Around Latin America

-Uruguay has successfully overturned the amnesty law that pardoned military torturers and assassains during the military regime of 1973-1985, making prosecution of military officials possible. The congressional overturn was made possible in 2009, when Uruguay's Supreme Court declared the "Expiry Law" unconstitutional.

-In another case of military regime leaders finally paying for their blatant human rights violations, Erwin C. has a good write-up of the case of Reynaldo Bignone, the last president of the military regime of 1976-1983, which oversaw the murder of at least 30,000 of its own citizens during the so-called "Dirty War." Bignone had originally gone to trial early last year, and was convicted and given a life sentence for his role in the military regime.

-It is not just military leaders who are increasingly facing pressure for their ties to human rights violations. A Rio de Janeiro politician has been arrested under suspicion of leading a paramilitary group responsible for murdering citizens in Brazil's second-largest city.

-Chiquita is also under scrutiny for its ties to paramilitary groups. New court documents reveal that the banana producer voluntarily paid Colombian paramilitary and guerrilla groups for "protection," suggesting the company's claims that they were "extorted" are hollow. Families in both Colombia and Panama already sued Chiquita for its involvement in violence in the two countries, and these court documents seem to suggest that Chiquita's economic contribution to violent movements was more voluntary than the company had suggested.

-The Brazilian government continues to try to move forward with the Belo Monte dam. The dam, which would be the world's third largest if it were to go through (behind China's Three Gorges dam and Brazil's/Paraguay's Itaipu dam), would also flood hundreds of square miles of Amazonian forest and displace indigenous peoples. However, in spite of the government's determination, a broad coalition of forces is forming (including high-profile supporters like James Cameron) to oppose the dam's construction, and human rights groups have now gotten involved, making the dam's completion far from a certainty still, in spite of recent governmental victories in the court system.

-The Belo Monte dam isn't the only environmental concern in Brazil, as a new report suggests that farming to fuel the meat industry is causing catastrophic damage to Brazil's cerrado, or savannah.

-As today marks the 50th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion and Raul Castro's recent proposals of limited reforms in Cuba, Boz has an interesting piece up regarding the bureaucracy of authoritarian regimes. The nuance he suggests between top-most positions (in this case the Castros) and the bureaucracy beneath them is an important and oft-overlooked component of military goverments, especially those in places like Chile or Egypt, where dictatorial rule is associated with a particular name/face (Pinochet, Mubarak, etc.). Although his post is just a brief reminder of the complexities of rule, rather than an intense analysis of how such relations between technocrats and autocrats work, it's always worth keeping in mind when discussing modern military regimes, be it in Latin America or elsewhere.

-Finally, there is an article up on the progress of scientific research and study in Brazil that is fascinating for many reasons. The growth of scientific R&D in Brazil is yet another indicator that Brazil's ascension in the international arena most likely is not fleeting.

Argentina's Last Dictator Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

The last leader of Argentina's military dictatorship, Reynaldo Benito Bignone, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the kidnapping, murder, and disappearances of Argentines between 1976 and 1978, while he was an officer in the military. Bignone was president of Argentina from Argentina's loss in the Malvinas/Falklands War in 1982 to the end of the dictatorship in 1983, during which time he oversaw the destruction of thousands of documents and the amnesty of war criminals in Argentina. The conviction means that Bignone, who is 82, will die a disgraced man, rightly punished for what he did. In this, he joins Jorge Videla, the first (and longest-lasting) of the Argentine military dictators of the Dirty War period. The third major dictator of the dictatorship, Leopoldo Galtieri (1981-1982), died in 2003, but even he died a disgraced man, after a civil suit had resulted in his house arrest.

Human Rights Issues around Latin America

Lillie points us to a series of excellent posts/issues. First, there's this great report involving the relatives of "false positives," or innocent civilians whom police or paramilitaries murder and then dress them up as "guerrillas" to build up their body count. Paramilitary violence continues to be one of the biggest threats to human rights and innocent civilians' lives in Colombia, and the story gives a harrowing level of personal detail of the liveso f those who have suffered.

She also does a great job chronicling the life of Domingo Antonio Bussi, one of the leading forces in installing repression and torture in Argentina immediately prior to and during its seven-year dictatorship. Bussi has never been repentant for his acts, and is currently on trial at last this past week, where he defended the use of repression and torture and denied that anybody had been "disappeared" in his region of Tucuman .

Finally, Lillie points us to these poignant images from Chile's recently-opened Museum of Memory, which chronicles the events and abuses of the Pinochet regime. Like Lillie and many others, the images and layout of the Museum strike me as very impressive and well-done, and must be overpowering in communicating their message in person.

Around Latin America

-A public prosecutor in Honduras has filed charges against the Honduran military for illegally removing Manuel Zelaya from Honduras forcibly when it overthrew him on June 28. The file charges the military with "abuse of authority." Meanwhile, Roberto Micheletti announced that he would not resign before the inauguration, staying on until January 27, but neither will he be attending the inauguration, which will certainly make the ceremony even more interesting.

-Argentine President Cristina Kirchner issued a decree this week that will open Argentina's military archives, declassifying thousands of documents from the period of Argentina's military dictatorship/"Dirty War" between 1976 and 1983. Upon issuing the decree, Kirchner declared, "The classified information and/or documentation which was not made public was not designed to protect the legitimate interests of a democratic State, but, on the contrary, served as a means of hiding the illegal actions of a de facto government." Now, if only Brazil could follow suit and open its military archives...

-A couple of cases and events in Brazil have stirred some concerns over freedom of the press in Brazil. The Supreme Court upheld a court ruling from July that barred one of Brazil's major newspapers, O Estado de Sao Paulo, from using legally-obtained information regarding a corruption investigation into former president and current president of the Senate Jose Sarney. That ruling alone would have set some media outlets and critics of the government on edge, but has in no way been aided by statements Lula made at the opening of the National Conference on Communications in Brazil, where he criticized Brazilian media, which he claimed "commits 'excesses', publishes 'lies', fabricates news and gets involved in campaigns that disseminate 'slander and abuse.'" While he's often right, particularly when one looks at O Globo or some of the more salacious and ridiculous daily newspapers that adorn kiosks throughout the country, he also insisted that he has "a sacred commitment to freedom of the press." While Lula's contempt for the media is well-known (and understandable), there's no reason to believe he's launching an attack on free speech; even if he were interested in doing so, why he would begin with just 10 months left in an 8-year presidency stretches logic and credibility. Still, these two events back-to-back have many of his most vocal critics speaking out, and has left even some traditionally-responsible news sources on edge.

-Suriname's first president, Johan Ferrier, has died at 99. Ferrier played an important role in Suriname gaining its independence from the Netherlands in 1975, and was rewarded with the presidency. While his arrival to office seemed like a major accomplishment, his departure was much darker; Ferrier resigned and relocated his family to the Netherlands as a military dictatorship established itself.

-Hopes for finding survivors in mudslides in Rio de Janeiro state are fading fast, in the wake of torrential rainfalls that hit the state and city over the New Year's holiday. At least 75 are reported to have died already, but that number could go up as the count and search continue. Meanwhile, the mudslides have prompted calls for shutting down Brazil's nuclear power plant. The plant is located near Angra dos Reis, where many of the mudslides have occurred.

-Finally, in the mildly salacious department: four Mexican priests have been defrocked for violating their vows of celibacy. The Church's position on celibacy is pretty hard to defend, but I guess if you're going to lose your job for something, that's a pretty good cause for job dismissal.

Around Latin America

A few items regarding human rights worth noting:

-In Colombia, a court sentenced a former general to 40 years in prison for his role in the massacre of at least 49 civilians in 1997. Jaime Humberto Uscategui was accused of having ignored pleas for help from a local judge who reported the massacre, which took place over five days in July 1997. Uscategui not only ignored the pleas, but his garrison was the location where two planes of paramilitaries who committed the massacre landed and were dispatched. The fact that Uscategui (now 61) will hopefully spend the rest of his life in jail is a good step in curbing impunity for paramilitaries and for officers connected to paramilitaries in Colombia.

-Speaking of paramilitaries, a group of right-wing paramilitaries in Oaxaca apparently shot four children on Sunday, killing one. I don't know much about the particular political claims of the groups involved (though Erik or Yann may know more), but it's clear that Mexican right-wing paramilitary groups and even politicians are still trying to prevent indigenous groups and left-wing community organizations from organizing and effecting change in southern Mexico, and their silly display of power and intimidation this weekend resulted in a dead child.

-In Argentina, former dictator Jorge Videla is denying charges that he helped to put the kidnapped children of "disappeared" women in the homes of other families. Given that other kidnapping charges are among those that in 1998 helped to get Videla back in prison after Carlos Menem's unforgiveable pardon in 1990, these new charges could help in making sure Videla rots in prison until the day he dies.

Around Latin America - Human Rights

A few items of note this week:

-In Guyana, police are facing (rightfully) severe criticism and outrage over a brutal case of torture. While interrogating a 14-year-old boy about a murder, they apparently set his genitals on fire in an effort to torture answers out of him. Outrage among Guyanans of all sectors was immediate, in part exacerbated by pictures of the boy (caution: the previous link is very graphic and disturbing) on the front page of one of the daily newspapers. The chief of police is saying that the entire police force is being castigated for the actions of a few bad apples; however, citizens in Guyana are saying torture has long been a problem in the police force for a long time, and their skepticism; every government and regime that has used torture tends to deny the widespread practices and blames a few "rogue elements" (see: Rumsfeld, Donald).

-I'm late in getting to this, but in Argentina this week, General Reynaldo Benito Bignone, the final president of Argentina's dictatorship during the "Dirty War" (1976-1983), went on trial for his role in human rights abuses. Bignone was president of Argentina from the Argentine defeat in the Malvinas/Falklands War in June 1982 until the inauguration of Raul Alfonsin in December 1983. The specific charges against Bignone include the torture of 56 people, as well as the use of illegal searches. Bignone is one of the last "presidents" of the "Dirty War" to face charges, and is currently under house arrest. While I don't know what the outcome will be, or if he will see any prison-time, the fact that Argentina is going after him is just another good step in addressing the terrors of one of its darkest periods in history, when the military government killed upwards of 30,000 of its own citizens in just 7 years.

-I recently mentioned that Brazil's government appears on the verge of launching its own truth commission, 24 years after its military dictatorship (1964-1985) finally ended. While this would be the first governmentally-sponsored Truth commission, we already know much about the mechanisms and practices of torture in Brazil, as I mentioned, and a large part of that knowledge comes from the "Never Again" project that the Catholic Church and Protestant leaders cooperated on. In short, they managed to find a loophole in law under Brazil's dictatorship, in which lawyers could, for a 24-hour period, take out secret military files detailing arrests, tortures, and "trials" before tribunals. The original intention of the law was to allow some facade of "defense" in these trials. However, Archbishop Cardinal Arns and Reverend Jamie Wright realized what the loophole offered, and so they had a team of lawyers taking out these files for 24 hours, and (without the government's awareness) the Church would photocopy all of the files, returning them on time. As the dictatorship came to a close, the Church compiled the files into a 6-volume set, and published a condensed one-volume report in 1985 titled Brasil: Nunca Mais ("Brazil: Never Again"). Well, for those interested, you can download the entire report from University of Texas Press. You have to pay, but if you go to this link, you can also read the introduction to the project for free. And for those interested in the narrative of how the Church was able to photocopy the files and create a huge archive documenting the Brazilian dictatorship's regime of torture and abuses, check out this book.

-Speaking of the military, in Paraguay this week, Fernando Lugo fired his military chiefs just one day after denying that he was worried about the possibility of a coup. As has often been the case in Latin American history (Brazil 1964; Chile 1973; Guatemala 1954), Lugo's rhetoric and efforts to help the poor were at the base of the rumors:

Since winning the presidency last year and ending 61 years of domination by the conservative Colorado Party, Lugo has been trying to push reforms that would benefit Paraguay's numerous poor.

He has criticized an elite class that "sits comfortably in air-conditioned offices," while the poor "survive on just one meal a day if they are lucky ... without safe drinking water, surrounded by misery."

Lugo's rivals have been searching for ways to force him about of office before his term ends in August 2013.

Last week, a majority of lawmakers threatened to mount an impeachment trial over comments he allegedly made in a poor neighborhood that some interpreted as a call for class warfare. Lugo denied saying that.

Lugo also assured everybody that there was no broad threat from the military, even while saying that "There could be small military groups that are connected to or could be used by the political class, but institutionally, the military does not show any intent of reversing the process of democratic consolidation." While I suspect he's right about the overall military establishment in Paraguay, the fact that he fired some of those chiefs makes it clear he didn't find the rumors to be completely unsubstantiated, either.

-Finally, the Obama administration announced this week that it was in favor of offering political asylum to a Guatemalan woman fleeing her abusive husband:

With White House backing, Rody Alvarado Peña likely will be allowed to stay in the United States after fighting immigration court since 1995, The New York Times reported.

Alvarado currently lives in California where she is a housekeeper at a home for elderly nuns. She told the newspaper she was pleased but wondered why it took so long.

Immigration lawyers said the administration had taken a major step toward defining the legal grounds in a murky area of asylum law under which battered and sexually abused women in foreign countries could seek U.S. protection.

This is just great news. While some may (and certainly will) complain about the use of "political" asylum for victims of domestic abuse, or mount some weak, racist anti-immigration stance over this, it's a great humanitarian step on the part of the Obama administration. Many countries in Latin America still don't offer a good way out for women in abusive marriages. By offering political asylum for these victims, Obama has taken a good, significant step in doing what he can to help women who face domestic violence in other countries, and that's a good thing.

Around Latin America

-While in Brazil, I commented on the disadvantages many Brazilians with disabilities and special needs face compared to a more accessible (if far from ideal) situation in the U.S. This week, disabled Brazilians and disability groups took to the streets of Rio to bring public awareness to the issues they face.

-Polls may or may not mean anything at any given moment. That said, the news that leftist candidate Ciro Gomes is now polling ahead of the PT's Dilma Rousseff in the latest round of polls for the Brazilian elections next year (which are still more than a year off) is interesting (the PSDB's Jose Serra still has a strong hold on the lead at this point). While I was in Brazil, many were pegging Gomes as the left's next big post-Lula hope, so this is interesting news, though certainly meaningless in terms of predicting how next year's elections will actually turn out.

-In a very grim statistic, Ciudad Juarez has already set a new record for murders in the city this year, with 1701 homicides in 2009 already, shattering the record set in 2008. And there are still three full months left in the year. Very sad.

-Argentina is preparing to send families to the Malvinas islands to commemmorate the official inauguration of a cemetary for those Argentines who died in the Malvinas (Falklands) War of 1982.

-Also in "Dirty War"-related news, Spain has arrested a Dutch commercial airline pilot for allegedly piloting "death flights" during the Dirty War. "Death flights," in which Argentina would take arrested victims on airplane or helicopter flights, pushing them out of the planes into rivers or the Atlantic, where their corpses would not be recovered. [Update: for an excellent explanation of and quotations about death flights, see Lillie's post.]

-The abortion debate in Jamaica continues. The country currently allows doctors to decide to perform an abortion if they think the patient's life is in danger, but there is no regulation of abortions, making conditions dangerous from place to place and hospital to hospital, and some groups are pushing to outlaw it altogether.

-Guyana's president has struck upon a novel idea for protecting the forests of that country. He's offering to protect the country's swath of rain forests, based on one condition: that the richer countries of the world pay for preserving the forest. According to his plan, the money from rich countries to protect the forest (which they rhetorically say has to happen) could then be used to sponsor green development and help provide alternate jobs and incomes for Guyanan families that might otherwise participate in deforestation for their living.

-Finally, talk about a movie series I'd love to watch: a series of films "focuses on Latin American freedom fighters key to their respective countries independence from Spain and is timed to coincide with the bicentennial of most of South America's independence from the colonial power." The first two entries (focusing on Jose Marti and San Martin) are already completed. Brazil's entry will focus on Tiradentes, a national hero who tried to lead an independence movement in Brazil at the end of the 18th century.

Several Human Rights Cases in Latin America

Between leaving New York and arriving in New Mexico, I suddenly found that I would be teaching (with all of the accompanying research and lecture-writing) at UNM this semester, on top of working on my dissertation, so blogging will not be as prevalent as I would like.

However, there are a few things related to human rights worth noting this week. First, Guatemala sentenced former military commissioner Felipe Cusanero to 150 years in prison for his role in 6 disappearances between 1982 and 1984. The sentence is a major one, because it is the first conviction of anybody for human rights abuses during the 36-year civil war. This is rather remarkable and depressing, given that upwards of 250,000 people were murdered during the civil war, and the armed forces committed nearly all (80%) of those murders. It's almost inexcusable that it's taken 13 years for even one conviction, but you have to start somewhere, and hopefully, many more will follow. And at least Guatemala did not give Cusanero some weak sentence, either.

In Argentina, a new book by a mother of one of the disappeared from the Dirty War (1976-1983) reminds us just how heartbreaking and difficult those cases continue to be as they haunt their families. In fighting for human rights and against abuses, it's easy to lose sight sometimes of how this still affects people daily, but just reading the opening sentence (quoted in the article) is a devastating reminder of how real the effects for many remain.

In Chile, a judge has issued arrest warrants for another 120 intelligence officers connected to torture and other crimes against humanity during the Pinochet regime, even while many torturers remain on the public payrolls in Chile. And for any who still think Pinochet led Chile for purely selfless reasons for 17 years, the fact that he managed to earn $25 million (with $20 million of it having "no justifiable origin") would hopefully destroy any such notions. Unfortunately, Cold War zealotry dies hard, and he'll still have his defenders for years to come.

Finally, only marginally related, a major obstacle to Alvaro Uribe's quest for a third term was overcome yesterday, as the Colombian House of Representatives approved the referendum bill for a third term (probably made him feel a bit better as he tries to recover from H1N1). It's still not a lock - the Court could surprise people and rule it unconstitutional, and the Colombian people could vote it down. But neither of those outcomes is very likely, given Uribe's support both on the courts and among the general Colombian population. For all of the spastic reactions from the right against Ecuador's Correa for seeking a second term or Manuel Zelaya trying to get a referendum for a second term before being unceremoniously overthrown in a coup, Uribe is currently the one Latin American leader that really seems to be pushing the boundaries of "democracy" with his efforts towards re-election right now.

Banned Songs in Argentina, or "Love Is as Bad As Progressive Politics"

Lillie points us to this article revealing songs that Argentine governments (including the dictatorship of 1976-1983) banned between 1969 and 1982. Some of the selections are far from surprising - protest songs and social-justice songs in Spanish. Interestingly, both the first and last banned songs were "love" songs: "Yo te amo, pero no mucho" ("I love you, but not a lot"), in 1969, and "El amor" ("The love"), in 1982. The usual suspects are also on the list - John Lennon (though not for "Imagine," but for "Kiss Kiss Kiss",) Joan Baez, chilean folk singer (and victim of the Pinochet regime) Victor Jara, and several Argentine folk singers. Also on the list are Queen, Brazilian singer (and far from politically radical) Roberto Carlos, Rod Stewart for "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy," (which should have been banned worldwide on the principal of being so awful), Eric Clapton (I initially presumed for "Cocaine," which was indeed the case), and Donna Summer [?].

The one really interesting thing from this list (besides the inclusion of Donna Summer) is how much songs that touch on love and sex appear, even if they were relatively benign (even by 1970s standards). It's not too surprising that a state organ that kills upwards of 30,000 of its own citizens probably isn't too concerned about love. However, it is interesting (if not so surprising, as Diana Taylor has demonstrated) that, in these 13 years of periodic military rule and right-wing governments, the focus seems to be as much on the effect songs could have on societal "moral decay" as on political "subversion."

Reminders of Human Rights Violations in Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay

It's been a kind of busy week for the history of human rights in Latin America this week. Thursday (the 23rd) marked the 16th anniversary of the Candelária massacre in Rio de Janeiro. Candelária is a massive cathedral in the heart of Rio de Janeiro's downtown area. While home to weddings, ceremonies, masses, concerts, and tourist visits, Candelária was also a place where street children who had no home would gather at night to sleep safely and semi-sheltered. In 1993, however, one of the more gruesome crimes in recent history in Brazil occurred, when five unidentified individuals pulled up in a car, got out, and opened fire on the sleeping children, killing 8.

Survivors of the shooting reported that two cars pulled up to the front of the church entrance early on the morning of July 23, letting out at least five men, some of whom were later identified as police officers. The men opened fire on the sleeping children.
Although their apparel did not immediately indicate that they were police or military officers, one key witness, Wagner dos Santos, recognized the men as military police and later testified against them in court.
It is well known among Brazilians that the country's death squads, whose objectives are to "cleanse" the streets, are primarily comprised of off-duty officers. Lamentably, street children often, through no fault of their own, find themselves in the middle of this "cleansing" process.

The event was atrocious, and led to a heightened awareness and fight for children's rights not just in Brazil, but globally, as Unicef and Amnesty International became involved. Ultimately, some officers were convicted, while others were acquitted; one officer who had died in 1994 was accused of having masterminded the massacre, offering a convenient scapegoat unable to defend himself. Today, outside of the cathedral, the figures of the eight victims are represented in red paint on the sidewalk, a constant reminder of the horrible events of July 23rd, 1993.

Unfortunately, the events of that night continue in Brazil. One of the survivors of the Candelária massacre was Sandro Rosa do Nascimento, who in 2001 would take a bus in Rio hostage, leading to what can only be categorized as an absolute disaster as the police, crowds, and television cameras all gathered around the hostage situation. On camera, Nascimento repeatedly emphasized that he was one of the Candelária survivors, making clear the effects of that night in 1993 had not faded away from the minds of the victims. Ultimately, the hostage situation ended as horribly as one could imagine: the cops, trying to kill Nascimento (who had exited the bus with a hostage), mistakenly killed the hostage. Crowds, thinking Nascimento had killed the girl, rushed in to lynch him. The police took him to the back of a police car, where they suffocated him to death on live television. It was a horrible, horrible event that cut to many of the social, economic, and justice problems facing Brazil, and it was documented in the film Bus 174 (and I cannot emphasize this strongly enough: everybody should see this film).

Nor was dos Santos the only one. Of the 62 children who survived that night, 44 were dead by 2000 (and dos Santos was added to that total a year later). And a recent study has found that 5000 youths between the ages of 12 and 18 are killed in Brazil every year, offering a depressing reminder that, while the Candelária massacre happened 16 years ago, Brazilian youths, especially the poor and homeless, continue to face appalling conditions and chances of survival in Brazil today.





For better news, alleged Argentine torturer Jorge Alberto Souza was arrested in Spain this past week. Souza "is wanted in Argentina in connection with 18 cases of kidnapping and torture between 1975 and 1977." Although Argentina's "Dirty War" only began in 1976, paramilitary and police repression existed well before that, and it's good to see Argentina going after Souza for that, as well. He's being held in Spain, but will be transferred to Argentina, where he will hopefully join others who are known torturers and killers in prison. (h/t)

And in a painful but important reminder of Paraguay's history, authorities in Asunción uncovered a common grave containing at least two of the 900 "disappeared" and killed victims of the Stroessner regime, in addition to the thousands who were tortured and the nearly one million exiles.

RIP - Raul Alfonsin

From Boz, I learn that Raul Alfonsin, Argentina's first civilian president after the military dictatorship, has died at 82.

Words do not describe what a difficult task Alfonsin faced during his administration. While the broader narrative of the history of Argentina's "Dirty War" paints their removal from politics as inevitable in the wake of the Falklands/Malvinas disaster, in 1983, it was anything but inevitable. While the military was indeed disgraced, it also continued to hover over politics, feeling civilians just wouldn't be able to handle things. Alfonsin not only managed to resist military pressures, he ended up being one of the best post-dictatorship leaders in Latin America in terms of pursuing human rights violators, putting on trial many of the leaders of the military junta, with five convictions resulting, including of two former presidents, Jorge Videla and Leopoldo Galtieri. Certainly, Alfonsin's actions in this arena would have been much more powerful if the Carlos Menem had not issued the unforgiveable general pardon of military criminals upon his election in 1990.

Certainly, Alfonsin was not a perfect president, and Argentina witnessed severe economic troubles during his term (including an annual inflation rate above 3000%), though the economic troubles brought on by Carlos Menem's neoliberalism and the collapse in 2001 made it clear that Alfonsin was not solely responsible for the economic decline in Argentina, either. But economics have taken second-stage in the narrative of Alfonsin's presidency and its importance, and rightfully so - he masterfully negotiated a return to democracy that continues today in a country that saw military intervention intermittently from the 1900s to 1983, and he did so while trying to pursue human rights to the best of his abilities. It is a sad day for Argentina.

Argentina's Military Officers Now Can Be Tried for Torturing Their Own Soldiers

I've dealt with cases of justice against Argentina's military regime several other cases before. However, a particularly interesting new ruling occurred last week, in which an Argentine court ruled that the torture officers inflicted upon their soldiers during the Malvinas/Falklands War constitutes a "war crime" and a "crime against humanity." The ruling opens the way for prosecution of officers, many still active and fairly high in the military chain of command, who tortured their soldiers before sending them off to the 1982 war with England. The accusations number over 70, alleging incidents of staking soldiers to the ground with a mask over their faces, being forced to stand in holes filled with water up to their wastes for hours on end, food- and water-deprivation, and "direct physical torture." I really don't know where this will lead (though one person quoted in the article said that Argentina will "have a year full of headlines coming"), but it does offer some important insights into how poorly Argentine military conscripts and soldiers were treated by their own officers. We (myself included) too often simplify the Argentine military (and other military dictatorships) as monolithic entities that acted as a unified whole from top to bottom. This ruling is excellent not only for the path to justice it opens for dozens of soldiers, but also in revealing just how pervasive torture was in the Argentine military (when you're using it on your own soldiers, it's pretty deeply rooted), and how dynamic and heterogeneous militaries (in charge of governments or not) are in terms of class, race, ideologies, and numerous other factors.

Follow-Up: the Argentina Adoption Case

In February, an Argentine couple and a military officer were being tried in court for falsifying papers and adopting the baby of a couple who were disappeared (see here). The case was unique in a number of ways, including the fact that the adopted child had taken the parents to court, and that it was the first time that a case involving illegal adoption of the babies of the "disappeared" in Argentina had arrived to the courts.

Well, verdicts came down yesterday. Osvaldo Rivas and Maria Cristina Gomez, the parents, were found guilty and sentenced to 8 and 7 years prison, respectively, while the military officer who arranged the adoption, Capt. Enrique Berthier, received a 10-year sentence. As I commented in February, this case was and is unprecedented, and has set a new legal precedent for the adopted children of the disappeared (estimated to be 400 or so, with 90 having already discovered who their birth-parents were). I doubt every one of those 400 (and maybe none) will take their parents to court (as the article points out, civil cases can lead to criminal charges in Argentina). As for this particular case, I'm glad the army captain was sentenced for what he did, and if Sampallo wanted her adopted parents in court for their deeds, that's her prerogative. I don't know what the parents' intentions were when they adopted, but this is definitely a complicated scenario, and I wonder if it will really repeat itself that much more in Argentina.

Adoption and Argentina's "Dirty War"

Argentina and Argentines have been confronting the military junta of 1976-1983 in the courts for awhile, going especially after former military men and the Catholic Church. However, there is a new and far more sensitive issue arriving to the courts: adoption. It is no secret that children in Argentina (and Chile, and probably other countries that saw repressive regimes) whose parents the state killed were then adopted into other families, and oftentimes these children didn't (and still do not) know that they are adopted, or what the true fate of their biological parents was.

For the first time ever, one of these children, 30-year-old Maria Eugenia Sampallo Barragan, is suing her adoptive parents for what amounts to kidnapping. The case itself charges her parents in falsifying documents that claimed she was their child, as well as charging captain Enrich Berthier for committing child theft in delivering Maria to her adoptive parents.I really have no idea where this may go. According to the article, Sampallo is on of 88 people who the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo helped in discovering their past. I don't know if there will be many more cases like this - I suspect not. Nor do I have any idea where this case may go - whether Berthier is punished (financially, professionally, or via imprisonment) or whether her adoptive parents may receive any type of punishment.

This case, to my knowledge, is totally without precedent, and I really don't know what to make of it. While in one way, at a more abstract level, I'm glad to see punishments sought against non-military individuals who may have taken part in any part of repression, at the more practical level I don't know where you stop, if ever. I have no idea what the intentions or emotions behind the adoption were on the part of Sampallo's parents, and without knowing more (did they just desparately want a kid and were unable to do so, and took what was the easiest path at the time, submitting to foolish mistake? Were they really sinister people who were glad the country was rid of two more "leftists"? Was it something else?) I guess in the case of Sampallo, I hope things work out in a way that she is most satisfied, and in terms of the officer, I have little trouble with him being punished, too, but I'm just not sure what to make of the case of the parents, and probably never will without knowing more.

UPDATE: The Latin Americanist has more. As they point out there, the fact that children of murdered parents were adopted by others clandestinely isn't exactly a news-shattering event in Argenitna. It has been suspected and acknowledged frequently enough to have apparently spawned novelas and films, so obviously the existence of these types of cases has been in the public sphere for awhile. Still, Sampallo's case is a whole new arena for the human-rights struggle as Argentina continues to reconcile the Dirty War.