By Kaitlyn Degnan
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — The Argentinian organization Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo (Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo) have found their 117th grandchild. DNA testing confirmed the identification of the daughter of Walter Dominguez and Gladys Castro, who was born in police custody in 1978. The couple had been arrested in the dead of night when Gladys was six months pregnant.
The child was given to civilians with close ties to the military. There were reports of a child “mysteriously appearing” in the home of the couple at the height of the dictatorship.
The woman is one of the “stolen children”, who were taken from their parents (usually communists and other dissidents) during Argentina’s “Dirty War.” During the period from 1976 to 1983, as many as 30,000 people were “disappeared” by the military dictatorship.
Many of the children taken were born to parents while they were imprisoned or disappeared. A number of the children were born after their mothers were raped in prison.
After the children were taken, they were adopted by military families, members of the police forces and wealthy families that supported the dictatorship. The policy was part of the official “Process of National Reorganization.”
It is thought that over 400 children were taken from their parents during the implementation of the policy.
The Abuelas were founded in 1977 by a group of grandmothers searching for their stolen grandchildren and they are well respected for their work and determination in Argentina. They work to identify children by combing through adoption records and tracking families who suddenly adopted a child during the dictatorship. Much of their success is due to their work with Mary-Claire King, an American geneticist. King uses mitochondrial DNA, which is passed on by the mother, to match missing children to maternal grandmothers in situations where the mother is no longer living.
For more information, please see:
BBC – Argentina ‘stolen child’ abducted in 1978 found – 1 September 2015
UPI – Child stolen during Argentina’s military dictatorship found – 1 September 2015
Smithsonian – Argentina Grandmothers are using DNA to track down stolen children – 3 September 2015
