Argentine State Finally Held Accountable For The 1924 Massacre Of Indigenous Peoples – Never Again, Never Forget!

In 1924, state police and settlers in Chaco massacred more than 500 Indigenous Peoples belonging to the Qom and Moqoit communities, specifically in Colonia Aborigen Napalpí, a state-run labor camp where Indigenous Peoples were treated as slaves and forced to grow cotton.

Inhumane living and working conditions forced the Qom and Moqoit Indigenous Peoples to demand fair wages and freedom. The state reacted to these demands by ordering the military and police to the communities and kill Indigenous leaders and community members.

On July 19, 1924, a hundred policemen, military forces, and several settlers, guided by an airplane, arrived at the reserve area where the Qom and Moqoit peoples and their families were on strike. They shot the Qom and Moqoit peoples, even the old and the young, and brutalized those trying to escape. State forces disposed of the remains through the fire, while some were buried in unmarked graves; forensic researchers are still trying to determine the location of their remains.

For many years, the truth of the Napalpi massacre had been buried. National authorities circulated false accounts, which reduced the massacre's events into mere “tribal clashes.” Qom historian Juan Chico, who established the Napalpi foundation to gather information and visibility on the Napalpi massacre, compiled the accounts of the remaining survivors, which they used in this trial, the first trial in the country to investigate the genocide of Indigenous Peoples. This set of public hearings is referred to as a “truth trial,” similar to the Truth Commissions in Canada and Australia. Unfortunately, Juan Chico succumbed to COVID-19 last year.

The struggle for justice and truth bore fruit almost a century later in the landmark ruling by an Argentine court that found the Argentine state responsible for the Napalpi Massacre. The Provincial Prosecutor’s Office began investigating the massacre's events in 2014, led by its Human Rights Unit, to clarify facts and provide historical reparations. Prosecutor Diego Vigay stated that the government must address the victims' and their families' right to truth and give reparations to families and communities.

On May 19, 2022, Judge Zunilda Niremperger, who presided over the trial, declared the State responsible for the Napalpi Massacre and ordered the inclusion of the history of the massacre in the schools’ educational program and the continuation of forensic work to identify the remains of the victims. The Argentine court’s ruling marks the first steps toward truth and justice for the Indigenous Peoples victimized by the State. It provides direction for Indigenous Peoples from other provinces in Argentina or in the region to hold the State accountable for its crimes against Indigenous Peoples.

Indigenous Peoples in different communities and many countries have suffered from exploitation and violence at the hands of the State. Governments, in collaboration with big businesses, plunder the ancestral lands and natural resources. Indigenous communities were terrorized and displaced by the military and private armies. Indigenous leaders and community members were illegally arrested based on trumped-up charges, harassed, and even killed in broad daylight. These cases of human rights violation continue until today, and rarely do we see States held accountable for such crimes against humanity.

Historic injustices against Indigenous Peoples must be recognized, addressed, and ingrained in the memory of future generations. We must not allow the distortion of truth to become the standard. We must never forget these atrocities so that others may never repeat them.

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