Thousands of prisoners were reportedly held in very poor conditions. Excessive use of force by the security forces against demonstrators and indigenous groups was reported. Important judicial decisions signalled progress in ending impunity for human rights violations by the military.

Background

Although there was some economic recovery during the year, levels of poverty remained high. Unemployment ran at 12.1 per cent and some five million people were reported to be working in the informal economy, largely without labour rights or access to social security. Demonstrations by piqueteros (unemployed protesters) demanding jobs, better pay and better unemployment benefits continued.

In September, the government approved a National Plan against Discrimination.

Indigenous people

In August and September indigenous representatives demanded that the national government stop violent evictions and suspend mining projects in regions inhabited by indigenous communities.

  • In July, 73-year-old José Galarza – leader of the Wichi indigenous people in Pozo Nuevo, Salta Province – was reportedly seriously injured when he was hit by rubber bullets fired by police as they entered indigenous land to recover a landowner's vehicle. Wichis had taken the vehicle in protest at the fencing off of land they claimed belonged to the community.

Demonstrations

In April teachers taking part in a peaceful demonstration in support of a pay demand in Salta, Salta Province, were beaten and threatened with firearms by police. Some demonstrators required medical attention and some were arrested and charged. All were subsequently released.

Prisons

Some 62,500 inmates were held in Argentine prisons during 2005. Most provincial prisons lacked basic facilities such as drinking water, adequate light and sanitation, medical facilities and rehabilitation schemes. Many prisoners experienced severe overcrowding, and ill-treatment by prison guards was reported. Seventy-five per cent of those detained were awaiting trial. Inmates in Córdoba, Coronda, Rosario, Tucumán, Mendoza and Magdalena prisons staged protests and riots in which several prisoners died.

  • In October at least 33 inmates died during a fire in block 16 of Penitentiary Unit 28 in Magdalena, Buenos Aires Province. The prisoners had reportedly been protesting to demand better conditions. Most of those killed died of asphyxiation. Reports indicated that prison guards locked the gates when the fire started; prisoners from a neighbouring block managed to help release some of those trapped inside. A judicial investigation was initiated but had not concluded by the end of the year.
  • In June, Ricardo David Videla Fernandez, an adolescent sentenced to life imprisonment, was found hanging in his cell in the maximum security block No. 2 in the Provincial jail in Mendoza, Mendoza Province. Days before, Ricardo David Videla had been held in his cell in inhuman and degrading conditions, according to a Local Commission on Penitentiary Policies.

Judicial decisions to end impunity

In June the Supreme Court ruled that the Full Stop and Due Obedience laws were unconstitutional, upholding the decision by Congress in August 2003 to declare the laws null and void. The judicial ruling cleared the way for the prosecution of members of the military suspected of human rights abuses during the military governments (1976-83).

Adolfo Scilingo

In April former naval officer Adolfo Scilingo was tried in Spain on charges of crimes against humanity, including arbitrary detention and torture, committed in Argentina during the military governments. He was sentenced to 640 years' imprisonment of which he was expected to serve 30 years. The former officer had admitted being aboard planes carrying detainees who were drugged, stripped naked and thrown into the sea.

AI country visits

An AI delegation visited Santiago del Estero, Salta, Jujuy and Mendoza in May.

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