RIGHTS-ARGENTINA: Gov’t to Leave Human Rights Cases to Courts

By Marcela Valente Reprint | | Print |

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Jan 4 2000 (IPS) - Argentina’s new government has distanced itself from its predecessor with its decision to refer pending human rights cases to the courts.

The government of President Fernando De la Rúa, which took office Dec 10, said that once it received the request for the international arrest of 48 former Argentine officers, issued by Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón on charges of human rights violations, it would leave the decision up to local courts.

That position stands in sharp contrast to the Carlos Menem administration’s (1989-99) staunch refusal to cooperate with Garzón.

De la Rúa added that he would defend Argentina’s legal system, without expanding on the possible reach of the administration’s stance.

Although the new president would have preferred not to inherit the problem, his decision is to respect the independence of the judiciary.

That means former generals Jorge Videla, Emilio Massera, Leopoldo Galtieri, Carlos Suárez Mason and 44 other former officers accused of human rights abuses committed during the 1976- 83 dictatorship – under which 10,000 to 30,000 people were “disappeared” – could end their days in prison cells in Spain.

The case could take a turn similar to the case against former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, also wanted by Garzón. The elderly retired general has been under house arrest in London since October 1998, where he is standing trial for his possible extradition to Spain.

De la Rúa said over the weekend that he would “consider” an eventual extradition request. But he clarified that it would be the courts that would decide on the case of officers tried and convicted in the mid-1980s on charges of torture and forced disappearance, and later pardoned by Menem.

Foreign Minister Adalberto Rodríguez Giavarini said “Argentina’s justice system will have to decide on the fate of the former officers,” adding that “the government has no intention to hinder the working of the courts.”

Garzón decided on Nov 2 to prosecute 98 Argentine military officers. But the measure only went into effect on Dec 30, when he sent Interpol (international police) an arrest warrant for the 48 officers on whom complete and reliable personal data was available.

The list may grow as data on the rest of the accused is collected, one of the lawyers of the families of the victims, Argentine attorney Carlos Slepoy, explained from Madrid.

The arrest warrant is awkward for the new government. The former chiefs of the de facto regime were convicted in the 1980s, and after spending a few years in prison were pardoned by Menem and released, to the outrage of human rights organisations.

But new legal action brought in Argentina two years ago led nine of the former officers back to prison or (for those over 70) house arrest. The charges involved the illegal adoption of children of political prisoners.

An estimated 500 children were abducted with their parents or born in captivity and illegally adopted. Today they are young adults living under their new identities.

Fifty have been tracked down by the surviving members of their biological families. Some of them were found living with those who took them from their parents, while others had been adopted in good faith by couples who knew nothing of their origins.

In January 1998, Menem refused to cooperate with courts in Spain demanding information on and the extradition of former officers, basing his position on the argument that foreign courts had no jurisdiction over crimes committed in Argentina, similar to the stance taken by Chile in the Pinochet case.

In solidarity with the Chilean government of President Eduardo Frei, Menem boycotted the November Ibero-American summit held in Havana, in protest against the presence of Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar.

Menem also questioned the motivation of Judge Garzón, who he accused of seeking the limelight and attempting to violate Argentine sovereignty.

Argentina’s new foreign minister, on the other hand, said the De la Rúa administration had no intention of appearing to defend those accused of genocide, and said the president might even overturn the decree in which Menem refused to cooperate with Garzón.

Rodríguez Giavarini said he agreed with Pope John Paul’s New Year’s message, which stated that crimes against humanity could not be considered the internal affairs of nations.

The Pope’s position backs the creation of an International Criminal Court (ICC) to try crimes against humanity, an initiative that also has the support of the De la Rúa administration, just as it was supported by Menem.

The question is whether the ICC will be able to pass judgment on offences committed in the past, or will only be able to address future cases.