It is no secret that the Argentine military have intentionally used the same methods of torture as the French army (Aguila 2010; Carlson 2000; Chomsky 1991; Fagen 1992; Gareau 2004; Hey 1995; McClintock 1992; Schirmer 1998). This is consistent with an argument that states can learn techniques of repression from their own experience but also from other states (Gurr 1986:55). What is less familiar, however, is that France was directly implicated in transforming the Argentine war and security professionals into official torturers, as many documents found in the Parisian diplomatic archives seem to suggest.(1) Indeed, the French may have continued to be involved in situations that were contrary to human rights and considered as deviant by civil society right after the tragedy of its own Algerian war (Robin 2004). Yet, there is a clash between Argentine willingness to confront its past and French desire to bury and deny its involvement since this would constitute an other sadly ironic aberrance for a state that had so often, verbally at least, championed universal moral values and human rights (Alleg 2006:98).

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(1) Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, Archives Diplomatiques, Série B. Amérique 1952-1963, Sub-Série: Argentine, Cotes: 18.6.1, Dossier 74 “Défense Nationale,” Mars 52-août 63. It has to be noted that the diplomatic archives of Quai d’Orsay have moved to Courneuve since September 2009