The Human Rights Policy of the Argentine Constitutional Government: A Reply

Abstract

A recent issue of The Yale Journal of International Law featured an article offering a critique of the current prosecution of human rights violations in Argentina.I The authors of this piece are a courageous human rights lawyer and active member of the Peronist Party, Emilio Mignone, and two able North American attorneys, Cynthia L. Estlund and Samuel Issacharoff. The article constitutes a valuable contribution to the discussion of the legal and moral implications of the prosecution of past human rights violations in Argentina. However, the article fails to give an impartial perspective on the issues under consideration and commits several errors, thus distorting the aims of the present constitutional government with respect to these prosecutions. The authors also isolate these aims from the general context of the government's human rights policy. While impartiality is often difficult with regard to such emotional issues, the reader may achieve a more balanced view if these issues are presented from a different perspective.