Revisiting the origins of Argentina’s military junta trial: political, moral, and legal dilemmas of a transitional justice strategy

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article examines the conceptual construction and the dilemmas surrounding the strategy that led to the trial of the military juntas furthered by President Raúl Alfonsín to address the human rights abuses perpetrated during the last military dictatorship in Argentina (1976–1983). The article argues that Alfonsín’s decision was the result of a process and as such was shaped gradually in dialogue with the political, moral, and legal dilemmas raised by the crimes and with the initiatives furthered by the armed forces and the human rights movement, two major actors in the transition to democracy. The article looks at the discussions over the space in which prosecution would take place, the scope of the trials in terms of criminal justice, and their relationship with the construction of the truth regarding the crimes. In that way it contributes to the study of a foundational strategy in the field of transitional justice, and, at the same time, reveals the teleonomic nature of projects aimed at dealing with legacies of systematic human rights violations.