The project Archives of Repression is a collaborative civilian-led effort with the objective of contributing to the right to truth and historical memory during the period of repression and violence perpetrated by the Mexican state between 1950 and 1980.

The archive consists of 310,000 photographs of official documents. The original documents remain under the custody of the General Archive of the Nation (AGN in Spanish). This collection of photographic reproductions was donated to ARTICLE 19 by the State of Guerrero Truth Commission (COMVERDAD in Spanish).

The documents contained in the archive were in their majority produced by the following government agencies: the Federal Security Directorate (DFS), the General Directorate of Political and Social Research (DGIPS), the Ministry of Defense, and other security agencies.

The photographs of the documents were taken inside the General Archive of the Nation by the Special Prosecutor’s Office For Past Social and Historical Movements (FEMOSPP in Spanish) and the State of Guerrero’s COMVERDAD Truth Commission during their respective investigations.

Production of these materials dates from the 1950s to the 1980s, historically considered to be a period of state-sanctioned repression and violence in Mexico.

The Archives of Repression seek to include other archives containing historical documents and testimonies. The project hopes to contribute to the analysis and diversification of the existing historical memory of this period.

The documents made public here do not contain the entire historical truth, but form an important part in its construction. As much of the information in these materials was obtained through torture and manipulation by the state, these documents do not necessarily narrate an honest representation of events. They are, however, an indispensable tool in understanding the Mexican government’s conception of political dissidence, its actions to counteract opposition, and the logic of violence that was employed in these actions, which included gross violations of human rights and the sanctioning of state violence. This archive, whose original documents remain under the custody of the General Archive of the Nation, seeks as its objective the organization, dissemination, and preservation of these materials given their historical importance in the Mexican truth process and their fundamental relationship with grave human rights violations committed by the state in accordance with the National Human Rights Commission’s 26/2001 Recommendation.

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