VZCZCXYZ0003
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #0389/01 0881853
ZNR UUUUU ZZH (CCY AD767191 MSI6925-695)
P 281853Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0593

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000389 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D COPY CAPTION 
G/TIP FOR BARBARA FLECK AND MARK FORSTROM 
WHA/PPC FOR SCOTT MILLER 
WHA/BSC FOR DRUCKER, FRIEDMAN, SHOWELL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC KCRM PHUM PREL SMIG PGOV AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: NGO "QUIENES SOMOS?" FIGHTS AGAINST 
CHILD TRAFFICKING FOR ILLEGAL ADOPTIONS 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary:  Ambassador Wayne recently met with 
representatives from the NGO "Quienes Somos?" ("Who are 
We?"), an organization that promotes legislation against 
child trafficking for illegal adoptions and lobbies the 
Argentine government (GOA) to assist in their efforts to 
uncover their true biological identity.  NGO representatives 
explained that the organization was founded in 2002 by 
individuals who discovered over time that they were illegally 
adopted by their parents.  Since then, the NGO has helped 80 
individuals recover their true identity.  Although they have 
met with the GOA's Human Rights Secretariat to request 
assistance in obtaining access to civil registries for birth 
records, they claim that the Secretariat has told them that 
the Secretariat's focus is only on illegal adoptions that 
took place during the 1976-83 military regime.  In addition 
to advocating legislation that criminalizes trafficking in 
children for the purposes of illegal adoption and public 
access to civil registries, "Quienes Somos?" also lobbies for 
the simplification of Argentina's adoption laws to help 
alleviate the problem.  The Ambassador told the NGO's 
representatives that fighting trafficking in persons (TIP) 
for sexual and labor exploitation, as well as illegal 
adoptions, is a top Embassy priority.  He encouraged them to 
work with other NGOs who are working on these issues.  Pol 
off has subsequently introduced the organization's leaders to 
other anti-TIP activists and has helped the organization to 
schedule a meeting with Post's Information Resources Center 
to learn more about NGOs working on similar issues in the 
United States.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  On February 13,  Ambassador Wayne met with Luis 
Verdina, President of the NGO "Who are We?" (Quienes Somos?), 
an organization that promotes legislation against child 
trafficking for illegal adoptions and fights for the right to 
identity.   Verdina was accompanied by Graciela Palma and 
Maria Rosa Pallone who are also members of the organization. 
The Ambassador began the meeting by asking about the 
organization's mission.  Verdina replied that the NGO was 
founded in 2002 by individuals who discovered over time that 
they were illegally adopted by their parents.  He explained 
that illegal adoptions did not begin with the 1976-83 
military dictatorship, when infants of leftist dissidents in 
captivity were illegally adopted by military families.  The 
members of "Quienes Somos?" are living proof that trafficking 
in children for the purposes of illegal adoption has always 
existed and continues to exist in Argentina, he claimed. 
Palma added that the organization does not seek to punish 
their families for adopting them illegally, focusing instead 
on requesting government assistance at the federal, 
provincial, and municipal levels in obtaining access to civil 
registries in order to obtain birth records. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  The Ambassador asked whether the organization has 
met with the GOA's Secretariat of Human Rights.  Verdina 
indicated that the NGO met with HR Secretary Luis Duhalde, 
but claimed that Duhalde stated that the GOA focused only on 
illegal adoptions during the last military regime (1976-83). 
Verdina stated that the organization is working to press the 
government to assist them in their efforts to recover their 
identity and noted that the right to identity is enshrined in 
Argentina's 1994 constitution.  Through the NGO's efforts, 80 
individuals have been able to discover their true identity, 
Verdina stated. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Verdina indicated that many members, like Pallone, 
discover that they were illegally adopted when they learn 
that they have a hereditary medical condition that does not 
run in their adoptive families.  Since members do not know 
their true families' medical history, this not only 
prejudices the individual who was illegally adopted, but also 
the families that they themselves have created, he argued. 
In addition to advocating legislation that criminalizes 
trafficking in children for the purposes of illegal adoption 
and public access to civil registries, "Quienes Somos?" also 
lobbies for the simplification of Argentina's adoption laws. 
Verdina explained that Argentina's adoption laws are so 
complicated that many couples who wish to adopt children feel 
compelled to do so illegally. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Verdina also asserted that the GOA should consider 
this not only as a matter of human rights bus also one of 
security-- since their members were illegally adopted, they 
often have multiple identification documents with different 
names, and false date and place of birth.  He estimated that 
up to 3 million Argentines do not know their true biological 
identity, quoting a UNICEF study that stated that 35 percent 
of Argentina's 9 million indigent population were abandoned 
as children.  He asserted that in the province of Santiago 
del Estero, only 2 out of every 10 children are registered 
 
 
and that a judge in Rio Negro province has denounced 
hospitals for not registering births.  He also claimed that 
in the NGO's interviews with residents of Castelar, Buenos 
Aires province, a now defunct clinic may have trafficked up 
to 5,000 children for illegal adoptions. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Verdina stated that individuals in similar 
situations from other countries in the region and around the 
world have contacted the organization to learn more about 
their efforts to uncover identity.  The organization hopes to 
expand its membership base to include individuals in theregion and eventually take its cause to the United Nations, 
he stated.  The Ambassador thanked Verdina and his colleagues 
for briefing him on their organization's activities and 
encouraged them to work with other NGOs who are working to 
combat trafficking in persons, noting that this is a top 
Embassy priority.  Poloff subsequently introduced the group 
to the Maria de los Angeles anti-trafficking foundation run 
by the 2007 International Woman of Courage award winner 
Susana Trimarco.  Poloff has also since helped the 
organization to schedule a meeting with Post's Information 
Resources Center to learn more about NGOs working on similar 
issues in the United States. 
WAYNE