{"record":{"affiliations":[{"polityId":"polity-3fcc9adb88012825729f2b2c","role":"U.S. assistant secretary for human rights","sourceIds":["b-derian-state"]}],"aliases":["Patricia Derian","Patt Derian","Patricia Murphy"],"appointmentIds":[],"appointmentsDataset":"https://chanceries.org/diplomats.json","archivalSources":["b-derian-mpc"],"canonicalUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/person-4bed1375334a656130ede36f-7b4dd35da0/","countrySlug":null,"countrySlugs":["argentina"],"documentedRoles":[{"assertionId":"assert-145b6bc34768186ccf4759e7","associationBasis":"documented-participant","evidenceClass":"direct","note":"Answered congressional questions about Argentina's human rights abuses on 9 August 1978, prompting embassy reporting and State Department instructions.","predicate":"participated_in","role":"human rights policy advocacy","sourceIds":["b-derian-frus85"],"targetId":"event-2c12c27032976d269f7d7cb7","targetType":"event","title":"Carter and Congress press Argentina over human rights","url":"/research/history/argentina-rights-2c12c27032/","validTime":{"attestations":[{"precision":"day","value":"1978-08-09"}],"continuity":"attestation","end":null,"endInclusive":true,"start":null}}],"entityId":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/person-4bed1375334a656130ede36f-7b4dd35da0/#person","eventIds":[],"expandedParagraphs":["On 9 August 1978, Patricia Derian appeared before the House Subcommittee on Inter-American Affairs during hearings on arms sales in the Western Hemisphere. Asked by Representative Gus Yatron about an Export-Import Bank loan for Argentina, she explained that the State Department had advised against the transaction because of torture, summary executions, disappearances, and detention without charge. She also criticized Argentina’s failure to admit the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Her prepared statement had not discussed Argentina; these criticisms came in answers to members’ questions. The next day, the U.S. embassy in Buenos Aires reported the resulting objections from Argentine officials and newspapers.","Derian had trained as a nurse before entering civil rights work in Mississippi. She helped organize opposition to school segregation, worked with Head Start, and helped build the Loyalist Democratic organization that challenged the state's segregationist party leadership. After working in Jimmy Carter's 1976 campaign, she became the State Department's human rights coordinator. Congress elevated the position to assistant secretary in 1977.","Her term ended in January 1981. Argentina later awarded her the Order of the Liberator General San Martín. In its 2016 tribute, the Argentine foreign ministry credited her advocacy for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights' 1979 visit."],"id":"global:person-4bed1375334a656130ede36f","identifiers":{},"identityScope":"global","legacyPersonIds":[],"legacyUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplomat-7b4dd35da0023705a733.html","name":"Patricia Murphy Derian","notes":[],"paragraphSources":[["b-derian-frus85","stage09-derian-arms-hearing-19780809"],["b-derian-mpc","b-derian-state"],["b-derian-state","b-derian-argentina"]],"profileUrl":"diplomat-7b4dd35da0023705a733.html","relatedEvents":[],"relatedPeople":[],"relationships":[],"researchStatus":"reviewed","reviewedOn":"2026-11-02","revision":"7ffcae6bb4fcfb3d","sources":[{"accessedOn":"2026-11-02","date":"1978-08-10","id":"b-derian-frus85","inspection":{"inspectedOn":"2026-11-02","language":"en","representation":"published_transcription","scope":"Embassy telegram and editorial notes 2, 4, and 6 inspected. The later favorable response by human rights organizations is distinct from the initial report of official objections.","status":"document_inspected"},"locator":"FRUS 1977–1980, volume XXIV, document 85, paragraphs 1–8 and notes 2 and 6","publisher":"Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State","title":"Embassy telegram reporting Derian's congressional testimony, 10 August 1978","type":"primary-record","url":"https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v24/d85"},{"accessedOn":"2026-11-01","date":"","id":"b-derian-mpc","locator":"Biographical Information; collection identifier and access restrictions","publisher":"Mississippi State University Libraries","title":"Patricia Derian Papers, MPC-130","type":"archive-finding-aid","url":"https://msstate-archives.libraryhost.com/repositories/4/resources/12"},{"accessedOn":"2026-11-01","date":"","id":"b-derian-state","locator":"Assistant Secretary entry and title-change note","publisher":"Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State","title":"Patricia Murphy Derian","type":"official-record","url":"https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/derian-patricia-murphy"},{"accessedOn":"2026-11-01","date":"2016-05-23","id":"b-derian-argentina","locator":"Press information 153/16, paragraphs 1–2","publisher":"Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Argentina","title":"Fallecimiento de Patricia Derian","type":"official-statement","url":"https://www.cancilleria.gob.ar/es/actualidad/comunicados/fallecimiento-de-patricia-derian"},{"accessedOn":"2026-11-02","archivalReference":{"catalogIdentifier":"MDR 17-M-2256","collection":"Argentina Declassification Project, OSD Special Collection","dateSpan":"Hearing 9 August 1978; release 23 October 2018","item":"Document 39","repository":"Office of the Secretary of Defense"},"date":"1978-08-09","edition":"Alderson Reporting Company stenographic copy, released by the Office of the Secretary of Defense on 23 October 2018","id":"stage09-derian-arms-hearing-19780809","inspection":{"accessNote":"Direct PDF download and page-image requests returned HTTP 403; the source’s extracted text was accessible through the web index.","inspectedOn":"2026-11-02","language":"en","representation":"published_transcription","scope":"Extracted text of the contemporary stenographic transcript inspected, including the policy statement, Yatron exchange, and later Burke exchange. Page images could not be retrieved.","status":"document_inspected"},"locator":"Alderson stenographic transcript: Yatron’s question about the Export-Import Bank loan for Argentina and Derian’s answer; opening statement and transition to questions. This copy has different pagination from the GPO edition, pp. 169–192.","publisher":"Washington Headquarters Services, Executive Services Directorate","title":"Patricia Derian before the House Subcommittee on Inter-American Affairs, 9 August 1978","type":"primary-document","url":"https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/FOID/Special_Collection/OSD/Doc_39_Arms_Trade_In_The_Western_Hemisphere.pdf"}],"topics":["Human rights","United States–Argentina relations"]},"schemaVersion":1}