Adolfo Donda Gets 15-Year Sentence for Victoria Donda's Abduction and Identity Concealment
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 20
Adolfo Donda Gets 15-Year Sentence for Victoria Donda's Abduction and Identity Concealment
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 20
Summary
A Buenos Aires court sentenced former naval officer Adolfo Donda to 15 years for abducting Victoria Donda and concealing her identity after she was stolen as a baby during Argentina’s dictatorship.
Judges tied the case to the 1977 detention of Donda’s pregnant mother, María Hilda Pérez, at the ESMA torture center, where she gave birth before being disappeared in what the ruling called “dehumanised childbirth.”
Victoria Donda, who learned in 2004 through DNA testing that she was the child of disappeared leftist militants, said she did not forgive Adolfo, who had also rejected her as an unrecognized family member.
The sentence adds to Adolfo Donda’s earlier life terms for kidnapping, torture and murder, while marking a new conviction specifically for Victoria Donda’s abduction in one of Argentina’s stolen-baby cases.
Why did an Argentine naval officer orchestrate the abduction of his own niece during the dictatorship's darkest era?
How does a stolen child reconcile loving the regime-linked man who raised her while her biological parents were murdered?
What drives a woman to fight the very political system her adoptive family supported to become a historic human rights champion?
50 Years After the Coup: The Donda Case, Stolen Children, and Argentina’s Ongoing Battle for Truth and Justice
Overview
This report traces the extraordinary journey of Victoria Donda, who was kidnapped as a newborn during Argentina’s military dictatorship and raised under a false identity with the complicity of her uncle, Navy captain Adolfo Donda. Decades later, a meticulous investigation by prosecutors uncovered evidence that exposed Adolfo’s involvement, leading to his conviction in 2024. The case highlights Argentina’s ongoing struggle for justice, from the reopening of dictatorship-era trials after the Supreme Court overturned impunity laws, to the country’s global leadership in human rights accountability. Despite recent political setbacks, Argentina’s commitment to truth and memory remains a powerful example for the world.