Importance of the Night of the Pencils

With such a denomination, a historical event in Argentina is understood that symbolizes the time of the military dictatorship, in a field of violation of rights and constant fighting, and from which an emblem is built that honors the disappearance of ten students from a secondary school in the Buenos Aires town of La Plata, on the night of September 16, 1976.

The student claim that ended in forced disappearance during the Argentine dictatorship

The students claimed against the recently installed military dictatorship, and for the suppression of the student ticket, the benefit of free travel on public transport that had been granted by the government former.

Without a doubt, it is one of the most tragic events left behind by the dictatorship that ruled Argentina between 1976 and 1983 and who systematically set out to eliminate anyone who offered opposition: politicians, trade unionists, workers, and students.

The Union of Secondary Students held a series of demonstrations in the days leading up to the night of September 16 that upset the government who made the decision to carry out a police operation against him that ended with the illegal detention of several members, in their own addresses.

Torture, 6 disappeared, and 4 survivors: a tragedy reconstructed with the arrival of democracy

Of those ten young people, only four survived, the remaining six became disappeared, a classification given to all those who were illegally detained in this time, tortured, murdered, and their bodies never recovered; it is presumed that they were buried or thrown into the waters.

Once the democracy, in 1983, and within the framework of the trials that were held against the dictators, the survivors testified about this tragedy.

Trial and punishment for the guilty

General Ramón Camps and Miguel Etchecolatz, chief of the Buenos Aires police and federal police, and director of operations of the Buenos Aires police, respectively, were convicted in 2003 for committing various crimes against humanity, among them, for being responsible for the torture and disappearance of the students platenses

Tributes and recognitions

The history It penetrated very deeply into the hearts of the Argentines and so many tributes were paid to them, among them, the legislature of the province of Buenos Aires, in 1998, decreed September 16 as Secondary Student Rights Day in Argentina.

In addition, in the text of the decree, it was indicated that on said day, in all the educational institutions of the province, they must special classes are held in which said history is remembered, and democracy is revalued as opposed to dictatorship.

Also, edited book and a film was made that tells the tragic story of the students, directed by the filmmaker Héctor Olivera, and with the collaboration of Pablo Díaz, one of the survivors.