Memoria Abierta is an alliance of eight human rights organizations in Argentina that have combined their efforts to create a publicly accessible database they hope will contribute to the articulation of a collective memory that we can never allow to be forgotten.

Memoria Abierta has created a system to make accessible all the public archives of documents, photographs and interviews that are a testament to the horrors of state terrorism in Argentina, its victims and the people who stood against it. Anyone with Internet access can search an online catalogue of the files. The actual materials (files, videos, photos and other materials) remain in the offices of each of the member organizations and, in the case of the oral testimonies, in Memoria Abierta’s office. The database provides a single index of all the materials, easily searchable by any user. It will also exactly locate the original documents, photos and videos so that interested researchers can contact the organizations that have the primary sources in order to view them. The project has created special software developed in open-source format to help other organizations create similar databases of archives.

The Patrimonio Documental (Documentary Heritage Program) archive includes five parts: 1) the Documentary Heritage Program includes about 22,000 documents on state terrorism; 2) the Topography of Memory Program includes maps, documents and oral testimony about historical sites related to state terrorism—over 340 torture centers that were hidden in ordinary places throughout the country; 3) the Photographic Archive Program includes digital images from human rights organizations, private collections and the media; 4) the Oral Archive Program includes summaries of more than 320 interviews with people whose lives have in some way been affected by the experience of state terrorism; and 5) Memoria Abierta’s own documents.

Memoria Abierta is comprised of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, Asamblea Permanente por los Derechos Humanos, Asociación Buena Memoria, Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales, Familiares de Desaparecidos y Detenidos por Razones Políticas, Fundación Memoria Histórica y Social Argentina, Madres de Plaza de Mayo – Línea Fundadora, and Servicio Paz y Justicia. The alliance was formed to develop and support projects that encourage communities and individuals to remember events that occurred during the military dictatorship. Memoria Abierta also sponsors initiatives to promote debates related to the creation of sites of memory and spaces for public reflection. The archives amassed by Memoria Abierta’s programs will one day be destined to form part of the main collection of a future Museum of Memory.

We may vow “Never Again” after human rights abuses come to light, but we cannot keep that vow unless we keep the memory of these abuses and their victims alive. Unfortunately, the powerful information stored in the files of numerous human rights organizations is often unknown to the outside world, and inaccessible to those who may later be able to use it to make sure that such history is not repeated. The tactic of coordinating archives of multiple organizations could be used in any country where more than one group is collecting human rights-related data. It could be part of a ‘memory’ project, but it could also be used in countries where multiple human rights organizations are tracking ongoing abuses and need to maximize the access to the information.