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
and the organization has subsidiaries in other cities throughout Argentina.
Its principle tasks include:
• Watching over the prosecutions of crimes against humanity committed between 1976 and 1983;
• Keeping the memory of this period alive as a reminder of the necessity of civic action;
• Organizing documentation from and about the mechanisms of repression;
• Collaborating in the improvement of national and international standards of human rights;
• Permanently acting before the government to prevent and denounce human rights violations.
Authorities
• Presidents’s Council: A body composed of members from various sectors of society: the church, politics, human rights, sciences, culture, and labor. They meet annually. They examine the reports of the Secretaries and set the Assembly’s agenda.• Board of Directors: Made up of members from the Presidents’s Council. They meet monthly. They examine the reports of the Secretaries. They also determine what actions to take in order to fulfill the objectives set out by the Presidents’s Council’s agenda.
• Executive Committee: Composed of the presidents, vice-presidents, secretaries on the board of directors, the treasurer, and the coordinating secretary. It meets weekly. It carries out tasks established by the Board of Directors and keeps them updated on their progress.
• Committees: Specialized groups composed of specific commissions which carry out the committees´ aims. They gather information about the state of the nation, carry out studies, and produce reports and proposals of documents. They organize conferences, debates, seminars, and publications.
In 2008, the three co-presidents of the APDH are Methodist Bishop Aldo M. Etchegoyen, Sister Martha Pelloni, and Mr. Miguel Monserrat.
Some of the individuals that compose the APDH are: journalists Santo Biasatti and Luisa Valmaggia, writer Ernesto Sábato
Ernesto Sabato
Ernesto Sabato , was an Argentine writer, painter and physicist. According to the BBC he "won some of the most prestigious prizes in Hispanic literature" and "became very influential in the literary world throughout Latin America"...
, religious leaders Monsignor Justo Laguna and Rabbi Daniel Goldman
Daniel Goldman
Daniel Goldman is an American child actor. He is probably best known for starring in the first season of Dexter as Cody Bennett, a role for which he received a Young Artist Award for "Best Performance in a TV Series - Recurring Young Actor". After the first season, he was replaced by Preston Bailey...
, painter Noé Jitrik
Noé Jitrik
Noé Jitrik was born in Argentina in 1928 and is one of Latin America's foremost literary critics.He is currently director of the Instituto de literatura hispanoamericana at the University of Buenos Aires, and was a notable participant in the cultural journal Contorno in the 1950s in Argentina.While...
, singer León Gieco
León Gieco
Raúl Alberto Antonio Gieco, better known as León Gieco is a pop-folk music composer and interpreter. He is known for mixing popular folkloric genres with Argentine rock, and for lyrics with social and political connotations...
, scientist Federico Westerkamp, lawyer Raúl Zaffaroni, and labor unionist Marta Maffei.
Publications
The APDH has produced numerous publications (in Spanish) related to human rights. Amongst these are:• National Security, a republican system of government and individual rights (Seguridad Nacional, sistema republicano de Gobierno y derechos individuales)
• The Forced Disappearance of Persons (La Desaparición forzada de Personas)
• The Disappearance as a crime against humanity (La desaparición como crimen de lesa humanidad)
• “Racism and violence” (about ethnic groups in history within scholarly texts) (Racismo y violencia (sobre la historia y las etnias en los textos escolares))
• The working woman and her rights (La mujer trabajadora y sus derechos)
• Domestic violence – Battered women (Violencia familiar-Mujer golpeada)
• Drug addicts, Victims or Culprits? (Drogadictos, ¿víctimas o culpables?)
• Life Workshops “Human Rights Education” (Talleres de Vida" Educación por los derechos humanos)
• Women’s human rights 50 years after the Universal Declaration (Los derechos humanos de la mujer a los 50 años de la Declaración Universal)
• Found guilty by society, unpunished by the law (Culpables para la sociedad, impunes por la ley)
• Women’s rights, are they human rights? (Los derechos de la mujer, son derechos humanos?)
• Estimates of the Dirty War
Dirty War
The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...
(Las cifras de la guerra sucia)
• Reproductive rights are human rights (Los derechos reproductivos son derechos humanos)
• Economic issues and human rights (Orden económico y derechos humanos)
• Fundamentals of human rights (Fundamentos de los derechos humanos)
The following publications (in Spanish) can be viewed on-line:
• Memory and the Dictatorship (Memoria y Dictadura), 2006
• Discrimination: A didactic perspective from human rights (Discriminación: un abordaje didáctico desde los Derechos Humanos), 2006
Delegations
• Buenos Aires: Azul, Campana, Chascomùs, Berazategui, La Costa, La Matanza, Lomas de Zamora, Mar del Plata, Olavaria, San Miguel, Tres Arroyos.• Córdoba: Córdoba (city), Río Tercero, Villa María.
• Entre Ríos: Concepción del Uruguay.
• Formosa: Formosa (city).
• Mendoza: San Rafael.
• Misiones: Posadas.
• Río Negro: Bariloche, El Bolsón.
• San Luis: Merlo, San Luis (city).
• San Juan: San Juan (city).
• Santa Fe: Rosario.
• Santiago del Estero: Santiago del Estero (city).
• Tierra del Fuego: Ushuaia.
• Tucumán: San Miguel de Tucumán (city).