The Government of the Argentine Republic is pleased to inform that former US President James Earl Carter has accepted the award of the Order of the Liberator General San Martín.
As is publicly known, during his term (1977-1981), former President Carter defended the full force of and respect for human rights in our country by undertaking several actions: he condemned the violations of human rights that took place here; he demanded information on the whereabouts of thousands of disappeared people; he elevated the Human Rights area of the Department of State to Bureau of Human Rights and appointed Patricia Derian as head of the Bureau (1977) – Mrs. Derian, who was also awarded the Order of the Liberator General San Martín, sadly passed away on May 20, 2016.
Mr. Carter was a key actor in materializing the visit of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights to Argentina (1979), and, upon concluding his term in office, he continued to defend human rights through his foundation, The Carter Center. Because of his work, Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2002.
By bestowing this award on him, Argentina wishes to express its recognition and gratitude to former President Carter for his work during the last military dictatorship.
Having received former President Carter’s communication of acceptance of the Order awarded by the Argentine State, the Argentine Foreign Ministry has started to work on arranging a date for the award ceremony.
Press Release No. 157/17
Press Office: 4819-7375 / 8296 / 7388
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