Amnesty International Report 1995 - Uruguay

There were reports of excessive use of lethal force by members of the police during a demonstration, resulting in one dead and dozens wounded. There were reports of ill-treatment in police custody. Human rights violations committed during the period of military rule remained uninvestigated. In November Julio María Sanguinetti of the Colorado Party was elected to succeed Luís Alberto Lacalle as President. The President-elect had served one term as President from 1985 to 1990, after 12 years of military rule. In November a military anti-guerrilla unit, Organismo Coordinador de Operaciones Antisubversivas (OCOA), known to have committed human rights abuses during previous military governments, was disbanded. This was one of a series of military reforms set in motion nine years after the transfer of power to an elected government. One person was killed when anti-riot police and mounted police of the Guardia Republicana, Republican Guard, charged and fired into a demonstration held in August in the capital, Montevideo, in what may have been excessive use of force. One demonstrator, Alvaro Fernando Morroni, was fatally shot and at least 75 people, including police, were injured. Esteban Massa, a male nurse of the emergency medical service, was shot in the back while attending to an injured demonstrator. At least two juveniles were seriously injured and many other demonstrators, among them children, were beaten and trampled by police horses. An investigation initiated into the incident had not concluded by the end of the year. The demonstration was to protest at the imminent extradition to Spain of three suspected members of the Basque group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), Basque Homeland and Liberty. The three men, who faced serious criminal charges, were in hospital following a 14-day hunger-strike. The three Spaniards were extradited to Spain in August by orders of the Uruguayan courts. Reports of ill-treatment of detainees by the police continued. Criminal suspects were reportedly beaten in provincial police stations. In October Claudino Ferraz, a farm worker, was allegedly severely beaten by police attached to the Sixth District police station in Young, Department of Rio Negro, where he was taken for interrogation. As a result of the beating Claudino Ferraz had a ruptured spleen and several broken ribs. An investigation was apparently initiated but by the end of the year its outcome had not been made public. The government again failed to take measures to bring to justice those responsible for human rights violations during the period of military rule. In August the presidential candidate Julio María Sanguinetti testified at the continuing civil court case brought by Sara Méndez in 1991 challenging the adoption of a boy she believes to be her "disappeared" son, Simón (see Amnesty International Reports 1990 to 1994). Julio María Sanguinetti was called to testify because as President he had been responsible for closing an investigation into this case by a criminal court in 1989, on the grounds that the case was covered by the Expiry Law (see Amnesty International Reports 1987 to 1994). He said in his testimony to the Family Court that he had passed the case on to the Defence Ministry and the National Institute of Minors, which were responsible for clarifying "disappearances". The 1986 Expiry Law has effectively stopped all judicial processes against police and military personnel accused of human rights violations during the military government. There was no progress in the com-plaint presented by a Uruguayan mem-ber of parliament before a Paraguayan court, requesting clarification of the fate of two Uruguayan citizens who had "disappeared" in Paraguay in the hands of Uruguayan, Argentine and Paraguayan personnel in 1977 (see Paraguay entry). In August Amnesty International asked the authorities to investigate the violence during the demonstration against the extradition of three Spanish citizens and expressed its concern at the alarming number of civilian casualties. There was no reply. Amnesty International asked the Uruguayan Government to obtain guarantees from the Spanish Government that the three Spaniards would not be tortured or ill-treated in Spain if detained incommunicado under anti-terrorist legislation. The Uruguayan Minister of Foreign Affairs informed Amnesty International that he had raised concerns with his Spanish counterpart about the possible ill-treatment of the three men in Spain and had obtained "the utmost guarantees a state governed by the rule of law can offer".