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Activists outside a trial against former military and police officials in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2011. Twelve officials were sentenced to life for crimes against humanity during the country's 1976-83 dictatorship.

Identifying victims of Argentina's 'Dirty War'

This month marks 30 years since the end of the bloody dictatorship – but thousands are still missing.

THE LAB IN Buenos Aires houses row after row of boxes, each containing the unidentified remains of a long-missing son, daughter, father or mother.

The neatly-stacked boxes of skeletal fragments are held in a lab belonging to the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team.

For nearly 30 years, the group has examined the remains of countless dead from all over the world, including those of revolutionary icon Che Guevara, who was executed in Bolivia more than 40 years ago.

But its dozens of scientists are at work now on a task closer to home – identifying the remains of hundreds of victims from Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’ of the 1970s and 1980s.

Joint effort

The bones, retrieved from mass graves, are among the 30,000 Argentines who “disappeared” during the dictatorship, and presumably were murdered by the regime.

The work is a joint effort involving anthropologists, biologists, archaeologists and forensic specialists.

These scientists over the years have uncovered the identities of some 600 leftists who went missing during the military regime – work they said is at once painful and painstaking.

“One identification can take years,” explained Luis Fondebrider, an anthropologist from the University of Buenos Aires.

Bone fragments

This month marks 30 since the end of the bloody dictatorship in this South American country, where military rulers reigned from 1976-1983.

Written on some of the boxes are the letter, “NN” for “no name.” Each bone fragment is carefully numbered and labelled in red ink.

Two of the “no names,” examined on a wooden table covered in black cloth, have bullets in the skulls, and one of the skulls has multiple fractures, a sign of likely torture.

The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo – a rights group of family members whose loved ones disappeared during the dictatorship – praised the work of these scientific experts.

The great pain

“It gives us great pain – first comes the disappearance,” said Nora Cortinas, president of the group.

Then, she said, there is the second blow, when the scientist confirm the identity of a deceased loved one.

“That is the harsh reality we have to live with,” Cortinas said.

The walls of the Argentine lab are covered with pictures of skeletons in various positions – graphic images showing the position of the bodies when they were found in a mass grave in northern Argentina.

Their work has led to hundreds of trials and helped lead to the convictions of more than 400 members of the regime.

Genetic samples

The massive effort of identifying the remains has been under way for four years, and has involved collecting blood samples from relatives of the missing, and comparing it with genetic samples belonging to the victims.

“We need more relatives to come forward to donate blood,” Fondebrider said, adding that an effort is under way to collect DNA samples in some 60 hospitals throughout the country, as well as at Argentina’s overseas embassies.

“We have received many (samples) in Spain, France, Denmark and Norway,” he said.

The office next door to the lab houses files pertaining to hundreds of places which functioned as clandestine prisons, and where additional genetic material from the victims might be found.

Dental records, which commonly are used to identify missing people in other countries, are less useful here.

Home to the family

“Teeth give clues, but in Argentina there is no law requiring dentists to keep the records belonging to their patients,” Fondebrider said.

The anthropologist added that one of the hardest parts of his job is returning the remains to the families, after the rigorous job of identifying the bones is completed.

“Some take a long time to pick up (the bones) – it’s not easy. It’s an emotional process,” he said.

“It’s as if the person died all over again… It is probably the worst part of our work.”

© AFP 2013

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    Mute Brian Corcoran
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    Jun 4th 2015, 6:26 PM

    Nobody loves taking the bus. The government has made having a car so damn expensive some people have no other option

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    Mute Play Against Par
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    Jun 4th 2015, 6:38 PM

    If “bus” is code for “piss” then I wholeheartedly agree!

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    Mute Zozzy Zozimus
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    Jun 4th 2015, 8:25 PM

    I love my Dublin Bus.

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    Mute Manuel Moreira
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    Jun 4th 2015, 11:57 PM

    @Brian you see amazing things when you take the bus, such as:
    -junkies having sex in the back;
    -someone talking too loud on the phone;
    -oh shit I think I just stepped on poop;
    -how did a begger get in to ask me for money? o.o

    Actually nevermind, point taken o.o

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    Mute Dylan Wadey
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    Jun 4th 2015, 6:41 PM

    If you’re using public transport never give up your seat to an old lady…
    That’s how I lost my job as a bus driver.

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    Mute David Hammond
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    Jun 4th 2015, 6:43 PM

    Now that passenger numbers have increased will fares be coming down? After all, one of the main reasons for all the increases over the last number of years was falling passenger numbers.

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    Mute Deborah Behan
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    Jun 4th 2015, 7:10 PM

    X1,000

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    Mute Stephen
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    Jun 4th 2015, 6:31 PM

    I love the bus, you do see all sorts. I once seen two junkies having sex at the back of bus coming home one night. To quote them he said “get your tits out?” She replied “Ah noo not yet, wait” charming experience all together

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    Mute Arthur Callaghan
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    Jun 4th 2015, 6:29 PM

    I think we are the only country that say thanks to the bus driver when getting off

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    Mute Barry Davidson
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    Jun 4th 2015, 6:46 PM

    We’re the only country that’s passes the bus driver getting off the bloody thing holding up all the boarding passengers.

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Jun 4th 2015, 8:09 PM

    Because you’d need two staff per bus to do it the other way. Saying thanks to the bus driver is just polite. You say thanks to a taxi driver so why not a bus driver?

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    Mute ted hagan
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    Jun 5th 2015, 6:26 AM

    We like to think we are. They do it in most countries. It’s just of those ‘aren’t we Irish cute’ things.

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    Mute The Emigrant
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    Jun 4th 2015, 6:41 PM

    Do you know what Irish people hate? A lack of proper fücking transport!

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    Mute fiachra29
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    Jun 4th 2015, 6:52 PM

    I often use the train, Bus Éireann and the luas and I think all those services run quite well although they could do with coming down in price. Dublin Bus on the other hand is the most chaotic, confusing and user unfriendly service out there, it’s as if they don’t want people to use the bus.

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    Mute Jimmy Jim-Jim
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    Jun 4th 2015, 7:39 PM

    Bus Eireann intercity is fine if you want to get from the very start of the route to the very end of it. The timetable is only a vague suggestion for stops in between.

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    Mute Plantation Watch
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    Jun 4th 2015, 8:42 PM

    And make sure you use relieve yourself before hand as if theres a jax its sure to be locked.

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    Mute Colin Moran
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    Jun 4th 2015, 7:03 PM

    Dublin Bus would be brilliant if it wasn’t for the other passengers.

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
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    Jun 4th 2015, 6:34 PM

    I urinate several times a day, too. Doesn’t mean I love it.

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    Mute Paul Reid
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    Jun 4th 2015, 6:29 PM

    It’s the bus drivers because we are all so sexy!!!

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    Mute Lee Power
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    Jun 4th 2015, 6:27 PM

    I love the bus. I bleedin hate the withworth road!

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    Mute Seth Mcguinness
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    Jun 4th 2015, 7:14 PM

    They’re a nightmare, they bring you on safari. I honestly think the number 16 passes through Donegal twice on its route.

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    Mute John Collins
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    Jun 4th 2015, 6:50 PM

    I hate taking the bus with a burning passion.

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    Mute Caroline Mantl
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    Jun 4th 2015, 7:04 PM

    Must make it difficult to sit down alright.

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    Mute Ben Redline
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    Jun 4th 2015, 7:08 PM

    Excellent Caroline B-)

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    Mute bandido
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    Jun 4th 2015, 6:51 PM

    And yet before September comes they will be given an increase in ticket prices citing “falling passenger number”.
    This will be the third consecutive year.

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    Mute North Korean General
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    Jun 4th 2015, 7:17 PM

    Blame FG/Lab… Maybe they will give Dennis O’Brian favourable loan terms so he can but it. He seems to be buying everything else!!!!

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    Mute Biodiversity Watch On Biology-ie
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    Jun 4th 2015, 7:22 PM

    How come there is no link to the previous story about two people being assaulted on the bus?

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    Mute Integra-Ted
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    Jun 4th 2015, 7:31 PM

    Irish people love getting the bus without being beaten mercilessly for no good reason by some waster….

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    Mute Drew
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    Jun 4th 2015, 6:44 PM

    Nice phrasing…. They experienced a surplus owing to allocation of additional funding and subsidies.

    So they run an unprofitable constant tax payer subsidised deficit. The deficit was merely less than they expected it to be this year?

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    Mute paul burnett
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    Jun 4th 2015, 9:22 PM

    Said no man ever

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    Mute ted hagan
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    Jun 5th 2015, 6:23 AM

    Just reading this as I wait for the number 44 to arrive. Five minutes to go. I’m all excited now. I’ll let you all know how I got on…. oh, hurry up!

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Jun 5th 2015, 12:41 AM

    Do you know what Irish people love?
    Gossiping, getting things rear ways and Chinese rumours???
    Whoops…

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    Mute Gillian Kennedy
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    Jun 4th 2015, 10:43 PM

    So you don’t think there are more journeys because more people are in work?

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Jun 5th 2015, 12:42 AM

    What work, there are more journeys because the pensioners love riding the free travel lol.

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    Mute Mrs Shalakalananaka
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    Jun 5th 2015, 9:03 AM

    “Public transport is for losers” – Homer.

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