“It was a sombre and moving visit for some of the players today to ESMA, a human rights museum here in Buenos Aires set up to remember the 30,000 people detained, tortured and killed in Argentina during the military dictatorship between 1976 and 1983. The unbelievable anguish from that period is still being felt today.”

“That strength of the Argentine society, which replicated throughout the continent, humankind will not accept the violation of people’s rights”

“There can’t be any future for a society if they are not aware of their past. Even if it’s too painful, people should learn about those who were responsible and their victims, and there must be a process of memory and justice. Argentina is doing it. And that allows them to have a future.”

“I take back with me a feeling of justice. Because this story was heard, the suffering was acknowledged. You can’t move on and preach the Never Again if there was no justice before”.

“We encourage the candidacy to the World Heritage List, we support it and would like to see it succeed. We are here to work for that and boost the human rights agenda of Memory, Truth, and Justice.”

“I feel very honored to visit ESMA again, as it has been transformed into such a powerful site of memory”.

“I can’t see the faces of those murdered young brothers so filled with joy, energy and promises, without my heart breaking. I recognize them, even if I never met them. They were my students, I saw them everyday in my classes in the Seventies.”

“We took over this places and transformed them into memory. Not a memory of terror, revenge or hate, but of what should never happen again.”

“The candidacy is an opportunity to add an international dimension to the Spaces of Memory, young institutions of Argentine democracy that were born out of the fight for Memory, Truth and Justice. It is very important that the provinces are able to support it.”

“The ESMA Museum and Site of Memory is a strong testimony of repression, cruelty, hatred and crime, but also of resistance. This historical memory that is Argentina, but also our America, we need to share it, teach it, make it visible to prevent such barbaric events to ever happen again.”

“I want to congratulate you for your work creating the script, a theme about recovering and keeping memory alive, which I think is the main tool to prevent this from happening again, to keep the Never Again true.”

“I am very moved, and I feel guilty for not knowing what happened in Argentina, for not having any clue that this was happening.”

“Visiting this place, where I know some of the people I knew were detained and tortured, is very overwhelming. It is an extraordinary experience to walk through the same place, and also a unique experience that is highly valuable for Human Rights policies to keep judging the people who were responsible.”

“We’ve come here to understand what happened in this place and to offer our help in whatever is possible, hoping the candidacy will be successful when submitted to UNESCO. We are very impressed by what we have seen here and the quality of the work that is being done”.

“Social consensus as a means to obtain Justice –the value this candidacy is based on and in this case is the result of a years-long fight by the Argentine people, the Human Rights movement, and the State’s political will to work in the process of Memory, Truth and Justice– is an Ibero-American and global heritage. We hope that the candidacy of the ESMA Museum and Site of Memory boosts international awareness of recent history and contributes to the strengthening of Sites and Spaces of Memory and their support and cooperation.”

“The fight for Memory, Truth and Justice is a regional issue, but in Argentina the strength of community and popular organization is remarkable and this project is a good synthesis of that. We ratify this commission’s support and commitment to the candidacy.”

“Coming to these places can explain something to younger generations. Not just to teach them how Justice is necessary, but also because they should learn something about evil. This place should also serve as a warning.”

“UNESCO has always been a reference in the defense of democracies, so, to be included in its World Heritage List is essential to explain how we pay homage to those who gave their lives in Argentina”.

“There was a close collaboration between repressive forces in Uruguay and Argentina that also took place at ESMA. If the Museum and Site of Memory joins the UNESCO List, that would be the triumph of a memory that is both theirs and ours. It would be a reparation for the entire continent.”

“We came to understand what happens in this place and to offer our help in any way we can, hoping the nomination succeeds when submitted before Unesco. We were very impressed by what we saw and the quality of the work that is being done here”

“I’m making a film that features a scene at ESMA, a character who disappears in the death flights, so I wanted to know what was it like here. There is lot of information at the Museum, so I shall return soon.”

“In this place you can feel the weight of history, but I was also able to see how Argentina has been able to convey such a difficult past.”

“Such a strong feeling, never forget.”

“It is vital that we can convey the horrors of State terrorism because in the countries that were part of the Condor Plan, those horrors were transformed into an official story that minimizes and hides them. For the former ESMA, to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List would mean a chance to reconstruct the history of that society and bear witness to what really happened for the generations to come.”

“We have a high respect for the Argentine people, who keep fighting to find the truth and let justice be made. This tour leaves us with a lot to think about. We confirm that we have a great responsibility in protecting our people”.

“I believe the ESMA Museum and Site of Memory already carries a very powerful message due to the history that took place there, and that provides it with authenticity. It is a project that UNESCO should consider because it is based on consensus and that has a lot of potential.”

“The ESMA Museum and Site of Memory carries an essential historical importance for Latin America. Its history is necessary to consolidate democracies and the fight for freedom. It should become a world reference.”

“The duty of memory is important. In France we have failed in this sense, because young people either don’t know or quickly forget what happened. It’s an outstanding balance for all of us. That is why this place is so important to Argentina and its overall history: because it’s a place that keeps the memory of what happened.”

“This is somewhat personal for me. I was born in Argentina, in Tucumán, I am a Congressman and state minister in Canada. In the 1970s my father ran for governor and was a lawyer for political prisoners; he was tortured, they placed a bomb in my home, and we had to leave the country. I learned about all these things over time as my father and mother shared them with me, and now this puts all that history in an actual context. It’s important that places like this exist, so we won’t ever forget. There is a duty of memory”.

“The permanent exhibition of the ESMA Museum and Site of Memory expresses the Argentine people’s suffering, loss, and pain as the result of the dictatorship. The exhibit has excellent quality and information, and a well-based narration provided by the tour guides.”

“Regarding the extraordinary role of the ESMA Museum and Site of Memory – Former Clandestine Center of Detention, Torture and Extermination in remembering the violence committed by the Argentine civic-military dictatorship, but also in conveying to the future generations the restless fight of the survivors, relatives, organizatins and different local and foreign actors, I share my support to its induction into the UNESCO World Heritage List.”