Joel's review of this excellent and disturbing museum is itself excellent (but fortunately not very disturbing!). He describes the site itself and its history exceedingly well, and I even share his opinion about the site's outstanding universal value. So I'll just add a few details about my visit.

I visited ESMA in March 2022, before its inscription on the World Heritage List. Like Joel, I was struck by the human side of the museum, with its emphasis on the testimonies of victims and survivors, the former far outnumbering the latter. The museum boasts 17 permanent exhibition halls, all recounting the events that took place there. The entrance portal is remarkable, with its windows covered with the portraits of those who died. A similar fresco can be found in the Escuela de Mecanica de la Armada (buffer zone).

The first room in which I took photos was the Capucha, on the third floor. This is where prisoners were held in cramped quarters. The description of the conditions of detention is bloodcurdling, particularly the details about the pregnant women held at ESMA whose children were handed over to members of the army who tortured the mother. This area also provides access to the Capuchita, the fourth-floor torture and solitary confinement room. The next room, the Pañol, describes the theft, fraud, and forgery committed by ESMA officers. They operated a well-honed machine of terror. Prisoners even worked on falsifying documents to further the propaganda of the totalitarian regime and the state terrorism of the Argentine government. Further on, we reach the Casa del Almirante, a large, modern, and well-decorated room that contrasts with the rest of the torture and detention center.

The basement is one of the most striking rooms in the building (picture). This is where prisoners were tortured and interrogated. It was also the last place they visited before being murdered (often thrown out of a plane over the Río de la Plata). The basement also housed the equipment needed to produce the false documents required for the officers' propaganda (printing works, photographic laboratory, audio-visual studio), as well as an infirmary. It is here that a number of disturbing testimonies are recounted, and that torture and murder are made explicit. A low beam on which the heads of hooded prisoners were banged is clearly identified. And this is probably the most shocking of all. In fact, the prisoners were simply hooded as they moved between the third floor and the basement, in full view of everyone, including the cadets studying at ESMA. And no one said a word until bodies were found on the banks of the river in Uruguay.

This site is a powerful testimony to the atrocities committed by the Argentine dictatorship. It's one of the most interesting sites in Buenos Aires and an attraction not to be missed. But it's still not a universal WHS.