ABSTRACT
This chapter gives an overview of the Argentine historical and political context in which the amnesty laws and pardons were put in place as well as an account of the struggle of the victims and human rights movement against impunity. It begins with a brief theoretical approach to the definition and meaning of impunity. The chapter addresses some of the most difficult social implications of the amnesty laws for victims of state terror – fear, silence and indifference – not only in the big urban centres but also in semi-rural and conservative contexts, where authoritarian practices continued despite the restoration of the constitutional regime. It shows how impunity may also function as an instrument of social control. The chapter also shows how the persistence of older authoritarian figures and practices in the 1990s could rely on – to varying degrees – the support of the population, which again reflected more detrimental social attitudes towards the victims.
