CONADEP REPORT: A pattern of words in the General Information section

The CONADEP report was published in 1984 in Argentina as a means to support and ensure the transition from the dictatorship of the military junta to democracy. The report outlines the abuses committed by the military junta in the period between 1976 and 1983 . A quick look at frequency with which words appear in the "General Introduction" to the report not only brings to the fore the obvious programatic and procedural nature of the report (with terminology referring to the report itself, emphasizing "testimonies", "collected", "commission" etc) but frame victimhood and responsibility according to specific terms. For example, terms such as "disappeared", "torture","extortion" provide hints so as to the types of mechanisms utilized by the State to "repress" the population. Also, the frequent use of "excess", "military", and "repression" indicates the type of assessment that the commission reaches in regards to the authoritarian regime. This type of imaging allows us to have an overarching look at the framework that the commission followed. Particularly, the frequency of "testimonies" and "repression" suggest the emergence of voices previously silenced, and whose pain is addressed by listing them, naming them, and assigning responsibilities. Absences are also telling, for example, the word "justice" does not appear, not do terms associated with the term (at least not with high frequency).

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