Functions and authorities Legitimate According to the ESSA Web site, in 1897 the
Escuela de Aprendices Mecánicos de la Armada (Navy Apprentice Mechanics School) was founded in premises that are now the Historical Naval Museum of Tigre, in Buenos Aires Province. In 1900 the School moved to naval workshops in Dársena Norte; in 1902 it became
Escuela de Aprendices Mecánicos y Foguistas (Apprentice Mechanics and Stokers School). Two years later it became
Escuela de Mecánicos de la Armada, and in 1911
Escuela de Mecánica de la Armada. In 1928 it moved to its later notorious premises, designed by the architect Raúl J. Álvarez, on Blandengues street (now Avenida del Libertador), between Arroyo Medrano and the extension of Deheza street. It was granted the name ESSA in 1999 as the by now sole NCO school of the Navy and continues to function in the Puerto Belgrano base.
Etymology and usage during the Dirty War Almost 5,000 people were abducted and held in the original ESMA campus in its active participation in the
Dirty War between 1976-1983; all except 150 were killed during or after interrogation and torture. When announcements were made that prisoners were to be "transferred", people came to understand they were going to be executed. The prisoners were taken to the basement, sedated, and then killed, some by shooting, others in
death flights: they were flown over the Atlantic Ocean or the
Río de la Plata and pushed out of the aircraft. These are only some examples of the many treatments that prisoners of the ESMA were forced to experience during the kidnappings that forced them into clandestine detention centers.
Extrajudicial detention center The ESMA was used as a detention center from the very start of the 1976 dictatorship: on 24 March, the day of the
coup d'état, several people kidnapped by the Armed Forces were taken there. Task Unit 3.2.2 was led by Rear-Admiral
Rubén Jacinto Chamorro and Captain
Carlos Acosta Ambone. Jorge Vildoza has been identified by survivors as the second-in-command of ESMA. Among the Task Unit's ranks were
Jorge Eduardo Acosta,
Alfredo Astiz,
Ricardo Miguel Cavallo and
Adolfo Scilingo, who became notorious as torturers. Astiz was known as the "Blond Angel of Death". Its
chaplain during 1977 was Father
Alberto Ángel Zanchetta. It was in charge of the city of Buenos Aires proper and the northern part of the metropolitan area (
Gran Buenos Aires). Officers in charge were under strict orders not to reveal their identities or military affiliation when capturing prisoners. Between 1976 and 1978, the group was ultimately under the orders of Navy Commander-in-Chief
Emilio Eduardo Massera. Massera had reportedly been present when the unit was set up, gave an opening speech to the officers, and personally participated in the first illegal detentions.
Layout of the ESMA Once kidnapped, it was very rare that these prisoners would return home, leaving loved ones wondering if they would ever see their family members or friends again. During the beginning stages of the Dirty War, Argentinians living in Buenos Aires were unaware that the building that once housed a school had been transformed into a center for punishing "subversion". These photos would allow victims to be recorded, providing an accurate count today as to the five thousand people who died due to the treatment within this camp. Another group targeted included the people who potentially supported a different government, opposing the current junta and military dictatorship of Argentina. If there was any suspicion that Argentinians were meeting secretly and consistently to resist General
Jorge Rafael Videla and his regime, the government would kidnap these people and place them in detention centers such as the ESMA. This would serve as a lesson to incite fear within other members of the community who were also against the current governmental structure of Argentina. Upon being kidnapped, for example, many kidnappers would interrogate the prisoners about why they were opposing the Argentinian dictatorship and spreading a new political ideology, disregarding the fact of whether or not this was actually the case.
Survivor stories of the ESMA A few victims that survived and escaped the ESMA have made it a priority to share their experiences of the torture and human rights infractions they faced while living in this center.
Ana María Martí One
detainee who survived, Ana María Martí, has related some of the horrific treatment she faced while in the confines of the ESMA. The guard would yell obscenities and make sexually explicit comments to the women while they were showering. Officers would require the ESMA residents to take rides in these planes, only to push them off and watch them fall to their deaths. The victims were often still conscious, despite having been drugged. As a result, numerous bodies of victims washed up on beaches hundreds of kilometers south of Buenos Aires. There had been two previous trials after the Supreme Court struck down an amnesty the military dictatorship had granted its members; in the first the one accused committed suicide before a verdict was reached; in a 2009 trial, twelve defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment. The trial was still in progress , and was being covered in a dedicated blog,
Causa ESMA, with links to video reports of significant court sentences and similar events; many items are selected from the Argentine
Infojus Noticias (National Agency of judicial news) Web site, Nacionales section.
Gonzalo "Chispa" Sánchez was extradited to Argentina and faced charges, as of 2020. A federal court sentenced eight sailors and police officers and a civilian in the trial of
crimes against humanity perpetrated during the military dictatorship at the ESMA on February 19, 2021. Among those convicted are former Navy officer Carlos Castellvi, police officer Raúl Cabral, and civilian Miguel Conde.
Military testimonies Members of the military claim that they were simply obeying orders. It was also claimed that military members were made to believe they were fighting a war against enemies in civilian clothes. Military members never protested their orders despite being aware of the tortures and gruesome acts occurring in the ESMA because they were persuaded to believe that it was a supreme act that needed to be done for the sake of Argentina. ==Memorial Museum "Espacio Memoria y Derechos Humanos" (Former ESMA)==