wfn.org | Argentine 'grandmothers' to receive Methodist peace award

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Feb. 12, 1999	Contact: Linda Bloom*(212) 870-3803*New York
10-21-32-71BP{083}

NOTE: A photograph is available with this story.

By United Methodist News Service

The "Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo" of  Argentina will receive the 1999
World Methodist Peace Award later this year.

The unanimous decision on the nomination marks the first time the award will
be presented in Latin America, said Frances Alguire, chairperson of the
World Methodist Council, in making the announcement.

The name, "Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo," comes from a square in Buenos
Aires located directly in front of the government palace. From 1976 to 1983,
actions taken by the government resulted in the disappearance of at least
10,000 people, including 500 children. Unofficial estimates raise the number
of missing people to 30,000.

The Plaza de Mayo movement started with mothers who were looking for their
disappeared children. They began to walk around the plaza, protesting the
disappearances, violence and deaths. Grandmothers also began seeking
children who had been kidnapped with their parents or born to pregnant women
in detention. These children were taken and often registered as belonging to
members of the repressive forces, abandoned or left in institutions.

For more than 18 years, the Grandmothers have sought children who have
disappeared or to obtain information about their fate. They have tried to
return those who could be found to their natural families, but to date, only
75 have been found and reunited.

Estella Barnes de Carlotto, president of the Grandmothers group, has
suffered her own personal heartache. Two of her children were detained
during that period and her 22-year-old daughter was pregnant when she was
kidnapped. Her daughter gave birth to a boy in a detention camp. He was
abducted, and the daughter was later killed.

The Rev. Joe Hale, the council's general secretary, said the Grandmothers of
the Plaza de Mayo have displayed the courage, creativity and consistency,
the three criteria for the peace award.

"Their courage is seen in their pursuit of the missing children and infants
in the face of brutal repression, and by their daring investigations that
revealed what was happening in their country to concerned persons outside
Argentina," he added.

Creative in their search and efforts to tell the stories of missing children
and grandchildren, the Grandmothers also have been consistent in their
mission, despite the relatively small results, Hale noted.

Bishop Aldo M. Etchegoyen, head of the Methodist Church in Argentina, has
said that the women faced constant threats but never stopped working "in
favor of life."

That work has included appeals to both the Argentine and foreign
governments, reports to the media, court appearances and personal
investigations. Carlotto and others have appeared before the United Nations
Human Rights Commission both in Geneva and New York.

A date for the award presentation will be announced in March. Alguire said
the timing was "especially significant" because of the 50th anniversary of
the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Carlotto will
accept the award on behalf of the group.

The 1998 World Methodist Peace Award recipient was U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan. Other previous winners since 1977 have included President Jimmy
Carter and the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

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