South American Sites of Conscience Network

Promoting Debate through the Construction of Memory of the Recent Past
Led by Memoria Abierta, this project builds the capacity of sites remembering state terrorism in South America (with initial focus on Argentina, Chile, and Peru) to preserve the memory of what happened during these dictatorships and the consequences of these dictatorships on their societies; to use that memory to influence political culture; and to work with young people to prevent all forms of authoritarianism in future generations.

Participants

Casa por la Memoria y la Cultura Popular
Contact: Maria Susana Muñoz
Pasaje Las Orequideas 767
Mendoza, C.P. 5501
Argentina
Tel: + 54-0261-429-5667
Email: bibliotecaycasaporlamemoria@yahoo.com.ar

Casa por la Memoria y la Cultura Popular (House of Memory and Popular Culture) works to coordinate the efforts of organizations in Mendoza and surrounding areas on several projects: opening legal processes for the disappeared people from the region, identifying clandestine detention centers, and creating an oral archive.

Comisión de Homenaje a las Víctimas de los CCD el Vesubio y Proto-Banco
Contact: Jorge Frederico Watts
Altolaguirre 2514 dto. C
Buenos Aires 1431
Argentina
Email: vesubiovictimas@yahoo.com.ar

Comisión de Homenaje a las Víctimas de los CCD el Vesubio y Proto-Banco (Commission of Tribute to the Victims of El Vesubio and Protobanco Clandestine Detention Centers) works to document evidence of human rights abuses in La Matanza during the military dictatorship, gather evidence and offer testimony in the legal trials against members of the dictatorship, and reclaim the El Vesubio and Proto-Banco Detention Centers as evidence in prosecutions and as a future site of memory.

Corporación por la Paz Villa Grimaldi (Villa Grimaldi Peace Corporation)
Contact: Margarita Romero, Trustee
Avenida José Arrieta
Peñalolen, 8401, Santiago, Chile
Tel: +56-2-273-6543
E-mail: magar2002@mi.cl
Website: www.villagrimaldicorp.cl/

Corporación Parque por la Paz Villa Grimaldi is located at the former site of one of the most important clandestine centers of detention and torture throughout Chile, where thousands of prisoners were incarcerated, and 230 disappeared or were executed under the command of the security forces of the Pinochet regime. Inaugurated in 1997 in a poor neighborhood with a high indigenous (Mapuches) population, Parque por la Paz Villa Grimaldi provides a public space welcoming people from diverse political, cultural and religious backgrounds. Parque por la Paz Villa Grimaldi is dedicated to remembering victims of human rights violations; to disseminating information on the history of state terrorism in Chile; and to promoting a culture of human rights.

Dirección de Derechos Humanos del Municipio de Morón: Proyecto de Investigación Antropológica y Arqueológica Mansión Seré
Contact: Guillermo Marcello, Director
Santa María de Oro 3530
Castelar Provincia de Bs. As. 1712
Argentina
Tel: + 54-011-4458-0134 /35
Email: guillermo.m@moron.gov.ar
Website: www.asociacionsere.org.ar/nhist/index.htm#

Dirección de Derechos Humanos del Municipio de Morón: Proyecto de Investigación Antropológica y Arqueológica Mansión Seré (Department of Human Rights, Municipality of Morón: Mansión Seré Anthropological and Archaeological Investigation Project) is conducting an excavation of Mansión Seré, a former clandestine torture and detention center run by the Air Force during the early years of the Argentine dictatorship. The center was shut down after two years because several prisoners escaped. The building was later destroyed and a football field and playground were built on the site. In addition to operating a House of Memory on the site for public tours, the Department of Human Rights of the Municipality of Morón involves local youth groups in the site’s excavation, collecting artifacts and photographs associated with the site, and investigating abuses that took place during the dictatorship.

Movimiento Ciudadano Para Que No Se Repita
Contact: Rosa María Villarán de la Puente, Executive Secretary
Jr. Camilo Carrillo 479, Jesus Maria
Lima, 11
Peru
Tel: +511-433-6453 /330 6307
Web site: www.paraquenoserepita.org.pe/joomla/index.php

Movimiento Ciudadano Para Que No Se Repita (Never Again Citizens Movement) is a coalition of over 400 human rights organizations and community groups across Peru. The coalition was established to disseminate the findings of the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was charged with investigating the violence and human rights abuses that surrounded the bloody conflict between the Maoist rebel group “Sendero Luminoso” (Shining Path) and government forces between 1980 and 2000. The coalition is now working to respond to requests for assistance in organizing memorialization events and sites for victims and survivors of the conflict.

Museo de Memoria - Rosario
Contact: Rubén Chababo, Director
Av. Del Valle y Callao
Rosario, 2000, Argentina
Tel: +54-341-480-4511 x 231
E-mail: museomemoria@rosario.gov.ar
Web site: www.rosario.gov.ar/sitio/lugares_disfrutar/museo…

Museo de la Memoria (Museum of Memory) was founded in 2001 to call attention to what occurred in Argentina during the last military dictatorship (1976-1983) and to advance the investigation and dissemination of information about human rights violations committed by the Argentine state, while promoting the protection of present-day civil liberties. The Museum will soon move into the former headquarters of the Army Second Command, which functioned as the central base for military operations and the implementation of terror amongst citizens of Rosario. The headquarters was also used as the administrative base for formulating policies of persecution and extermination in the city and throughout six central and coastal Argentine provinces during the dictatorship.