Original contributing editor Uncle G
The Federal court of Appeal for the district of Comodoro Rivadavia (South) today upheld the decision by judges in Patagonia, Argentina, that charges of murder, torture, and abuse of soldiers conscripted to fight in the Falklands War in 1982 count as "crimes against humanity" ("crímenes de lesa humanidad") and can therefore proceed after 27 years.
The charges had been appealed by one of the defendants. Last March, judge Lilian Herráez of the court in Tierra del Fuego (which, under the Constitution of Argentina, has jurisdiction over Las Malvinas, the Falkland Islands, where the crimes charged are alleged to have occurred) ruled that such crimes against humanity were "inalienable" ("imprescriptibles"). The defence appealed this ruling to the Federal court of Appeal, which has now upheld the lower court's ruling by a majority, justices Javier Leal de Ibarra and Aldo Suárez concurring, and justice Hebe Corchuelo de Huberman dissenting.
This permits the charges, laid against 70 people who were commissioned officers and non-commissioned officers at the time, to proceed to indictment. These charges include charges of the "estaque" of conscript Juan Carlos Gomez, and the murders of Rito Portillo, alleged to have been shot, and Remigio Fernández, alleged to have been abandoned on the Islands to starve to death. ("Estaque" is a form of torture, used as a punishment, where the victim is staked out on the ground.)
The cases have been on-going since April 2007, when the complaints were first filed by Corrientes Province Undersecretary for Human Rights Andrés Vassel and the Coordinadora Provincial de Ex Soldados de Malvinas (Provincial Coördinator of the Former Soldiers of the Falklands), and have divided the community of war veterans in Argentina. Some have been lobbying for human rights charges to be levelled, whilst others maintain that no abuse took place.
César Trejo, representative of the Comisión de Familiares de Caídos en Malvinas (Committee of the Relatives of The Fallen in the Falklands), has strongly criticized the cases. Ernesto Alonso, a veteran soldier and president of the Centro de Ex Combatientes Argentinos (Centre for Argentine Ex-Soldiers), said "We are making progress in finding out the truth of what happened in the Falklands […]. Many colleagues who have suffered such humiliation in the flesh have been waiting for 27 years to see justice done.". Orlando Pascua, coördinator of the Red Compromiso Social por Malvinas (Social Network for the Falklands), said that today's decision clearly showed that the path taken two years ago in court was the right path.
Sources
edit- Agencia EFE (June 27, 2009). "Ratifican que las torturas a soldados argentinos en las islas Malvinas son delito de "lesa humanidad"".
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) (in Spanish) - "Las torturas en Malvinas no prescriben". June 27, 2009.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|pub=ignored (|publisher=suggested) (help) (in Spanish) - "Las causas de Malvinas no prescriben". June 10, 2009.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|pub=ignored (|publisher=suggested) (help) (in Spanish) - "Ratifican que torturas a soldados son delitos de lesa humanidad". June 26, 2009.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|pub=ignored (|publisher=suggested) (help) (in Spanish) - Agence France-Presse (June 27, 2009). "Militares argentinos serán indagados por torturas a sus soldados en Malvinas". (in Spanish)
- "Confirman el juzgamiento por torturas en Malvinas". June 27, 2009.
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