News of crimes against humanity

Forensic experts identify remains of law student who disappeared in 1977

09-04-2025 11:13 Activist and law student Virginia Beatriz Tempone, 21, was abducted and forcibly disappeared in Mar del Plata in 1977 during the dictatorship’s time in power.

Human rights

Report: 20 convictions for crimes against humanity last year

27-03-2025 00:01 Annual report from PCCH puts tally at 1,195 convictions, 332 sentences for crimes against humanity since 2006 – the year in which such trials were resumed.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Ex-cop, ex-Army officer sentenced to lengthy jail terms for 1970s crimes

01-10-2024 15:12 Néstor Ciaramella and Enrique Del Pino found guilty of kidnapping, torture, disappearances, murder, sexual abuse and other crimes committed against 185 people between 1974 and 1977, in the lead up to the military dictatorship.

COURTS & HUMAN RIGHTS

Court in Argentina orders Maduro's arrest for crimes against humanity

24-09-2024 08:45 In a historic ruling, Argentina's justice system requests arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and around 30 others for alleged crimes against humanity. Interpol red alert issued for his detention.

HUMAN RIGHTS

UN mission says Venezuela repression was crime against humanity

19-09-2024 12:52 Venezuela committed a “crime against humanity” with its persecution of dissidents after July’s election, according to a United Nations report.

ARGENTINA-VENEZUELA BILATERAL ROW

Venezuela seeks arrest of President Milei as bilateral ties hit new low

18-09-2024 20:39 Attorney general in Caracas says he will seek arrest of President Milei, Karina Milei and Patricia Bullrich over confiscation of Venezuelan cargo plane; Tarek William Saab accuses Argentina leaders of “genocide” in clampdown on protests in Buenos Aires.

COURTS

NGO, prosecutors in Argentina ask courts to order Maduro's arrest

18-09-2024 15:23 Legal push in Argentina asking domestic courts to issue an international arrest warrant for Maduro, Cabello and around 30 others for crimes against humanity; Complaint is based on the principle of universal jurisdiction.

LA LIBERTAD AVANZA IN CRISIS

Arrieta jumps ship after leaking bills to free dictatorship criminals

28-08-2024 23:56 Amid controversy within La Libertad Avanza over the visit of pro-government deputies to criminals convicted for crimes against humanity at Ezeiza Prison, national deputy leaks draft bills and decree that aim to force through their release.

HUMAN RIGHTS & DICTATORSHIP

NGOs accuse Milei government ‘dismantling’ team investigating military records

12-04-2024 08:45 Injunction against move filed with courts as human rights groups denounce firing of 10 out of 13 researchers that probe archives of Armed Forces to assist investigations into crimes against humanity.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Court reopens probe into alleged crimes against humanity in Venezuela

06-04-2024 22:17 Court in Argentina, citing principle of universal jurisdiction, orders re-opening of investigation into crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Venezuela.

POLITICS & HUMAN RIGHTS

Alberto González: ESMA torturer – and vice-president’s mentor

29-03-2024 21:02 He headed the dreaded “underground” of the ESMA Navy Mechanics School concentration camp. Convicted for crimes against humanity, Alberto González was also the first dictatorship-era criminal to be sentenced for rape. He is also the mentor of Argentina’s Vice-President Victoria Villarruel.

by Juan Luis González

Human rights

‘Los Pozos’: 10 handed life sentences for dictatorship-era abuses

28-03-2024 14:28 Court issues 10 lifetime prison sentences as part of a long-running, mass prosecution into incidents of kidnapping, torture, rape and disappearances at three sites during the country's 1976-83 military dictatorship.

INTERVIEW / PERIODISMO PURO

Silvia Labayrú: ‘I was the first, I believe, to give birth at ESMA’

17-02-2024 06:43 Silvia Labayrú is a survivor of one of Argentina’s darkest places during the 1976-1983 era of state terrorism. Held at the ex-ESMA Navy Mechanics School, which served as a clandestine detention centre during the dictatorship’s rein of terror, she was kidnapped, tortured and raped several times during her captivity. In a feature interview, she recalls her experience and reveals the horrors she suffered during those black days.

by Jorge Fontevecchia

HUMAN RIGHTS & ART

Pablo: the disappeared child who walks on waters of River Plate

18-11-2023 07:20 From the Parque de la Memoria in Buenos Aires, an ever steeper path winds up to the shoreline of the River Plate. In the distance, in the water, a child can be seen floating with his back turned, ebbing and flowing with the tide. The story of a unique statue, entitled ‘Reconstrucción del retrato de Pablo Míguez.'

by Sabrina Chemen

HUMAN RIGHTS

Universal jurisdiction prevents impunity for crimes against humanity

17-11-2023 10:08 If there is political will by governments, crimes against humanity have no escape. They may be tried by any country applying universal jurisdiction, regardless of where the repressors are.

by Juan Gasparini

HUMAN RIGHTS

Ex-Navy officer accused of 23 dictatorship-era murders dies in Berlin

16-11-2023 17:08 Ex-Navy officer Luis Kyburg was suspected in the abduction, disappearance, torture and murder of 23 young individuals in 1976 and 1977; 75-year-old died just weeks before he was due to be charged.

COLOMBIA

Colombia's Uribe denounced in Argentina for crimes against humanity

09-11-2023 19:38 Former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe denounced before an Argentine court for his alleged responsibility for over 6,000 executions and forced disappearances of civilians between 2002 and 2008 while serving as head of state.

HUMAN RIGHTS

The imperious need to penalise denialism

27-09-2023 13:12 There are issues, like crimes against humanity, which should be beyond electoral speculation. With the same speed with which the government secured approval for amending the income tax threshold, it should also now approve a law to condemn denialism with the support of Juntos por el Cambio and a united opposition.

by Jorge Fontevecchia

HUMAN RIGHTS

Ex-Molinos executive arrested for role in dictatorship crimes

06-07-2023 00:52 Emilio Parodi, 82, arrested at home in Vicente López for alleged crimes against humanity; Former manager of Molinos Río de La Plata food company being investigated for role in kidnapping and disappearance of 23 workers during the era of state terrorism.

Human rights

Aircraft used in 1977 death flight repatriated to Argentina

27-06-2023 11:07 Skyvan PA-51 cargo plane used in the 1977 flight in which three members of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo human rights group and two French nuns, among others, were killed is successfully repatriated and returned to Argentina.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Clooney Foundation denounces Venezuela’s abuses in Argentine court

14-06-2023 15:17 Lawsuit filed by Clooney Foundation for Justice calls on Argentina to apply the principle of ‘universal jurisdiction’ and allow investigation into alleged human rights abuses in Venezuela.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Argentina annuls dictatorship-era decoration given to former French minister

11-05-2023 09:03 Government annuls award given to former French budget minister Maurice Papon, who was convicted in 1998 for crimes against humanity during the Second World War.