Argentina
This country page describes, in brief, data that TJET has compiled on regime transitions, intrastate conflict episodes, and transitional justice mechanisms. For details on the data included on this page, view the FAQ.
For Argentina, TJET has collected information on: eight amnesties between 1973 and 1989; 458 domestic trials starting between 1976 and 2020; 14 foreign trials starting between 1983 and 2013; three reparations policies created between 1986 and 1994; one truth commission mandated in 1983; and one vetting policy starting in 1984.
Select any transitional justice mechanism in the table below to view a timeline in the figure.
Country Background
Democratic Transition
Based on well-known democracy data, TJET records two democratic transitions starting in 1973 and 1983.
Between 1976 and 1983, Argentina was ruled by a series of military juntas that established a brutal dictatorship and waged a campaign of state terror against perceived threats to its rule, such as youths, journalists, and lawyers. Democracy returned with 1983 general elections, and has endured since. Argentina regularly holds free and fair multiparty elections which feature robust opposition, universal suffrage, and mandatory voting for those aged 18-76. Despite its democratic longevity, Argentina still experiences frequent corruption scandals and governance crises. These incidents include the former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner being tried and sentenced to six years in jail for corruption, the alleged politicization of the judiciary, and police misconduct, such as torture and brutality in prisons, arbitrary arrests, and collusion with drug traffickers.
Data up to 2020. Hover over column labels for definitions.
Violent Conflict
Based on the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, TJET records two violent intrastate conflict episodes between 1974 and 1977, involving two distinct armed opposition groups fighting against the government.
In 1955, the nationalist populist leader Juan Domingo Perón was ousted in a military coup. From the coup until the early 1970s, military and semi-civilian administrations came into and out of power. In 1973, Peron returned to power. The most serious atrocities were committed by the state during the "dirty war" between 1976 and 1983. Though the major guerilla factions such as the People's Revolutionary Army (ERP) and Montoneros had been decimated by 1977, the “anti-subversion” campaign continued. Its primary tactics included forced disappearances, torture, arrest, and execution, with some 30,000 people estimated to have been abducted. By 1981, international pressure to account for the fate of the “disappeared,” mounting domestic political opposition, and fragmentation in the military, exacerbated by it's defeat in the 1982 Falklands-Malvinas War, had weakened the junta. In September 1983, it passed the blanket amnesty Law of National Pacification, and in October the dirty war was brought to an end and free elections were permitted bringing Raúl Alfonsín to power.
Data up to 2020. Hover over column labels for definitions. Source: UCDP Dyadic Dataset version 23.1, https://ucdp.uu.se/downloads/index.html#dyadic.
Transitional Justice Data
As of 2020, Argentina ranks 103rd out of 174 on TJET’s legacy of violence index. For a full list of country rankings over time, view the index page, and for an explanation of the index, view the Methods & FAQs page.
Amnesties
Argentina had eight amnesties between 1973 and 1989. Seven occurred in the context of democratic transition. One was passed during ongoing internal armed conflict. Two were passed after internal armed conflict. One amnesty released political prisoners. Five amnesties forgave human rights violations.
Data up to 2020. Hover over column labels for definitions.
Domestic Trials
Argentina has held the second-most domestic human rights prosecutions of any country in the world. TJET has compiled data on 458 domestic prosecutions between 1976 and 2020. These include 380 transitional human rights prosecutions of state agents, in which 1498 persons were convicted; 77 regular human rights prosecutions of state agents, in which 80 persons were convicted; six intrastate conflict prosecutions of state agents, in which 16 persons were convicted; and one intrastate conflict prosecution of opposition members, in which one person was convicted. In 153 trials that involved high-ranking state agents, 114 persons were convicted.
Click on accused records for data on convictions. Data up to 2020. Hover over column labels for definitions.
Foreign Trials
Nationals of Argentina were defendants in 14 foreign prosecutions in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the United States of America beginning between 1983 and 2013.