People

Alejandra Álvarez

Lawyer specializing in Criminal Law (UBA) with a diploma in Penal Execution and Penitentiary Affairs (Universidad de San Isidro). Official at the Juzgado de Ejecución Penal N°1 de Morón, where she oversees the enforcement of rights for incarcerated people. Member of Víctimas por la Paz and Pensamiento Penal in the areas of Penitentiary Policies and Childhood and Adolescence. Founding member of SAJuR. She coordinated the Restorative Justice workshop at Unidad 39 and participated in the SPB Conflict Resolution Committees. Instructor in Juvenile Criminal Responsibility modules.

Alejandra Zarza

Lawyer, professor, and researcher at UBA. For 11 years she worked at the National Directorate of Criminal Policy on Justice and Criminal Legislation of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. She holds a Master's degree (in progress) in Social Anthropology from UBA and a diploma in Pedagogical Interventions in Contexts of Incarceration (UNSAM). She teaches Law at UBA, UNQ, and IUPFA, and has been part of research projects on education in contexts of incarceration, punitivism, and gender-based violence. She advocates for a paradigm shift toward restorative justice from a human rights perspective, centered on people and communities.

Analía Acevedo

Lawyer graduated from the Universidad de Buenos Aires with a Specialization in Restorative Practices in Conflicts with Criminal Consequences. Advisor for Minors and Incapacitated Persons at the SCBA and Community Mediator trained at UMET under the mentorship of Alejandro Nató. She worked as a human rights lawyer and coordinated the Community Mediation Center at the Defensoría del Pueblo de Vicente López and at the CAJ Vicente López of the Ministerio de Justicia y Derechos Humanos. Since 2019, she has facilitated dialogue in places of incarceration within the framework of the Marcos de Paz program of the Procuración Penitenciaria de la Nación (PPN).

César Sivo

Lawyer and university professor from Mar del Plata with over 39 years of experience in professional practice and teaching. Co-director of Estudio Jurídico Sivo - Reutemann. His work has focused on the defense of human rights since 1989, particularly in representing minorities and vulnerable groups. That dedication has led him to face threats and harassment, especially in the context of trials for crimes against humanity. A faculty member at UNMdP and guest professor at national and international institutions, he contributes to training the next generation of legal professionals committed to justice and equity.

Claudia Perlo

Professor and Bachelor of Educational Sciences (1990), Doctor of Humanities and Arts with a specialization in Education (2008). Independent Researcher at CONICET within the Instituto Rosario de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Educación (IRICE) since 1992, where she coordinates the Area of Learning and Organizational Development. Certified Biodanza Didactic Teacher through the International Biocentric Federation and Biocentric Educator through the Universidad Biocéntrica de Ceará. Postgraduate lecturer at UNR, UNaM, UNL, and the Universidad del Centro Latinoamericano. Her research focuses on incarceration as a socio-educational context for human integration, with fieldwork at Unidad Penitenciaria N°5 in Victoria (Entre Ríos).

Constanza Metzadour

Bachelor's degree in International Relations (Universidad Católica de Córdoba) and certified mediator in community conflicts. Adjunct professor of Public International Law and of Political Negotiation and Mediation at the UCC. Collaborated on the pilot community mediation project of the Ombudsman of Córdoba and completed an internship at the Gender Crimes Tribunal in Israel, focused on access to justice for victims of sexual and domestic violence. Speaker at international forums on restorative justice and human rights. Founding member of SAJuR.

Daniel Q.

Diana Márquez

Lawyer, notary, and mediator specializing in Family Mediation and Restorative Justice. National Coordinator of Víctimas por la Paz, Secretary of Cooperativa Liberté, and founding President of SAJuR (Sociedad Argentina de Justicia Restaurativa). Director of the Restorative Justice Area and the Gender Area at Asociación Pensamiento Penal. Lecturer in the Postgraduate Program in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at UBA. Facilitator of pioneering encounters in Argentina between victims and people who have caused harm — including the first restorative circle in a federal case and in the juvenile courts of CABA.

Efraín Sandro Flores

Psychologist from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM), psychotherapist trained at the Instituto Gestalt de Lima, with a specialization in the evaluation and treatment of addictive behaviors from IPSICOC. He completed a Master's program in Psychosocial Risk Management for Public Safety (UNMSM) and holds a Master's degree in Public Management from the Universidad César Vallejo. Author of the book "Del efecto lucifer al efecto ángel. Una hipótesis de trabajo en rehabilitación de antisociales". He brings 23 years of experience as a psychologist at the Instituto Nacional Penitenciario (INPE) of Peru.

Elena de la Aldea

Licensed in Psychology from the Universidad de Buenos Aires and holds a Master's in Psychology from the Université Catholique de Louvain. A group therapist with a teaching career at the UBA, the UNER, the Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral, the UNAM, the Universidad de Montreal, the Universidad Nacional de Nicaragua, the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and the Escuela de Trabajo Social de Granada. She currently teaches in the Master's Program in Community Mental Health at the Universidad Nacional de Lanús (UNLA). Her work focuses on community mental and emotional health, team care in contexts of violence, and the emotions of collectives living under oppression. Author of several books on violence, social issues in Latin America, and care practices.

Evangelina Cavanna

Licensed in Social Work (UNLa) with a specialization in Mediation and Restorative Practices (UBA). She is part of the Specialized Team in Restorative Justice at the National Secretariat for Children, Adolescence and Family (SENAF), where she develops public policies, action protocols and training materials. Facilitator of the Comprehensive Reparation Program at Víctimas por la Paz. Alternate Board Member and founding member of SAJuR. Her career spans CORREPI, AEDD and accompaniment in crimes against humanity trials, combining restorative justice, human rights and collective memory.

Giselle Méndez

Bachelor's degree in Anthropological Sciences with a sociocultural orientation, and a specialization in Policies for Children and Adolescents. Her work focuses on promoting and restoring the rights of children and adolescents whose rights have been violated, with a gender perspective as a fundamental axis of all social intervention. She works on developing projects and coordinating spaces that enable a more just and equitable approach to social issues. Secretary and founding member of SAJuR.

Gracia Amo

Co-founder and President of the association Families de Presos a Catalunya, where she coordinates sustained volunteer support for people in incarceration. She specifically visits people with mental health conditions in the psychiatric units of Catalan penitentiary facilities, and works alongside prison psychiatry teams to prepare these individuals for their transition to external care settings. Her work brings together family support, mental health, and the defense of rights in prison.

Graciela Binztein

Founding member of Cooperativa de Trabajo Liberté. Part of the founding core that launched the self-managed cooperative project run by incarcerated people inside Unidad Penal N°15 in Batán (Mar del Plata). Her foundational role is part of the living history of Liberté as the first Argentine cooperative with a Board of Directors made up entirely of incarcerated people.

Jenny Reymundo

Attorney from the Universidad de Huánuco (Peru), with a completed Master's degree in Criminal Law from the same university. For her degree she wrote the thesis "Penitentiary Policy and its Sordid Reality in the Resocialization of Incarcerated People at the Huánuco Prison, as of 2015." In her professional practice she litigates as an attorney in hearings on penitentiary benefits: semi-liberty, conditional release, and sentence conversion.

José Orbaiceta

Honorary Advisor to Cooperar (Confederación Cooperativa de la República Argentina) and former Member of the Board of Directors of INAES on behalf of Cooperar. A historical figure in the Argentine cooperative movement, he is part of the Municipios Cooperativos network of Cooperar, which promotes local public policies to foster the social and solidarity economy.

Juan Cruz Chapuy

Lawyer and mediator from the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, with a postgraduate degree in Restorative Practices and Mediation in Conflicts with Criminal Consequences (UBA). Criminal defense attorney in the first judicial district of Mendoza. Coordinated the Law Degree Studies Workshop at the Penal de San Martín and the Complejo Carcelario Padre Luchesse. Speaker at the XIII National Meeting of Criminal Execution Judges and organizer of the First Provincial Congress on Criminal Execution. Vice President and founding member of SAJuR.

Juan Posada

Attorney from the Universidad de Antioquia, Master's in Human Rights from the Universidad Internacional de Andalucía, and Doctor Cum Laude in Law and Criminal-Legal Sociology from the Universidad de Barcelona. Director of the Penitentiary and Human Rights Research Seedbed at the Universidad de Antioquia. Founding member and Vice President of the Instituto Colombiano de Derechos Humanos (ICDH), and founding member and General Director of the Corporación Activos Por los Derechos Humanos (CADH). Founding member of the Academia Latinoamericana de Derecho Penal Penitenciario (ALDP). His work focuses on the human rights of incarcerated people in Latin America.

Lidia Pérez

Staff member at INADI (Argentina's National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism), responsible for the Human Rights area linked to incarcerated people and people released from incarceration. Secretary of Anti-Repressive Policies at the Argentine LGBT+ Federation. National representative of the Frente Nacional por la Igualdad of the Movimiento Evita and of that same movement's Frente de Cárceles Nacional. She has been declared an Outstanding Personality in the struggle for human rights by the Legislature of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and by the Honorable Congress of the Nation. At Unidad 31 in Florencio Varela, at the request of university students, a classroom bears her name in recognition of her lifelong commitment to that struggle.

Luis Alberto Bavestrello

Certified Public Accountant graduated from the Universidad de Buenos Aires, with a postgraduate degree in Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (UBA, 2017). He has extensive experience in the financial system and cooperative entities: Federación Argentina de Cooperativas de Crédito, Banco Sudecor Litoral, Banco Cooperativo Agrario, among others. He has served as an advisor to various cooperative entities and as a member of the Rating Committee of DUFF & Phelps. Co-author of the book "Una Visión sobre el Cooperativismo de Crédito" (2016), published with the support of the UNLP, INAES, and the FACC.

Luz Barassi

Licensed in Psychology (Universidad de Belgrano, Honors Diploma) and Law (Universidad J. F. Kennedy), with specializations in Psychoanalytic Psychodrama, Rorschach Psychodiagnostics, and Criminology (UNQ). Forensic Psychologist with the Technical Advisory Body of the Juvenile Criminal Responsibility Court of San Martín, where she advises on cases of domestic violence, sexual abuse, and other criminal matters. Teaching Assistant Coordinator for Group Theory and Technique at the Faculty of Psychology of the UBA. She coordinates psychodrama and group expression workshops in prisons and hospitals.

Marcela Pérez Bogado

Attorney from the Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Criminal Guarantee Judge in the jurisdiction of Puerto Madryn, Chubut province, since 2010. She holds postgraduate training in Criminology (UNT), Mediation (UNSTA), Magistracy (UBA), Courtroom Litigation for Judges (CEJA), and Gender Studies (FLACSO, Oficina de la Mujer de la CSJN, Hombres por la Equidad, UNCAUS). She is currently completing a Specialization in Criminal Law with a focus on the accusatorial system at Universidad San Juan Bosco. A feminist, poet, and visual artist, she combines judicial practice with aesthetic reflection on the penal system.

María Jimena Monsalve

Attorney from the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Specialist in Criminal Law and Criminal Sciences. National Judge of Sentence Execution, President of the Argentine Association of Sentence Execution Justice, and Secretary of the Argentine Association of Therapeutic Justice. Coordinator of the Criminal Execution Commission of the AMFJN. Since 2018, she has led the Pilot Program for Therapeutic Justice for people who commit drug-related offenses. Author of works on sentence execution and alternative forms of justice, she is part of the OEA-CICAD Justice and Gender program. Undergraduate and postgraduate lecturer.

María Suárez

Member of ACCEL - Fecootra (Federación de Cooperativas de Trabajo). Their work focuses on promoting cooperativism with incarcerated people and with people who have been released as a strategy for economic and social integration. From that platform, they collaborate with organizations in the cooperative and human rights sectors to advance experiences that combine dignified work, self-management, and community reintegration.

Mariela Martínez

Member of Cooperativa de Trabajo Liberté. Part of the self-managed organization run by incarcerated people, based inside Unidad Penal N°15 in Batán (Mar del Plata). She takes part in the daily work of Liberté, which combines productive workshops, educational training, and restorative practices as pillars of transforming the penal system from within.

Mario Juliano

Judge, criminal defense attorney, and historical figure of Argentine due-process advocacy. Founder of Víctimas por la Paz (VxP) and eternal godfather of Cooperativa Liberté — his intervention was key to preventing the cooperative's closure in its early years, when the NGO Cambio de Paso attempted to dismantle the project. His thought and action gave rise to the Comité de Convivencia Mario Juliano, a restorative justice body operating inside Unidad Penal N°15 in Batán. He passed away, but his legacy lives on in every restorative practice at Liberté, in the association he founded, and in the formation of a new generation of legal practitioners who continue his work.

Marisa Pombo

Licensed in Psychology from the Universidad de Buenos Aires (1987, accredited in Spain in 1999), Specialist in Clinical Psychology (Spain, 2005), and Social Educator certified by the Colegio de Educadoras y Educadores Sociales de Cataluña (1996). Advisor on penitentiary affairs and practicing psychoanalyst. Works with groups in particularly vulnerable situations: women, LGBTI people, and young adults. Specialist in childhood and adolescence in contexts of abuse and risk of abandonment.

Mauricio Navarro

Technician trained in Environmental Sciences. Since October 2001, he has worked as a Technician for the ProHuerta Program (INTA – Ministry of Social Development) within the Mar del Plata Rural Extension Agency, covering the entire Partido de General Pueyrredón. He serves as Operational Director of the TMA Laboratory under the INTA – Colegio Atlántico del Sur agreement. He coordinates the Sustainable Food Production Project in Incarceration Contexts at Unidad Penal N°15 and Unidad Penal N°50 in Batán, both part of the SPB, and the INTA – INaRePS Demonstration Nursery Garden Project. His work bridges rural extension, agroecology, and social inclusion in carceral contexts.

Pamela Roque

Member of Cooperativa de Trabajo Liberté. Part of the core team of workers who sustain the cooperative's day-to-day operations from inside Unidad Penal N°15 in Batán (Mar del Plata). She participates in the productive, educational, and community spaces that define the project: workshops, training, and restorative practices.

Raúl Cadena

PhD in Law with a specialization in Criminal Law from the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (2017). He holds a Specialization in Administration of Justice with a focus in Criminal Law from San Ramón Valley College (California, 2010) and a Master's degree in International Relations with a focus in International Economics and Politics from the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar (Quito, 2009). Doctor of Jurisprudence and Attorney admitted to the Courts and Tribunals of the Republic from the Universidad Central del Ecuador (2000), where he also obtained a Bachelor's degree in Public and Social Sciences (1994). Author of books and academic essays, he has practiced independently as a criminal and prison law attorney since 2000.

Raúl Eugenio Zaffaroni

Argentine lawyer, criminologist, criminal law scholar, and judge, born in 1940. He earned his degree in Legal and Social Sciences from the Universidad Nacional de La Plata, where he also received his doctorate in 1970. He served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the Nation between 2003 and 2014, and as a Judge of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. He has taught criminal law and criminology at universities across Argentina, Latin America, and Europe. He is the author of numerous works, including "El enemigo en el derecho penal", "En busca de las penas perdidas", and "La palabra de los muertos". Internationally recognized for his defense of human rights and his advocacy for penal system reform. He received the "Ludovic-Trarieux" International Human Rights Prize and an Honorary Doctorate from the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, among many other distinctions.

Ricardo Augman

Licensed in Psychology (1986), currently pursuing a Doctorate in Community Mental Health at the Universidad Nacional de Lanús. His work spans different areas of human knowledge and human rights: mental health, work teams, organizational leadership, values-based education, knowledge management, and collective learning. He accompanies highly vulnerable populations: migrants, refugees, people in incarceration, and other communities. He has worked in public, private, and third-sector settings, in national and international contexts linked to health and human rights.

Rocío Mateos

Holder of a degree in Social Communication and educator, with work focused on the intersection of communication and human rights. She has been part of various press teams, with notable experience at the Editorial, the Congreso de las Madres de Plaza de Mayo, and the Ministerio de Agricultura. She has an extensive background in digital communication agencies and as a tutor at the Universidad de Buenos Aires. She continuously updates her expertise in gender perspectives: she holds a diploma in Comprehensive Sexual Education and is a member of the Programa de Fortalecimiento de la Ley Micaela of the Honorable Cámara de Diputados de la Nación.

Silvia Ethel Pessolano

She joined INTA at the Estación Experimental Agropecuaria de Balcarce in December 1980. Between 1987 and 2014, she served as secretary of the Directorate of the Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur (CERBAS). Since 2015, she has worked as an Extension Professional at the Agencia de Extensión Rural Mar del Plata, under the EEA Balcarce. She studied at the Escuela de Psicología Social del Sur (CABA), where she earned her degree as a Social Psychology Practitioner, and in 2016 obtained a Bachelor's degree in Conflict Resolution and Mediation from the Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero (UNTREF). She practices mediation across the districts of General Pueyrredón and General Alvarado.

Silvia Lai

Member of Cooperativa de Trabajo Liberté. Part of the core team of workers who sustain the cooperative's day-to-day operations from inside Unidad Penal N°15 in Batán (Mar del Plata). She participates in the productive, educational, and community spaces that define the project: workshops, training, and restorative practices.

Sofía Agudo Lutjens

Xavier "Pampa" Aguirreal

Founder and President of Cooperativa Liberté. Co-founder of the Conflict Prevention and Resolution Committees. Founder of the anti-torture organization Proyecto Mecha. Systems Analyst and Master's in Artificial Intelligence. Creator of julIAna, an AI dedicated to rights in complex contexts. Founding member of SAJuR. Active member of the Latin American Academy of Criminal and Penitentiary Law.