"The case of Floreal Edgardo Avellaneda, known as 'El Negrito', remains one of the most harrowing symbols of Argentina’s military dictatorship, as his mother continues her decades-long search for justice 50 years after his death. “50 years, 50 years of sacrifice, 50 years of resistance, because the truth is that in 50 years we have achieved very little,” said his mother, Iris Avellaneda. Avellaneda was just 15 when he was abducted alongside his mother in the early months of the 1976 military coup, which ushered in a dictatorship that ruled Argentina until 1983. The regime, which overthrew President Isabel Peron, was marked by the suspension of democratic institutions, censorship and widespread repression. According to Iris Avellaneda, her son was targeted in retaliation for his father’s escape from the armed forces. He was detained in clandestine centres, where he was subjected to severe torture before being killed. “He was thrown from the death flights; he was killed by impalement. It is something terrible. I believe that not even the Nazis had done that,” she said. So-called 'death flights' were a method used by the dictatorship in which detainees were thrown into the sea, often alive or sedated, in an attempt to conceal evidence of the killings. Avellaneda’s body was later found on the coast of Uruguay, exposing the brutality of the regime’s methods. “When the body of 'El Negrito' appeared in Uruguay, they opened the bags, and there were nine bodies. Of those nine bodies, only two were identified, 'El Negrito' and another girl,” his mother recalled. His young age made him one of the youngest known victims of the dictatorship. Since then, Iris Avellaneda has become a prominent voice in the pursuit of memory, truth and justice, participating in trials for crimes against humanity and advocating for victims of state repression."