ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Argentinian experience of the use of "Dirty War" and repression to crush internal threats and dissent. Historical and recent evidence from Argentina demonstrates the futility and hugely negative consequences of repression and torture. Historically, many dictatorships have systematically violated the civil liberties of hundreds of millions of individuals. Deeds by official representatives and semi-official agents are often complemented by the even less accountable paramilitary groups that these regimes created, funded, supported, or turned a blind eye to their activities. Juan Domingo Peron enforced a fascist dictatorship and ruled Argentina with an isolationist and protectionist iron fist. During the course of the Dirty War, the junta murdered approximately 30,000 "counterrevolutionaries," first "disappearing" many of these activists into hundreds of detention camps. Crimes included kidnappings, torture, and brutal abuse of family members such as spouses, children, and siblings in front of each other, including sexual assaults.
