An Argentine human rights group was awarded the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights by the May 18 Memorial Foundation on Saturday in recognition of its work for the children of victims of kidnapping, torture and murder during the dictatorship of Gen. Jorge Rafael Videla.

An estimated 30,000 people were killed in a ruthless campaign of forced “disappearances” and other abuses in the mid-1970s by Videla. The former dictator died at the age of 87 on Friday at the Marcos Paz Prison in the Argentine capital where he was serving a life sentence for crimes against humanity.

The May 18 Memorial Foundation awarded Korea’s most prestigious award for democracy to HIJOS, an Argentine human rights group, in Gwangju City during an afternoon ceremony on May 18.

HIJOS ― meaning “children” in Spanish, is the acronym for “Sons and Daughters for Identity and Justice Against Oblivion and Silence.”

Marcos Kary, 26, and Julia Parodi, 25, traveled here from Cordoba, Argentina on May 15 to accept the award on behalf of the group.

“We received the prize but it belongs to all Argentines involved in the human rights movement,” Kary said about receiving the prize on behalf of HIJOS during an interview with The Korea Herald at the Argentine Embassy on Monday.

HIJOS is the first group outside of Asia to be recognized by the memorial foundation and to receive the accompanying $50,000 in award money.

Kary and Parodi returned to Argentina on Tuesday.

The group is a decentralized network of human rights organizations across 15 countries working on behalf of those “disappeared.” The Argentine organization was founded in 1995 in Cordoba and La Plata.

They discovered that about 500 children were stolen from their parents and their true identities stripped from them. Many of the parents were “disappeared” by Videla’s military regime. So far, HIJOS has restored 105 people with their identities.

“We are part of this organization because we are sons and daughters of the same history. Anyone who wants to participate and contribute to this cause can join. So, there are always new members coming and going,” said Parodi.

Since 1999 the Gwangju award has commemorated the spirit of the May 1980 Gwangju Democratization Movement, also known as “518 Movement” for its May 18 starting date.

Hundreds of civilians were massacred by soldiers in Gwangju after rising up against military rule in May 1980.

More than 30 years since the brutal crackdown, the time is now recognized as a pivotal moment in the nation’s struggle for democracy.

Past awardees include Novel Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma in 2004 ― though she could receive it until this year as she was under house arrest ― and Angkhana Neelaphaijit of Thailand in 2006 for her work concerning victims of forced disappearances.

By Philip Iglauer (ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)