The Living Disappeared and Their 'True Identity'. The role of the Rights to the Truth and to a Personal Identity in the Conflict between Disappeared Children and their Abuelas.

Abstract

During Argentine 'Dirty War', approximately 30,000 people disappeared. Of these disappeared persons, 10% were pregnant women, who delivered their babies in clandestine detention centres before being 'transferred'. The babies were sold, and/or illegally adopted by supporters of the regime. The Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo searched for these babies, their lost grandchildren. With the help of DNA tests, they are able to proof their grandparent-hood, and the biological identity of the lost children. However, at this moment the children have become adults, and not all of them want to cooperate with a DNA test. As such, these two groups of victims have conflicting interests. The Argentine state obliges the adult children to cooperate with a DNA test, know the truth and to accept their newly found identity.This LLM thesis examines the role of the right to the truth, and the right to a personal identity in this situation. It considers the development of these rights at the international level, and in the Transitional Justice context of the Argentine situation. It places the particular perception of the rights in the Argentine Transitional Justice process.It is argued that the collective dimension assigned to the right to the truth results in a favourable position of the Abuelas, as courts do not only balance the right to the truth of the Abuelas with the right to privacy of the adult children, but include a right of society as a whole to know the truth. Another important factor is the emphasis on justice and truth revelation in the Transitional Justice process in Argentina.The right to a personal identity, as laid down in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, is important because it obliges the Argentine state to re-establish the child's lost identity. This identity is perceived as biological, genetically-based, a perception that is influenced by the Abuelas. It is because of this perception, that the Argentine state feels obliged to re-establish the biological identity of the adult children, even when they do not want this to happen.