The first granddaughter returned by the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, Tatiana Sfiligoy Ruarte Britos Acevedo, considered that the Justice “managed” the appropriation of children during the last civic-military dictatorship for being “part of the scaffolding of the State”, and claimed for the “dilation ” in the resolution of cases related to crimes against humanity, on the eve of the 45th anniversary of the creation of that organization that defends Human Rights.
Interviewed by Télam, Tatiana pointed out that He filed a request with the Judiciary to investigate the disappearances of his mother, Mirta Britos, and his father, Oscar Ruarte Pérez.and confided that he hopes to include a claim for a sister who died in the context of the persecution of her parents.
“At that time, Justice was clearly part of the scaffolding of the State but, in turn, it was subsumed in a situation of State terrorism, and many times it managed these issues,” Tatiana explained about the kidnapping and appropriation of children during the civic dictatorship. military.
“I am part of the institution as a recovered granddaughter. I have known Abuelas since I was 6 years old. She is part of my life, and I have a very close relationship”Tatiana Sfiligoy Ruarte Britos Acevedo
The constitution of the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo association was registered on October 22, 1977after a group of women began to notice that within the general claim for the appearance of their children alive, they shared the search for their grandchildren.
“I am part of the institution as a recovered granddaughter. I have known Abuelas since I was 6 years old. She is part of my life, and I have a very close relationship”affirmed Tatiana, who today is a psychologist, a profession that, she explained, she chose to “be able to go through a hard story.”
About the beginnings of Abuelas, he recalled that “everything started very traditionally,” and stressed that its members, while carrying out actions to find their children and grandchildren, “were also persecuted” by the civic-military dictatorship.
His story
In March 1980, her case and that of her sister, Mara Laura Sfiligoy, constituted the first restitution of Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo.
On October 17, 1977, as part of the kidnapping of her mother along with her partner, Alberto Javier Jotar -Mara’s father-, the sisters were abandoned in a square in the town of Villa Ballester.
Upon arrival at the institute for minors they were separated, until the Sfiligoy couple, who had started the process of adopting Mara, requested custody of both when they learned of Tatiana’s existence.
“My adoption file says, Tatiana Duarte, because I didn’t get the R, or N/N. It’s very strong to see that, there was no way that Justice would be involved in a search in which it was an accomplice”he emphasized.
Based on a piece of information, Abuelas was able to find out that the sisters could end up in the San Martín Juvenile Court.
“Fortunately, there were people within the machinery of the judicial system who helped us,” he recalled and emphasized the help of a social worker, who, he suspects, collaborated in the reunion with his sister.
Apparently, the social worker made the date on which Tatiana was going to be given up for adoption to another family and a health checkup for her younger sister coincide in the San Martín court.
“Chance played a little and the ethical question a little,” Tatiana considered, remembering that she recognized her sister as soon as she saw her in court.
For his part, he pointed out that when they were found by Grandmothers, the juvenile judge in charge of the case determined “that the parties settle.”
In this way, a simple adoption was agreed upon, which, according to Tatiana, was the “best way to solve it”, since she continued to live with her adoptive family but with the obligation to maintain contact with her biological family.
Unlike most return cases, in which the children were illegally appropriated or adopted, the adoption of Tatiana and her sister took place within a legal framework and with the predisposition of the Sfiligoy couple, who sought to know the origin of their daughters from the outset.
“In Abuelas there were 14 adoptions like mine that were in good faith, which is a small percentage but it exists,” Tatiana distinguished.
For her part, her story was portrayed in the first chapter of Television for Identity, a cycle produced by Bernarda Llorente -current president of Télam- and Claudio Villarruel in association with Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo in 2007.
Along these lines, the granddaughter affirmed that cultural productions are “fundamental in continuing to transmit what it means for a society to find the identity of a grandson” and added that these stories “are part of Argentine society.”
“The Judiciary dilates the causes so that the people who have to be judged die”
In 2019, Tatiana filed a lawsuit to “clarify the whereabouts” of her mother, who allegedly disappeared in the “El Campito” clandestine detention center, which operated in Campo de Mayo, located in Buenos Aires.
In 2020, he carried out the same action for his father, who is suspected of being in the La Perla clandestine detention center in Córdoba.
Within the framework of these causes, he hopes to include in the future a claim for the death of his sister, Florencia, a second daughter that Mirta Britos had with Oscar Ruarte Pérez.
The girl died of meningitis that could not be treated because her parents could not take her to the hospital, as they were being persecuted.
“It was very painful to find out when I grew up that because of these circumstances I can’t have a second sister”Tatiana confided that she knew of that existence a little over a decade ago.
Even her biological grandmothers were unaware of the girl’s birth because the couple was already in hiding and, for reasons of care, they had no link with their relatives.
“This is also a question to present in Justice, to what extent State terrorism continued to affect us and the consequences that one still does not dimension,” he reflected.
Along the same lines, he regretted that the presentations he made “have no response” from the Justice and denounced that this is “one of the obstacles we have today”.
Finally, he considered that there is a “strategy of the Judiciary” in the “dilation” of the resolution of cases where crimes against humanity are judged and affirmed that it is “so that the people who have to be tried die.”
