ARGENTINA: "DIRTY WAR" MASS GRAVE FOUND
TAPE_NUMBER: EF00/0425
IN_TIME: 19:01:29 // 19:51:58 - 20:38:02 - 21:30:44
LENGTH: 01:50
SOURCES: APTN
RESTRICTIONS: No access Internet
FEED: VARIOUS (THE ABOVE TIME-CODE IS TIME-OF-DAY)
SCRIPT: Spanish/Nat
Authorities have sealed off a cemetery in Argentina following the discovery there of 90 so-called "disappeared" victims of the Dirty War.
The human remains had been buried outside Lomas de Zamora, just south of Buenos Aires, between 1976 and 1983.
Their deaths, according to surviving documents, coincided with the deaths or disappearances of tens of thousands in Argentina at the hands of the military junta.
Ninety bodies have been uncovered from unmarked graves in this town cemetery south of Buenos Aires.
Nobody yet knows who they were.
The evidence suggests these men and women were among the so-called "disappeared" victims of the Dirty War.
In total, thousands vanished at the hands of a brutal military regime which ruled Argentina from 1976 until the mid eighties.
The discovery after 23 years of these bodies in Lomas de Zamora is due to the newly appointed head in charge of this cemetery, Juan Hrchan, (pronounced Re-CHAN).
His decision to identify the unmarked, untouched graves and push for an investigation has cost him dear.
He now fears for his safety, should those still closely linked to the Dirty War decide to retaliate.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"Walking among the grave stones over there, in section 28, the former (cemetery) director said to me, gesturing with his hand at various graves, that they should never be touched. I asked him why and he said they were forbidden and if that whole issue (of the disappeared) raised its head again, those old women (Mothers of the Disappeared) would be on our backs."
SUPER CAPTION: Juan Hrchan, (pronounced Re-CHAN) Cemetery director
Archive documentation of the burials, recorded in the early months of Argentina's military regime, provide important information which could lead to the individual identification of those buried here.
They record the age and sex of each unidentified body and their date of burial.
The estimated 90 bodies lie in a total of 60 graves.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"When I located the burial spots, they were just of earth, no identification. So, I took the step, consulting first with the government, to identify all the unidentified graves."
SUPER CAPTION: Juan Hrchan, Cemetery director
It is thought the dead were previously prisoners held at the Pozo de Banfield concentration camp, which once stood very close by.
The camp was one of the largest run by the dictatorship.
It is not clear just how many people disappeared during the 1976-1983 dictatorship.
Estimates range from ten thousand to 30-thousand.
But few surviving relatives know what fate ultimately befell their loved ones. With this latest discover, it is possible a few more are about to learn.
SHOTLIST: Lomas de Zamora, Argentina - 15 April 2000 & file XFA
15 April
1. Moving pan of cemetery
2. Zoom in to cross marking disappeared
3. Mid shot of two white crosses
4. Zoom out from water of white cross
File
5. Human remains from disappeared
15 April
6. Set up shot for soundbite
7. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Juan Hrchan, Cemetery director
8. Pan of graves to white cross
9. Zoom in of Juan Hrchan explaining the archive documents
10. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Juan Hrchan, Cemetery director
11. Juan Hrchan walking away from the camera
12. Zoom in to white cross of alleged disappeared?