Amnesty International Report 1996 - Argentina

Declarations of responsibility for human rights violations by former members of the armed forces failed to advance investigations into past "disappearances". There were several killings by police in circumstances suggesting possible extrajudicial executions. Lawyers of victims of human rights violations were subjected to death threats. President Carlos Menem was re-elected for a second term of office following presidential elections in May. Strikes and demonstrations, some violent, were staged throughout the year. In the Federal Capital and several provinces including Buenos Aires, Tierra del Fuego, Tucumán, Córdoba and Rio Negro, public and private sector employees demonstrated against widespread unemployment, salary cuts and government economic policies. In April the UN Human Rights Committee commented on laws limiting the trials of people responsible for past human rights violations, such as the Law of Due Obedience and the law known as the "Full Stop" law. It stated that these were inconsistent with the requirements of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In its recommendations the Committee urged Argentina to investigate the whereabouts of "disappeared" persons and recent revelations of crimes committed by the military during military rule. In October the Inter-American Convention on the Forced Disappearance of Persons was approved by Congress. By the end of the year the ratification instrument had not been deposited. In September a police officer was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment by a criminal court in Córdoba for the killing of 15-year-old Miguel Angel Rodríguez in July 1994. In October a police officer was sentenced to life imprisonment for the torture with electricity and subsequent death of Sergio Gustavo Durán in 1992 in police custody in Morón, Buenos Aires province (see Amnesty International Report 1993). For the first time ever, high-ranking officers admitted the Argentine Armed Forces' responsibility for grave human rights violations during the years of military government (1976 to 1983) and apologized for them. Former naval officer Adolfo Francisco Scilingo stated in March that approximately 2,000 people held and tortured in the secret detention centre at the Escuela de Mecánica de la Armada, Navy Mechanics School, had been sedated and thrown naked into the Atlantic and the River Plate from military aircraft. He admitted taking part in two of these flights. Further confessions by three other military personnel corroborated these declarations. As a result of this, a number of petitions were filed with the Federal Appeals Court by relatives of the "disappeared" requesting information about their fate. In its initial rulings the Federal Appeals Court acted upon the requests, issuing orders to the armed forces and the government for information and recognizing the inalienable right to the truth and to mourn. However, during the second part of the year, the Federal Appeals Court invoked the Full Stop and Due Obedience laws and rejected petitions to reopen investigations into "disappearances" which occurred during military governments. Further investigations were ordered into children born in captivity; these were the only cases excluded by both laws and the subsequent presidential pardons of 1989 and 1990, which precluded investigations into "disappearances". In June a provincial judge ordered the arrest of police doctor Jorge Bergés, who was charged with forging identity documents for children of "disappeared" couples. His arrest was ordered under the investigation initiated to establish the identity of the son of Julio César D'Elia and Yolanda Casco, a Uruguayan couple who "disappeared" in Argentina in 1977. However, in November the San Martín Federal Court shelved proceedings against Jorge Bergés because the time limit on the charges had already expired. At least three people were killed as a result of violent confrontations with police during demonstrations across the country. For example, Víctor Choque was shot dead by police in circumstances which indicated excessive use of force during a workers' demonstration held in Tierra del Fuego in April. Twenty-six people were injured in the clashes. Killings by police in circumstances suggesting possible extrajudicial executions, known as "gatillo fácil" (trigger-happy), were recorded in several provinces. For example, in February, a policeman killed Julio Sosa in the locality of Bernardino Rivadavia, Mendoza province. Witnesses stated that the victim had no time to react to the policeman's warning, which came at the same moment that he was shot in the back and killed. The policeman was arrested and charged with manslaughter but the investigation was still open at the end of the year. In July a Chilean national, Javier Rojas Pérez, was killed in the locality of Wilde, Greater Buenos Aires. A policeman allegedly grabbed Javier Rojas Pérez by the hair and then shot him at close range, killing him immediately. The policeman argued that the killing had been accidental. A judge ordered his preventive detention on charges of manslaughter. In August, charred remains believed to be those of Andrés Núñez, a builder who "disappeared" in 1990 after being taken to the Police Investigations Brigade of La Plata (see Amnesty International Reports 1991, 1992 and 1993) were recovered. The corpse was found in an abandoned water tank of a rural property in General Belgrano, Buenos Aires province. Forensic examinations were ordered by a judge. Eleven policemen were detained and three remained in hiding accused of illegitimate arrest, torture leading to death and concealing the facts. At the end of the year these investigations were still in progress. In February a judicial investigation into the killing of Walter Bulacio, a youth who died in police custody in 1991, was reopened after lawyers provided new evidence on the circumstances of his death. In the course of the year, three judges excluded themselves from the case. The Federal Appeals Court ruled that the case should be heard by the 4th Juvenile Court in Buenos Aires. At the end of the year the case was continuing. Lawyers working on the clarification of such cases were subjected to death threats and harassment. Elba Tempera, lawyer of the family of Andrés Núñez, stated that she had received anonymous telephone death threats. She also reported intimidation and threats by the judge in charge of the case, who subsequently disqualified himself. María del Carmen Verdú and Daniel Straga, the lawyers representing Walter Bulacio, also reported that they had received repeated death threats. In May Amnesty International wrote to the authorities calling for an independent investigation into the circumstances of the killing of Víctor Choque. The organization called for all allegations of death threats against human rights defenders to be thoroughly and impartially investigated and steps taken to guarantee their security. In July Amnesty International published a report, Argentina: The Right to the Full Truth, in which it reiterated the need to clarify the fate and whereabouts of the "disappeared", stressing the right of the relatives of the victims to a full investigation and to public disclosure of the final findings.