MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina wants 1955 bombings to become a crime against humanity

Although most of the perpetrators are already dead, the State must investigate, judge, punish, and repair crimes against humanity, the Human Rights Secretariat argued

Argentine authorities have asked the Judiciary to stage a “trial for the truth” about June 16, 1955, bombings at Plaza de Mayo during the military revolution that ousted then-President Juan Domingo Perón.

 Argentina's Human Rights Secretariat asked Federal Court 6 of the city of Buenos Aires to investigate the attack as a crime against humanity so that the victims are compensated “after so many years of impunity.”

On June 16, 1955, the Argentine Navy and Air Force aviation dropped bombs on Plaza de Mayo, in front of Casa Rosada, to overthrow and kill Perón (1895-1974).

The Human Rights Secretariat recalled Friday in a statement that the air raid was carried out in successive waves between noon and the end of the afternoon and that it targeted main government buildings, such as the Casa Rosada -headquarters of the Executive.

The air attack was also supported by Navy ground troops and civilian groups.

According to the Argentine government, 308 people were killed and nearly 1,200 wounded.

The highest number of casualties was recorded in and around Plaza de Mayo, where a rally in support of the Perón government was being held at midday.

“Neither the president nor his ministers were in the Casa Rosada, so it was constituted from the beginning as an aggression against civilians to sow terror among the population and, thus, break the popular support to the constitutional government,” the Secretariat argued.

A few months later, in September 1955, Perón was overthrown, giving way to a dictatorship known as the “Liberating Revolution”.

The Human Rights Secretariat regretted that, despite the time elapsed, these events were never investigated, and argued that, although most of the material and intellectual perpetrators were already dead, the State must investigate, judge, punish, and repair crimes against humanity.