Archives of Terror

The Archives of Terror (Spanish: Archivos del Terror) are a collection of documents chronicling some of the illicit activities undertaken by Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner's secret police force. The documents have since been used in attempts to prosecute Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and in several human rights cases in Argentina and Chile. The collection of files proved the existence of Operation Condor - a CIA clandestine campaign of state terror and political repression in countries throughout Latin and South America.^[1] The documents were originally found on December 22, 1992, by lawyer and human-rights activist Dr. Martín Almada, and judge José Agustín Fernández, in a police station in Lambaré, a suburb of Paraguayan capital Asunción.^[2]

The Truth and Justice Commission, established by the Paraguayan government in 2003, was able to compile from these archives and three other documentary sources, a list of 9,923 individuals who suffered 14,338 human rights violations, including detentions, tortures, executions, disappearances, and exiles. The commission's work also enabled the identification of an additional 10,167 victims omitted by the archives^[3].