Thirty-five years from the birth of Argentina's 'Dirty War'

Thirty-five years ago what became known as the ''Dirty War'' was launched in Argentina.

On March 24, 1976 the military, led by General Jorge Videla, seized power and inaugurated six years of state terror, waged principally against people under the age of thirty, those considered by the armed forces most likely to be political activists and therefore sympathetic to the left.

Its consequences are part of the national psyche and and a band of mothers continue to keep the fate of the ''misssing'' in the political arena.

Irma Rojas sees the faces of the ''disappeared'' every day.

Pictures of ´´Dirty War´´ victims look down from her Buenos Aires office wall, like a college yearbook, a reminder of the nightmare that gripped Argentina. Among the faces, some sombre, some optimistic with the hope of youth but all unaware of their impending fate, is that of her son 21 and his seven-month pregnant wife, 20.

''At 2am on May 3, 1977, the military came, ransacked their flat and arrested them,'' Rojas said.

''I do not know where their bodies are but some prisoners we contacted at the Escuela Superior de la Mecánica de la Armada (ESMA) (the navy engineering school used as an interrogation centre), said they were tortured. They waited for my daughter-in-law to give birth then killed her and gave the baby away.''

Rojas, 73, works with the Abuelas (Grandmothers) de Plaza de Mayo - who search for the missing children of their own ''disappeared'' children. They employ five full-time lawyers and a psychologist to deal with daily inquiries.

The junta, ostensibly established to crush what the military referred to as ''terror organisations'' and guerilla activity, in reality cracked down on any political dissent and imposed a reign of terror on the civilian population, including all political opposition, trade unionists (half of the victims) and students.

An Argentine court would later condemn the ´´Dirty War´´ as a crime against humanity.

People were ''disappeared'' from their homes, restaurants, cinemas, on the street or places of work. Those who did not stay silent risked being ''disappeared'' themselves.

The dictatorship ushered in an age of terror, clamping down on civil liberties and human rights, drugging dissidents and dropping them from aircraft into the Atlantic Ocean, using electric prods on prisoners, raping women and forcing relaitives to listen to the screams.

At least 30,000 were killed or "disappeared'' before the military were forced from office after their invasion of the Falklands in 1982.

The Abuelas achieved their first breakthrough in 1984, when the first stolen grandchild, Paula Logares, was discovered in Uruguay living with an ex-police chief.

Rojas also discovered her missing grandchild.

After the Logares case a national TV camapign was launched asking people if they had ''any doubts'' about their parentage to contact the National Bank of Genetic Data which the Abeulas had persuaded the post-military government to establish.

This bank will operate at least until 2050 to allow missing children to track down relatives. So far, the grandmothers have traced about 100 of the 500 "stolen babies".

Among those who ´´had doubts´´ was Rojas' missing grandaughter.

''She saw the TV campaign and her stepfather gave her total support in tracking down her parents´ identity. He had adopted her in good faith from a hopsital, not knowing that her parents had been killed but he too had his suspicions.''

On July 28, 2007, Rojas finally met her granddaughter.

´´It was a beautiful moment. We hugged and cried and she said ´grandma, I want to get to know you and to hear about my parents´. We are in contact now every day.´´

The most famous ´´missing baby´´ is Congresswoman Victoria Donda.

Her parents were killed after her mother gave birth at ESMA in August, 1977. ´´It is important to remember that this was not a civil war,'' Donda said. ''The term implies two roughly equal sides. The ''Dirty War'' was state terror. The military had a social and economic plan to impose and that´s why they targetted the political opposition.''

Perez is quick to point out that there is no chance of those days returning.

´´People are more aware of their rights today than was the case 34 years ago. But we must teach our children about what happened. It is important not to forget´´

Hundreds of human rights trials are now underway after a blanket amnesty for the military was repealed in 2005. ´´But a combination of a slow judicial system and delaying tactics has led to frustration. We want truth and justice. We want people to know.´´