Argentine president orders declassification of all military documents from ‘dirty war’ years

Argentina orders military documents declassified

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentine President Cristina Fernandez has ordered the military to declassify all “dirty war”-related documents.

Fernandez says her decree is aimed at clarifying human rights abuses allegedly committed by the military during the 1976-83 dictatorship.

The decree published Wednesday states that 25 years after the re-establishment of democracy in Argentina, “it is not possible to continue to keep such information inaccessible under the argument that it would threaten state security.”

The decree adds that declassifying documents has become more necessary with the recent reopening of numerous human rights cases.

Thousands of leftists disappeared in what became known as the “dirty war” against political dissent.