Argentine Official Says His Government is Taking Steps to Eradicate Terrorism, Social Injustice

Using the expression “never again” so familiar to Jews, Argentina’s Undersecretary of Human Rights, Dr. Eduardo Rabossi, assured B’nai B’rith that his government is taking painstaking steps to “eradicate institutional instability, violence, terrorism and social injustice.”

At a session of the International Council of B’nai B’rith (ICBB), Rabossi said he saw “no reason for the President or any public official to belong to a specific group.” Presently Argentina’s Constitution requires the President to be a Roman Catholic, thus barring Argentine Jews, Protestants and others from full citizenship.

Though the human rights secretary stopped short of spearheading the drive for reform, he indicated personal sympathy and noted that advocacy was building for change.

Rabossi described the difficult legislative efforts to “reject state terror which affects the social morale of the country.” The steps taken include abrogating the amnesty of former military rulers who are now on trial for massive human rights infringement and crimes and the strengthening of penalties for advocating anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry.

Stating that in a democracy free speech is a fundamental matter, he stressed that the government is behind the protection of the religious and cultural rights of all Argentines. In this vein, he suggested that the job of the government is to build the people’s confidence in using democratic institutions to redress their grievances.

Rabossi, a philosophy professor by profession, spelled out the process of research, judicial and legislative action necessary to construct a system of rule of law vital to democracy.

“Torture is a crime that must be treated like murder,” said Rabassi, indicating that the documentation of the crimes against those who disappeared has been published by the National Commission on the Disappeared in a volume entitled “Never Again,” which has sold more than 220,000 copies in Argentina. The work is scheduled for publication abroad.

B’nai B’rith complimented his government for the strong stand it took against extremism by working against the Zionism-equals-racism language that was expunged from the final document of the Nairobi women’s conference. That language would have perpetuated a lie, stimulated anti-Semitism and denied the Jews the right to an independent state.

The ICBB, chaired by Philip Lax, is holding executive committee sessions in Buenos Aires with leaders from North America, South America and Europe.

Gerald Kraft, president of B’nai B’rith, who visited South Africa, Brazil and Uruguay, meeting with heads of state, is also attending. He was scheduled to meet today with Argentine President Raul Alfonsin, who will address B’nai B’rith’s District 20 convention here.