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ARGENTINA | 24-03-2021 14:04

Rights groups call for 30,000 trees to be planted in memory of disappeared

Human rights groups, marking the 45th anniversary of the coup that brought the 1976-1983 military dictatorship to power, are planting frees in honour of those who disappeared at the hands of the military junta.

Human rights groups, marking the 45th anniversary of the coup that brought the brutal 1976-1983 military dictatorship to power, are planting frees to remember those who disappeared at the hands of the military junta.

A collection of NGOs and rights groups, including the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, launched their campaign on Wednesday, calling on citizens to help them plant 30,000 trees in memory of those who went missing.

"This March 24, we will plant 30,000 trees for our 30,000 detained-disappeared comrades and for the future," the groups said in a joint press release.

The campaign has been launched to commemorate the National Day of Memory for Truth and Justice public holiday, given that the annual 'Nunca Más' street mobilisations to the famous Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires have been cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, which the virus having claimed almost 55,000 lives and infected more than two million people.

The organisers of the new campaign asked those participating to take photographs and videos of their planting and to post it on social media using three hashtags: #PlantamosMemoria, #45AñosDelGolpeGenocida and #Son30Mil. Taking part can ensure that the "memory of the disappeared continues in "small acts," the groups added, who said they intended to "plant memory, truth and justice."

A select handful of groups, mostly leftist organisations, have said they would demonstrate on Wednesday regardless of rules against large gatherings of people. 

The military dictatorship in Argentina ended in 1983, the year of the restoration of democracy with the popular vote. Since then, more than 1,000 former military chiefs, officers and policemen have been convicted of serious human rights violations by the courts.

– TIMES/AFP

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