H.I.J.O.S. and Grupo de Arte Callejero

In this video documentation, H.I.J.O.S., in collaboration with Grupo de Arte Callejero, give background and details about their work. The video features scenes of their acción in the streets of Rio de Janeiro, during the first Hemispheric Institute Encuentro, in Rio de Janeiro, 2000. They placed signs in the streets, reminding all the pending cases of torture, murder, and disappearance during the Argentine dictatorship that are still waiting for justice. With this acción, words, and music, they intend to grab the attention of people in the streets so that they can engage in a conversation about Human Rights in different Latin American countries. The video clip also features parts of their workshops.

H.I.J.O.S. (Hijos e Hijas por la Identidad y la Justicia contra el Olvido y el Silencio) is a national and international organization founded in 1995 by the sons and daughters of disappeared persons during the dictatorship in Argentina. Their objective is to continue their parents' social struggles, find young people kidnapped by the military, and fight against impunity. The members of H.I.J.O.S. are not only the children of the 'detenidos-desaparecidos, ' but also ex-political prisoners, exiled people, and other citizens who might not have directly suffered the repression of the Argentinian civic-military dictatorship, but who understand that we all are children of the same history. The Grupo de Arte Callejero (GAC) has engaged in acts of urban intervention since the late 80s, dealing with issues of human rights. Together with H.I.J.O.S., GAC actively participates in the "escraches" (acts of public shaming) that expose the specific places where dictatorship has carried out its injustice and impunity - e.g., current homes of ex-torturers, buildings that were used as detention and torture centers, etc. During recent years, GAC has expanded its activism to single out other modes of injustice under democracy, such as the criminalization of social protests, the impunity of police officers in the state of security, the news media's monopoly and the housing market