On March 8th, Aleida Gallangos filed a petition before the Inter-American Human Rights Commission (IAHRC), using dozens of declassified documents to charge the Mexican State with the abduction and disappearance of her parents thirty-five years ago. Aleida was just two-years-old when her parents were kidnapped by government forces, and has pursued her parent’s case tirelessly since discovering her true identity in 2001. After filing her case, she took a long-awaited trip to Argentina to meet with advocates, lawyers, judges, and friends to learn about the human rights prosecutions taking place there, and how to strengthen her own case in the Inter-American system. Aleida has used social media outlets to connect with human rights defenders throughout Latin America, and has met a close group of friends in Argentina whose parents were also disappeared by government forces in the 1970s. They have used Facebook to create a large network of advocates that identify with their struggle for truth and justice, and have successfully used this outlet to recover lost identities of children taken from their parents during Argentina’s dictatorship years (1976-83). Aleida recently reported back to the National Security Archive on the status of her trip, providing a poignant first-hand account of the human rights advancements in Argentina, and a unique perspective on how far Mexico has to go to achieve any comparable semblance of justice. (more…)
