MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine Nobel Peace wants to dialogue with “Malvinas inhabitants”, ruled by a “colonial government”

Before leaving for Rio Gallegos Peace Nobel Perez Esquivel said he favored opening a dialogue with the “inhabitants of Malvinas”

An Argentine delegation linked to human rights groups is en route to the Falkland Islands with a “message of dialogue, peace and demilitarization”, hoping to meet Islanders, express support for the identification process of unknown combatants buried in Darwin cemetery, collect evidence on abuses committed by Argentine officers during the 1982 conflict, but also claim sovereignty and reject “militarization” of the Islands.

 The Memory Provincial Commission, CPM, delegation includes among others Nobel Peace Adolfo Pérez Esquivel; Nora Cortiñas, a founding member of Madres de Plaza de Mayo; priest Pepe Di Paola; ex Malvinas veteran Ernesto Alonso and La Plata University academic vice-president Ana Barletta. On Friday they flew to Rio Gallegos and on Saturday will board the Latam (once a month) flight to MPA.

Speaking in Buenos Aires 1980 Peace Nobel Perez Esquivel said he favored opening a dialogue with the “inhabitants of Malvinas” and underlined that their task in the Islands was ”to help the relatives and the Argentine people to learn the identity of those who fell in the (1982) war“, in reference to the Red Cross identification process of the remains of Argentine unknown soldiers.

Perez Esquivel added the trip was possible because of the ”agreement between the governments of Argentina, UK and the International Red Cross Committee“, with the purpose of identifying the Argentine soldiers, ”which fell in that war, an absurd war which was not instigated by the Argentine people but by a military dictatorship to consolidate its political purposes“.

He added that 35 years have gone by and ”we must review the identity of our fallen boys, but there are also other very serious problems, such as the British military base in Malvinas and the beefing up programmed“.

Perez Esquivel revealed that the delegation plans to recognize those places where ”Argentine soldiers were tortured by their officers; let's not forget that the majority of combatants were conscripts“.

However, ”we must dialogue with Islanders. We have just received a letter from the colonial government of Malvinas in which they say that the rights of Islanders must be respected. Obviously they must be respected, but we are going to try to establish a dialogue“.

Perez Esquivel was referring to the Open Letter which the Falklands government addressed to CPM and released in Penguin News and MercoPress which stated that “As individuals, and as an organization which has been recognized and celebrated for championing human rights, we hope that during your stay you don’t overlook the rights of the Falkland Islanders themselves”.

Further on it reminded the group which includes Nora Cortiñas and Pepe di Paola “We take this opportunity to remind you of our fundamental right to self-determination, as enshrined in the UN Charter, and of the 35 years of attempts by the Government of Argentina to ignore our rights as a people and undermine our way of life. In recognizing the universal rights of all people, we welcome you in visiting our home, to see for yourselves our community and our heritage born of nine generations“

The Nobel Peace Prize insisted ”in our trip to Malvinas we are taking a message of peace and demilitarization“.

Nora Cortiñas said she was rather stunned with what was happening, ”this is my first trip to the Islands, where we will try to contact with the people and see how this whole story continues“, and added, ”our purpose is that we learn to know each other, face to face, so they know who we are and how we are“.

Malvinas veteran Ernesto Alonso described the trip as ”historic, because it is the first time human rights referents are travelling to Malvinas“, which will help us with evidence ”on the very serious human rights abuses committed during the conflict“ by the Argentine officers on their soldiers.

Alonso also underlined the significance of the identification process of the Argentine soldiers buried as unknown in Darwin, ”this is historic, 35 years since the conflict, sometime in mid year we will be beginning a humanitarian task which will finally return the identity of those friends and companions that fell during the 1982 conflict”.

The delegation is scheduled to visit the Argentine memorial at the Darwin cemetery, Mount Longdon battle ground of one of the most fierce combats in 1982, and where they plan to leave messages of peace and claims of justice for the soldiers who fought in the South Atlantic conflict.

According to the announced agenda in Buenos Aires, members of the delegation will also visit the British cemetery and expect to meet Islanders to try and establish a peace spirit dialogue, including mentioning Argentina's sovereignty claim over the Falklands.