Justice in Buenos Aires

On a regular basis I recieve emails from Graciela Monteagudo, the coordinator associated with the Argentina Autonomista Project. www.autonomista.org Recently I have recieved a couple of emails which I thought might be interresting to share with the rest of you.

Yesterday (Sept. 19th), in la plata, province of Buenos Aires, Miguel Osvaldo Etchecolatz, chief of police during the dictatorship in Argentina, was condemned to life in prison for crimes committed during the genocide. Etchecolatz was responsible for many crimes against humanity, including the abduction, torture and execution of teenage high school students (the night of the pencils).

As the hijos (children of the dissapeared) sang at the end of the trial: you are going to jail, Etchecolatz, not because of the state but because of the popular struggle.

in solidarity,
graciela monteagudo
coordinator argentina autonomista project
www.autonomista.org

However, only three days later after receiving this email another email was sent. It read as follows:

sorry for posting to the list with a short interval, but the situation demands that we do so. our elderly companero Julio Lopez, key witness in the trial to former chief of police Etchecolatz (recently convicted to life in prison) and survivor of a detention camp in the seventies, disappeared monday morning right before Etchecolatz sentence was read. Witnesses received many death threats during the trial, so we fear the worst. after four days, finally the government launched an investigation and offers the equivalent of 60,000 dollars for news on his whereabouts.

In the past, international pressure made a difference in the treatment of detainees. we are certain that it will put pressure on the government to find our companero now. (for more info and a photo of Julio see below)

please send a message to aedd@exdesaparecidos.org.ar and cc autonomista1@aol.com, or cut and paste the following message:

I am extremely concerned with the disappearance of Julio Lopez. Witnesses as Julio are key to bring the military and police officers who committed crimes against humanity to justice. It is the responsibility of the government to protect such witnesses. I urge the government to employ all the resources of the State to find him, alive and intact. I stand in solidarity with the companeros and companeras who are searching for Julio and hope for his immediate safe return.

Name, profession, organization, nationality here.

send messages to association of ex-detainess/disappeared aedd@exdesaparecidos.org.ar and cc autonomista1@aol.com.

in solidarity,
graciela


Photo: Julio Lopez

tag: last301

Pinochet, Once Chile's All Powerful President...

It seems that Pinochet’s all-powerful regime, which had controlled every element of Chilean life for years since the coup in 1973, has at last come to an end. With poor health, accusations of corruption, drug trafficking involvement, and the loss of his precious immunity, Pinochet has been left all alone.

Because of Pinochet's declining health, the courts have repeatedly dropped human rights charges against him, but the tax evasion case stands. The victims of the dictatorship by Pinochet continue to seek justice.

This month the Supreme Court stripped Pinochet of immunity, paving the way to try him on charges involving torture and kidnapping at a secret detention center where hundreds of dissidents were killed for political reasons in which many still remain unaccounted for today. However, the possibility of Pinochet going on trial appear remote, despite his being stripped of the immunity he enjoyed as a former president in at least four indictments.

It seems unbelievable that it took almost 17 years for the courts to uplift the immunity protecting Pinochet since the end of his presidency in 1990. The only thing keeping him out of jail appears to be his poor health, which his doctors say includes diabetes, arthritis and mild dementia. Therefore, only because of his age are human rights charges against him dropped. Pinochet faces scores of criminal lawsuits for the human rights violations, but it's money, not human rights, that has isolated the general.

For a long time Chileans remained deeply divided on Pinochet’s legacy. Many saw him as a brutal dictator who ended democracy and led a regime characterized by torture and favoritism towards the rich, while others believed that he saved the country from communism, safeguarded Chilean democracy and led the transformation of the Chilean economy into Latin America's most stable and fastest growing economy. However, On Sept. 11, the 33rd anniversary of the military coup against socialist President Salvador Allende, only two women appeared at his house for what used to be a day of great celebration for Pinochetistas. Pinochet, once Chile's all powerful president, appears to be no more.

Tag: last301

Tester

This is just a test blog to start things off.

Stay tuned for more....