one December 27 1978 3 332 POL F Allen Harris Y- fW sum g Disappearance Numbers On December 22nd Nunciature First Secretarleevin Mullen stated at an informal meeting of local Embassy human rights officers that a senior army official had informed the Nuncio that the Wrced to take care of 15 00 persons in its anti s- ersion l campaign I In late November during Brian Blood's farewell call on Ministry of Interior Assistant Secretary for lnternal Security Col San Roman noted that he was preparing charts showing that the number of disappearances reported to the Ministry of Interior had declined dramatically In mid- December the FOWG desk officer Martin Saravia made the Same observation Martin stated that the Ministry of Interior had received of per sons who disappeared in 1976 about 500 uch reports for 1977 and only 13127 780 re orts BT-Eigippearances through September 1978 lartin stated that this was concrete evidence of Argentina's improving performance in the human rights area To FILE NOTE The FOWG desk officer's total of reported dis appearancesfrom 1976 to November 1978 is 4 780 This total parallels the number reported to other organizations For example the Permanent Assembly has over 3 100 docu- mented disappearance cases in which habeas corpus petitions have been filed Plus the Assembly has over 1 000 cases in which reports have been made but habeas corpus pro ceedings have not been pursued ARGENHNA PRO 06200000044 us DEPT OF Copies To Margaret P Grafeld Director Mr Bumpus Emh - Mr Flood Cm bm g__ massif In Pan Kinny POLzFAHarriszsz 12 28 78 Dedamifyon mgadm a - 52-w- 0290 Buy US Savings Bonds Regularly on the Payroll Savings Plan FORM REV 7-76 Oificc I GSA FPMR in 101 11 0 solo-112 This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu