News of crimes

Crimes at dictatorship death camp finally make it to trial

24-10-2020 09:02 Pozo de Banfield was one of the first clandestine detention centres to be identified by survivors of Argentina’s 1976-1983 military dictatorship. More than 40 years on, the crimes perpetrated there are finally heading for trial.

by Luciana Bertoia

HUMAN RIGHTS

UN vote on Venezuela opens up faultline in Frente de Todos

10-10-2020 09:32 Argentina throws support behind a UN human rights report in Venezuela, sparking criticism from Kirchnerite figures and the resignation of key ambassador.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Volkswagen pay-out to Brazil regime victims reopens debate on justice

25-09-2020 12:31 Volkswagen confirms it has signed a historic deal with the Brazilian state and federal prosecutors to pay US$6.4 million in compensation for its part in atrocities of military dictatorship.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Experts cite 'crimes against humanity' in Maduro's Venezuela

16-09-2020 15:25 Independent experts for UN's top human rights body accuse Maduro administration of torture and killings, claiming security forces have used techniques like electric shocks, genital mutilation and asphyxiation against detainees.

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

Bolivia contacts ICC over ex-president Evo Morales alleged crimes

06-09-2020 16:05 Bolivia's government contacts International Criminal Court to denounce former president Evo Morales for "crimes against humanity" relating to last month's mass roadblock movement in troubled nation.

Human rights

Former Spanish minister questioned by local judge over Franco-era deaths

04-09-2020 14:20 Rodolfo Martín Villa, 85, served as Spain's interior minister in the late 1970s. On Thursday, during a five-hour session, he testified over his alleged role in 12 deaths during Spain's transition to democracy.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Ex-Spanish minister to testify over Franco-era deaths before Argentine judge

03-09-2020 17:06 Rodolfo Martín Villa, 85, who served as Spain's interior minister in the late 1970s, will testify from the Argentine Embassy in Madrid, answering questions from Buenos Aires over alleged role in 12 violent deaths dating back to end of Franco dictatorship.

AS I SEE IT

Corruption refuses to go away

11-07-2020 09:23 The Kirchnerites could soon have considerably less power than they have today. Without it, Cristina will find it impossible to break free from her chequered past.

by James Neilson

Guest voice

Anti-police brutality protests in the US: Why now and what to expect?

06-06-2020 08:10 The killing of George Floyd was the trigger that activated growing anger against the disproportionately heavy burden of both the coronavirus pandemic and Donald Trump’s administration.

by Omar Coronel Cuadros

HUMAN RIGHTS

Ex-Navy officer wanted for dictatorship crimes arrested in Brazil

12-05-2020 17:51 Gonzalo Sánchez, 69, also known as "Chispa," taken into custody. He is suspected of participating in dozens of disappearances and killings, including that of journalist and writer Rodolfo Walsh in 1977.

NUNCA MÁS

Quarantined Argentines use balconies, networks to remember 1976 coup

24-03-2020 16:51 Today marks the anniversary of the 1976 military coup, but with a mandatory quarantine in place to help contain the spread of the coronavirus, Argentines are finding other ways to mark the day.

Hernán Abriata case

France arrest Argentine suspected of torture during military dictatorship

11-12-2019 17:27 French police said Wednesday they had arrested Mario Sandoval, a former police officer wanted for alleged involvement in the torture and disappearance of a student in 1976.

HUMAN RIGHTS

LGBTQ campaigners demand activist’s death be treated as a hate crime

07-12-2019 11:47 Renowned architect and anti-discrimination campaigner Pablo Borsato was found brutally murdered last weekend. Activists say his killing underlines the continued marginalisation of the LGBTQ community.

by Carly Graf

HUMAN RIGHTS

Ex-Army chief César Milani again acquitted of crimes against humanity

29-11-2019 22:15 Retired general and former Army commander in Cristina Fernández de Kirchner government absolved in the trial for the 1976 disappearance of soldier Alberto Agapito Ledo. Esteban Sanguetti sentenced with fourteen years.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Aung San Suu Kyi named in local lawsuit over crimes against Rohingya

13-11-2019 17:07 Rohingya and Latin American human rights groups submitted the lawsuit in Argentina under the principle of "universal jurisdiction." Two human rights groups – the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo and Fundacion Servicio Paz y Justicia – are supporting the lawsuit.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Chaco sees convictions for crimes against humanity against civilians

04-10-2019 12:56 Former federal prosecutor Roberto Domingo Mazzoni and former penitentiary warden Pablo César Casco sentenced to 11 years imprisonment for crimes against humanity by a court in provincial capital of Resistencia.

HUMAN RIGHTS

UN votes to launch new probe into Venezuela rights abuses

27-09-2019 09:41 Resolution tabled by more than a dozen countries from Latin America, including Argentina,adopted by the 47-member council. It called for the UN's top rights body to "dispatch urgently an independent international fact-finding mission" to Venezuela.

Human rights

Colombia ex-rebels testify about crimes at special peace tribunal

24-09-2019 18:21 Former combatants for Colombia's once-largest rebel army, FARC, asked for forgiveness Monday as they acknowledged kidnappings during the nation's longest civil conflict.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Protests seek justice for Jorge Julio López, 13 years on from disappearance

18-09-2019 16:59 Marchers renew calls for justice in case of missing bricklayer, who disappeared just days after giving evidence in trial involving Miguel Etchecolatz, one of Argentina's most notorious dictatorship-era criminals.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Carrió calls for elderly dictatorship-era criminals to be freed from jail

17-09-2019 16:29 Outspoken national lawmaker says those 'dying in prison' convicted of crimes against humanity should be freed from jail, adding that ex-planning minister Julio De Vido should also be freed.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Venezuela condemned by OAS for 'systematic' rights abuses

28-08-2019 16:15 Organisation of American States passes resolution condemning "grave and systematic" human rights abuses in Venezuela and demands an independent investigation. It was presented by Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the United States, Guatemala, Paraguay and Peru.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Ex-Army chief César Milani acquitted of crimes against humanity

09-08-2019 16:59 Retired general and former Army commander in Cristina Fernández de Kirchner government absolved of allegations related to the kidnap and torture of father and son dissidents in 1977. Court orders his immediate release in wake of findings.

Human rights

Trial of former Army chief César Milani resumes in La Rioja

25-07-2019 13:09 César Milani, who served as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces during the government of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, stands accused of commiting crimes against humanity dating back to 1977.

HUMAN RIGHTS

US documents expose details of 1976-1983 dictatorship's horrific crimes

31-05-2019 10:15 Fresh details of the junta's brutal tactics exposed in recently declassified Central Intelligence Agency report posted Thursday by the independent National Security Archive.