Report: Milei government not supporting campaign to restore dictatorship identities

Human rights groups have accused Argentina’s government of failing to support efforts to identify people who suspect they may be children of victims of the country’s last military dictatorship.

According to sources cited in a report by Spain’s EFE news agency, President Javier Milei’s administration has effectively halted the distribution of DNA testing kits to its consulates abroad, a move that could hinder any move by overseas citizens to find out their true identity.

The DNA kits, used to collect blood samples for identity verification, had been routinely sent overseas for nearly two decades, allowing individuals unable to travel to Buenos Aires to access testing. They were taken back to Argentina via diplomatic pouch.

But since Milei took office in December, shipments have largely ceased, sources told EFE with identity investigations now proceeding only through formal judicial channels.

Government officials did not respond to requests for confirmation.

The development comes amid broader restructuring of Argentina’s human rights apparatus, including changes in the Undersecretariat of Human Rights and lay-offs affecting agencies involved in investigations.

Human rights organisations and activists this week voiced concern that the suspension disrupts a long-standing, state-supported international network dedicated to locating children who were snatched by security forces during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship and handed over to other families. 

Around 400 babies are believed to have been appropriated during that period, and approximately 300 people may still be living under false identities, according to the estimates of rights groups.

In a statement, the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo expressed alarm and called on the authorities to act. 

“We express our concern and request that the authorities, particularly the Foreign Ministry, take the necessary steps to promptly resolve this issue,” the group said in a public statement.

It added that it hopes the appointment of a new human rights undersecretary will help “regularise this situation and many others that hinder the search and the guarantee of the right to identity.”

The rights group stressed that “the crime of appropriation only ends when the victim and their family know the truth,” warning that obstacles to DNA testing risk prolonging decades-long searches for missing relatives.

–TIMES/PERFIL