{{Short description|Two human rights organizations based in Argentina and Guatemala}} [[File:Hijos-diciembre-2013.jpg|thumb|Members of HIJOS at the 33rd March of Resistance at the Plaza de Mayo in December 2013.]] '''HIJOS''' is a recursive acronym for '''Hijas e Hijos por la Identidad y la Justicia contra el Olvido y el Silencio''' (English: ''Daughters and Sons for Identity and Justice Against Forgetfulness and Silence''). It is the name of an Argentine organisation of children of people who were forcibly "disappeared" by the military dictatorship. It was founded in 1995 in the Argentine town of Río Ceballos, north of Córdoba, by activists from different parts of the country.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Noticias |first=Agua de Oro |date=2025-04-16 |title=A 30 AÑOS DEL NACIMIENTO DE H.I.J.O.S., SEÑALIZARON EL TÚNEL SAN MIGUEL, LUGAR FUNDACIONAL DE LA AGRUPACIÓN - Agua de Oro Noticias |url=https://aguadeoronoticias.com.ar/2025/04/16/a-30-anos-del-nacimiento-de-h-i-j-o-s-senalizaron-el-tunel-san-miguel-lugar-fundacional-de-la-agrupacion/ |access-date=2026-03-21 |language=es-AR}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=H.I.J.O.S.|url=https://cl.boell.org/es/2010/10/05/hijos-hijas-e-hijos-por-la-identidad-y-la-justicia-contra-el-olvido-y-el-silencio|lang=es|date=5 October 2010|author=Paloma de la Paz Montes Araya|work=Heinrich Böll Stiftung - Santiago de Chile|accessdate=20 June 2024}}</ref> The organisation started to perform ''escraches'' to raise public awareness about former dirty-war criminals being free despite their crimes in 1995.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/1-187955-2012-02-20.html|author=H.I.J.O.S.|title=Astiz ya no camina por las calles|work=Página 12}}</ref>
== History == Towards the end of 1994, a group of children of missing people held a meeting at the Faculty of Architecture of the National University of La Plata, during a tribute to the missing people who were part of the faculty. After this event, the group joined were invited to join an event by the “Julio Cortázar Workshop”. The meeting was held in Río Ceballos, where the group HIJOS first emerged, being one of the first groups to form around the identity of children of disappeared people. <ref>{{Cite book |last=Cueto Rúa |first=Santiago |url=https://www.memoria.fahce.unlp.edu.ar/tesis/te.427/te.427.pdf |title=Nacimos en su lucha, viven en la nuestra. Identidad, justicia y memoria en la agrupación HIJOS-La Plata |date=November 2008 |year=2008}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> In October of 1995, the organisation held its first national congress to establish its goals and mode of operation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Identidad y Política |url=http://www.comisionporlamemoria.org/dossiers/con%20issn/dossier9.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212110221/http://www.comisionporlamemoria.org/dossiers/con%20issn/dossier9.pdf |archive-date=2013-12-12 |access-date=2026-05-27 |website=www.comisionporlamemoria.org}}</ref>
In October 1996, 6 activists of HIJOS were beaten during a rock festival for the freedom of political prisoners which took place in Plaza de Mayo, when it came to clashes with the police. 5 of the activists were imprisoned. In response, group called for a "national day of shame" march that was banned.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1996-10-30 |title=No habrá más recitales en la Plaza de Mayo |url=https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/no-habra-mas-recitales-en-la-plaza-de-mayo-nid173677/ |access-date=2026-05-27 |website=LA NACION |language=es}}</ref> During this time, the organisation started to use ''escraches'' as a method for raising awareness.<ref>{{Cite web |last=VIANA |first=ISRAEL |date=2013-04-03 |title=Orígenes del escrache: «Hagamos que el país sea su cárcel» |url=https://www.abc.es/historia/20130403/abci-escrache-origenes-argentina-201304021750.html |access-date=2026-05-27 |website=Diario ABC |language=es}}</ref>
== In other countries == HIJOS in Guatemala founded themselves in 1999 and are based in Guatemala City, they have received many death threats from government sympathizers. In their work they raise awareness by painting graffiti style murals dealing with the death of their relatives and how Guatemalan youth and Mayan youth are treated in the country.{{Citation needed|date=May 2026}}
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.hijos-capital.org.ar/ Official] Buenos Aires website
Category:Human rights organisations based in Argentina Category:Human rights organizations based in Guatemala Category:Children of people disappeared during the Dirty War Category:Political movements in Argentina Category:Dirty War Category:Enforced disappearance Category:Argentine human rights activists Category:Adoption, fostering, orphan care and displacement Category:Kidnapping in Argentina Category:Child abduction Category:Missing Argentine children Category:Child-related organisations in Argentina Category:Kidnapped children Category:Kidnapping in the 1970s Category:Kidnapping in the 1980s