ASOCIACION MADRES de PLAZA de MAYO, Hipólito Yrigoyen 1584, Congreso, Buenos Aires
MOTHERS of the DISAPPEARED
The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo is a unique organization of Argentine women who have become human rights activists in order to achieve a common goal. For over three decades, the Mothers have fought for the right to re-unite with their abducted children.
In protests, they wear white head scarves with their children's names embroidered, to symbolize the blankets of the lost kids. The name of the organization comes from the Plaza de Mayo in central Buenos Aires, where the bereaved mothers and grandmothers first gathered. They gather every Thursday afternoon for a half hour walk around the plaza.
The Mothers' association was formed by women who had met each other in the course of trying to find their missing sons and daughters, who were abducted by agents of the Argentine government during the years known as the Dirty War (1976–1983), many of whom were then tortured and killed.
The military has admitted that over 9,000 of those kidnapped are still unaccounted for, but the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo say that the number is closer to 30,000, 500 of those given to military related families and the remaining number dead. The numbers are hard to determine due to the secrecy surrounding the abductions. Three of the founders of the mothers of the Plaza de Mayo have also "disappeared". After the fall of the military regime, a civilian government commission put the number of disappeared at close to 11,000.
The cause of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo was immortalized both in the Sting song They Dance Alone and in the U2 song Mothers of the Disappeared.
The Mothers' association seek to keep the memory and spirit of their disappeared children alive, through the creation of an independent university, bookstore, library and cultural center. Through these projects, subsidised and free education, health and other facilities are offered to the public and students, promoting the revolutionary ideals of many of their children.
Excerpts from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
ASOCIACION MADRES de PLAZA de MAYO, Hipólito Yrigoyen 1584, Congreso, Buenos Aires
MOTHERS of the DISAPPEARED
The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo is a unique organization of Argentine women who have become human rights activists in order to achieve a common goal. For over three decades, the Mothers have fought for the right to re-unite with their abducted children.
In protests, they wear white head scarves with their children's names embroidered, to symbolize the blankets of the lost kids. The name of the organization comes from the Plaza de Mayo in central Buenos Aires, where the bereaved mothers and grandmothers first gathered. They gather every Thursday afternoon for a half hour walk around the plaza.
The Mothers' association was formed by women who had met each other in the course of trying to find their missing sons and daughters, who were abducted by agents of the Argentine government during the years known as the Dirty War (1976–1983), many of whom were then tortured and killed.
The military has admitted that over 9,000 of those kidnapped are still unaccounted for, but the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo say that the number is closer to 30,000, 500 of those given to military related families and the remaining number dead. The numbers are hard to determine due to the secrecy surrounding the abductions. Three of the founders of the mothers of the Plaza de Mayo have also "disappeared". After the fall of the military regime, a civilian government commission put the number of disappeared at close to 11,000.
The cause of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo was immortalized both in the Sting song They Dance Alone and in the U2 song Mothers of the Disappeared.
The Mothers' association seek to keep the memory and spirit of their disappeared children alive, through the creation of an independent university, bookstore, library and cultural center. Through these projects, subsidised and free education, health and other facilities are offered to the public and students, promoting the revolutionary ideals of many of their children.
Excerpts from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia