The Legislature of the Province of Córdoba sanctions with force of Law: 9286
MEMORY LAW
TITLE 1
PROVINCIAL MEMORY ARCHIVE
Chapter 1
From the Archive
Article 1 – Creation. The Provincial Memory Archive is created as a body with full functional and economic autonomy, in the Ministerial area of Justice of the Executive Branch of the Province of Cordoba.
Article 2 – Place. The Provincial Memory Archive will function in the building where the Department of Police Intelligence of the Córdoba Province was located, known as “D-2”, the symbol of the terrorist actions of the State, following the cadastral plan and the drawing that, as Annexes 1 and 2, form part of this law.
Article 3 – Goals. The goals of The Provincial Memory Archive, amongst others, are as follows:
a) To contribute to keeping the contemporary history of our Province alive, its lessons and legacies, for the present and future generations;
b) To provide the necessary instruments to find the real history, justice and social reparation, in the face of serious violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms;
c) To promote the study, research and dissemination of the fight against impunity and for the full validity of human rights and their implications at regulatory, ethical, political and institutional levels;
d)To preserve information, testimonies and documents necessary to study the conditions and consequences of illegal repression and State terrorism in the Province of Córdoba, its coordination with neighbouring provinces and the Nation and to contribute to the regional coordination of the human rights archives;
e) To develop the appropriate methods, including the duplication and digitalization of the archives and the creation of a database to analyse, classify and order information, testimonies and documents, in a way that can be consulted by those with a legitimate interest, within the State and civil society, in full conformity to the Constitution, international human rights instruments and the laws and regulations in force.
f) To contribute to the prevention of the violations of human rights and the State’s duty to guarantee the prevention, investigation, trial, punishment and reparation of serious violations of fundamental rights and freedoms.
g) To create an ideal pedagogical instrument to make the imperative of “NEVER AGAIN” a reality in the face of aberrant behaviours, openly expressed by citizens when the democratic institutions were re-established after the military dictatorship established on the 24th of March 1976, and
h) To preserve building installations, that work as clandestine centres of detention or that have been utilised for State terrorism, guaranteeing free public access to historical testimony about these actions.
Article 4 – Functions. The Provincial Memory Archive will have the functions, amongst others, as follows:
a) To obtain, complies, classify, organise and archive all the documentations related to the violations of human rights and the actions of State terrorism, that occurred in the Province of Córdoba;
b) To guarantee access to the all the documentation in the archive, at the simple request of any person that proves their legitimate interest;
c) To establish, with the elements obtained, a museum and memorial space, arbitrating the means leading to its preservation and protection;
d) To promote the cooperation and the exchange of knowledge and information with public or private organisations that have related activities, on aspects related to the purpose of the archive and the spirit of these regulations, and
e) To sign agreements with State bodies – municipal, provincial, national and international – universities, non-governmental organisations and international cooperation agencies, which pursue objectives related to or compatible with the spirit of this law.
Chapter II
About the Authorities
Article 5º.- Address. The Provincial Memory Archive will be in charge of a Director, who will be appointed by the Provincial Executive Power on the proposal of the Commission created in article 8 of this Law.
Article 6 - Attributions. The appointed Director or the officials that will be delegated by him to support The Provincial Memory Archive shall have the following duties/responsibilities:
a) To have direct access, for the purposes and objectives of this Law, to the files of the organisations that are members of the centralised and decentralised administration of the Provincial Executive Power, including the Security Forces;
b) Directly request information, testimonies, and documents on the matter of this Law from said agencies, in their files, which must be completed within the term established in the request and in accordance with the legal regulations in force;
c) Centralize existing archives on this matter at the provincial level, including the CONADEP archives and those of the Human Rights Secretariat of the Justice Ministerial sphere of the Provincial Executive Power;
d) Receive new information, testimonies and documents related to the matter of this Law;
e) Invite the municipalities and communities of the Province of Córdoba to collaborate with the Provincial Memory Archive, through the celebration of agreements tending to facilitate the fulfilment of the purposes and objectives of this Law in their respective jurisdictions;
f) Invite the Federal and Provincial Judiciary, the Public Ministry, the Ombudsman, the decentralised agencies and the control agencies, to collaborate with the The Provincial Memory Archive, in order to facilitate compliance with the goals and objectives provided for in this Law;
g) Address the governments of provinces, foreign countries, and international organisations, to request the communication of information, testimonies and documents on the matter of this Law, as well as request the nomination of the The Provincial Memory Archive for regional, national and international programs of archive and memory;
h) Request, through the corresponding channels, the pertinent information for the purposes and objectives of this Law, which may be in the INTERPOL files;
i) Address directly non-governmental organisations, such as national and international human rights organisations, churches, professional, academic, student associations, unions and other similar ones, requesting their collaboration to fulfil the aims and objectives of this law;
j) Go to cemeteries, hospitals, clinics and similar establishments to fulfil the aims and objectives of this law;
k) Coordinate actions with the National Memory Archive;
l) Celebrate agreements with universities and other public or private entities for the fulfilment of the purposes and objectives set forth in this law, including the necessary consultancies in research and methodology matters;
m) Adopt all the organisational, technical and methodological measures necessary to fulfil the aims and objectives of this Law, including the acquisition of the necessary equipment -hardware and software- and the training and improvement of technical personnel, and
n) Create a Registry of people who, by reason of a court ruling, have been convicted of crimes against humanity in the framework of State terrorism.
Article 7º.- Public Bodies. Obligations. WITHOUT prejudice to the attributions indicated in article 6 of this law, the agencies dependent on the Provincial Public Administration, including the Security Forces, must remit to the The Provincial Memory Archive the pertinent documentary records in their possession, without necessity of express requirement of the latter and as soon as they become aware of or warn about its existence.
TITLE 2
PROVINCIAL MEMORY COMMISSION
Single Chapter
Of the Commission
Article 8 - Creation. Create, on a permanent basis, the Provincial Memory Commission in order to advise, execute, guarantee and ensure compliance with the objectives and powers established in this Law.
Article 9 - Integration. The Provincial Memory Commission will be made up of the following representatives:
The Human Rights organisations of the Province, with a recognized trajectory of preserving the memory of the human rights violations by State terrorism, whether or not they have legal standing;
The Provincial Executive Power;
The Provincial Legislative Power;
The Judiciary of the Córdoba Province, and
The university institutional area, related to the defence and enforcement of human rights.
An equal number of substitute members will be chosen and will be summoned, if necessary, in the order in which they were appointed.
Article 10 - Functions. The functions of the Provincial Memory Commission, amongst others, are the following:
Dictate its own Internal Regulation;
Approve the Statute of the Provincial Memory Archive;
Prepare, in agreement with the directives to safeguard the heritage documentation of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the management plan of the Provincial Memory Archive, in which the archives and facilities will be organised and preserved and the guidelines for their use will be established, and
Accept or reject subsidies, donations, legacies, inheritances or other contributions.
Article 11 - Resources. The Provincial Memory Commission, will have the following resources available for its operation:
The amount that the Province’s General Budget assigns annually;
The subsidies, donations, legacies that are received from natural or legal persons - public or private-, intended to comply with the objectives established in this Law;
The interested accrued by corresponding financial investment into this body;
Any fee charged by the application of this Law, in agreement with its regulations, and
Contributions from Non-Governmental Organisations, national or foreign, that affect the execution of projects or special programs, related to the objectives of this Law.
TITLE III
GENERAL DISPOSITION
Single Chapter
Article 12.- Commission. Conformation. THE PROVINCIAL MEMORY COMMISSION must be formed within ninety (90) days from the declaration of the enactment of this Law.
Article 13.- Budget allocation. The Provincial Executive Power will arbitrate the means leading to reallocating the necessary budgetary resources for compliance with this Law.
Article 14.- Accession. Adhere to the regulatory framework that regulates the creation of the National Archive of Memory through the Decree of the National Executive Branch No. 1259/2003.
Article 15.- Validity. This Law shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Gazette of the Province of Córdoba.
Article 16.- COMMUNICATE to the Provincial Executive Branch.
GIVEN IN THE SESSION ROOM OF THE PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURE, IN THE CITY OF CÓRDOBA, ON THE TWENTY-SECOND DAY OF MARCH OF THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND SIX.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -