The law by arms

The work of the political scientist David Copello invites the reader, from the title, to go beyond the received ideas by a well -crafted contrast effect. Armed human rights. Guerillas, dictatorships and democracy in Argentina Deconstructs representations by bringing human rights closer and armed struggles. Although surprising, this association offers, in the form of an oxymoron, a reflection on the reconfiguration of ideals and ideals wooded by revolutionary groups over time and contexts.

The very eventful Argentinian socio-political environment of the 1960s and 1970s, marked by the proscription of peronism following the “ Revolutionary Revolution From 1955, by three strokes (1962, 1966, 1976), popular insurrections, armed actions carried out by revolutionary organizations and the fight against the “ subversion », Affairs in the privileged field of observation of the overthrow of a purely pacifist vision of human rights. By connecting them to the claims of revolutionary mobilizations armed strongly repressed, in particular after the 1976 coup, D. Copello reconstitutes what he calls the “ Revolutionary human rights discourse ” (From now on DDHRp. 15), in order to unravel the “ Ideological and militant hybridizations (which) took place between the pro-armed pro-shift revolutionary movements and the cause of human rights (P. 15). The evolution of the reports of leftist activists for human rights with democracy is then traced from a political perspective to “ opposite of numerous social sciences (P. 13). Thus, the trajectory of DDHR is analyzed thanks to the tools of the social history of political ideas on the basis of various collective productions of “ Duhalde group “, Set of law professionals who played a crucial role in the interweaving of the two speeches from the 1960s to their institutionalization at XXI^e century. The configuration of the work also makes it possible to appreciate the behind the scenes and the meanders of the D. Copello’s research journey which draws its corpus from very varied sources: interviews, unpublished archives of press, as well as individual and collective actors.

News left and human rights

At the end of a linguist, the political scientist investigates the revolutionary uses of the concept of human rights in the space of Argentinian lefts. Enriched with a series of very instructive annexes, the articulation of DDHR also suggests a two -step reading ranging from the emergence and consolidation of the “ new left “To the reconfiguration of” left post In the aftermath of democratic awakening.

Human rights join the revolutionary cause in an unstable context of recurring political crises giving rise to various mobilizations and organizations until 1983. The concept of “ new left »It then appears associated with a fairly broad anti-imperialist current of transnational nature which, in the years 1960-1970, was inspired by the Cuban revolution, while questioning classical communism and traditional Marxism and whose aim is to establish a new social order and political representation. Thus, the “ new left Argentina adopts dynamics of socio-political, cultural and revolutionary protest (armies or not) enough disparate. Felt as “ a fast way of political and social transformation “, The physical violence exercised by these revolutionary groups (assassinations, kidnappings, tortures, etc.) seems” Play (r) a role above all symbolic “(P. 30) Like” armed propaganda acts (P. 29). Even if in the Argentinian context the notion of “ new left “Remains controversial, in particular due to the political cleavage and the role of peronism characterized by” its jamming of classic ideological borders “(P. 20), D. Copello rightly assumes the choice of this label” heuristic “(P. 22) which allows him to bring together and analyze the trajectory of different revolutionary mobilizations according to the criteria of social liberation, national liberation and revolutionary violence which accelerated from 1969 with the Cordobazo. He notably traces the history of two groups of guerrillas whose activists, with diverse journeys, reject pacifism in chorus: the Montoneros (mainly peroneist) and the members of the Revolutionary Workers’ Party – Revolutionary Army of the People (PRT–ERPrather Marxists) who embody “ Two distinct poles in the new Argentine lefts (P. 25). A mapping (p. 32) replacing these two groups within the new lefts makes it possible to better grasp the complexity of their developments according to their ideological positioning and the strategies of the armed struggle adopted.

This critical context which gives rise to the many political mobilizations leads to a “ Desectorization of social space “(P. 33): an appropriation of legal discourse by activists and, conversely, a use of the political repertoire by law professionals who qualify the trials of prisoners as” policies ». Doing “ Use of legality tools “(P. 34), armed revolutionary organizations then have a legal defense strategy that goes hand in hand with” The rise of violence in politics (P. 34). THE “ human rights Re -signed through the interventions of radicalized lawyers in the early 1970s. In this changing environment, the creation of the Argentine Human Rights Commission (Cadhu), formed around the Duhalde group and its “ nebula From 1976 to 1978 mainly abroad, constituted the highlight of the hybridization of revolutionary activism and action for human rights. “” Detached from politico-military organizations (P. 75), the Cadhu “” denounces (…) political repression on the international scene “, (P. 59) while” favorites (ANT) a revolutionary struggle from the working bases (P. 64).

The crystallization of the political use of law is analyzed there through a very rich corpus of correspondence and unpublished internal documents. With the progressive dislocation of revolutionary groups, the concept of “ state terrorism », Supported by El Duhalde, emerged around 1978 within the Cadhu and is gradually distinguished from that of fascism because it “ is born (…) in a defensive phase of the bourgeoisie forces to curb the increase in the masses’ struggle and submit the working class (Duhalde quoted by Copello, p. 79) in a new version of the exceptional state characterized by clandestinity, crime and terror. Denouncing “ the state monopoly of violence (…) at the origin of systematic violations “(P. 66) and expressing a” radical criticism of Argentinian capitalism “(P. 83), the syntagm” state terrorism »Hisses in the central pillar of the discursive repertoire of activists for human rights.

Fight in democracy for human rights

The investigation into the trajectory of DDHR The aim of apprehending the way in which “ The defense of a radical policy, expressed initially under a dictatorship, is reconfigured (…) in a rule of law (in the making) (P. 86). In this context, two decrees of December 1983 signed by the president freshly elected Raúl Alfonsín, on the one hand, trial the trial against the junts and, on the other, against the revolutionary armed groups. Heir to the prologue of the report of the Conadepthen emerges the speech “ of the two demons »Putting on an equal footing the systematic violence of the dictatorship and the revolutionary struggle of armed groups. In a path that goes from symmetry “ accusation “From the 1980s to parallelism” excusationary From the 1990s, D. Copello raised an interesting series of paradoxes: the persecution of activists under Alfonsín and the various reactions to the amnesty decreed by Menem.

With the return to democracy, a “ left post »Requires around editorial projects. Based on a press corpus, D. Copello reconfigures the tensions and the debates led by the Duhalde group on the scope of the trial of the junts which appears as a symbol “ incomplete (P. 92). Indeed, the left post denounces the role of justice as a third party, requesting, in addition to the criminal aspect, taking into account the political dimension of judgments. The revolutionary use of human rights would then be based on the “ Politicization of the trial “(P. 103) – Request for the release of all political prisoners, the return of exiles and refusal of demonization and criminalization of activists – and, paradoxically, on” delegitimation of political uses »(P. 103) of the opposing camp. The promulgation of laws of “ Final point ” And “ of obedience due »Acsculpte a large part of the soldiers would reveal” the large maneuvers that seek to limit democracy (Mattarollo quoted by Copello, p. 109).

In addition, the author registered the frustrated uprising of the Tablada military regiment in 1989 by the movement all for the fatherland in the line of a “ Renewed epic and revolutionary imagination “(P. 142), claimed, despite the various conceptions of violence, by part of the left post. Little by little, the links between democracy and revolutionary human rights are tied around the creation of the association of victims Hijos In 1995. However, it was the coming to power of the born Kirchner in 2003 which, in search of popularity and identity, claims to be inheritance settista And names Eduardo Luis Duhalde Human Rights Secretary of the Nation. THE DDHR therefore reached its peak and its rank of state policy with the highlighting of a new discourse and new practices around human rights and memory: rewriting of the prologue of the ConadepOpening of the military, among others.

Renew the debates, widen the focal length

Against the current of traditional historiography, the investigation carried out by D. Copello reveals the complex path and the hybridizations of the DDHR Since the taking of revolutionary arms during the troubled periods, including the uses of law in democracy against the “ state terrorism “Until the implementation of public reparation policies during Kirchnerism. The political scientist thus unrolls the red thread of the struggles for human rights in Argentina, whether in action or in power, and skillfully provides, between ruptures and continuities, essential reading keys to overcome dichotomies.

Observatory of contextualized thought, this work renews debates on plural and moving uses of the discursive human rights repertoire through an approach based on “ actors (who) read and say society ». In a strongly cleaned political context where it is up to human rights is at the heart of controversies, it is likely that “ The (formerly) oxymalic sequence (armed human rights) posed as a conflictual given openly assumed by its enunciator »Be less and less felt as an antinomy. Armed human rights then become a fundamental milestone towards the recognition of the role of the new Argentinian lefts in these multiple armed fights – revolutionaries, legal, but also political – that the study of the social history of political ideas updates and illuminates in the pen of D. Copllo. Therefore, a translation of the book to Spanish within a close time is strongly desired !