RIGHTS-ARGENTINA: Army Chief Condemns ‘Baby Stealing’

By Marcela Valente Reprint | | Print |

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Mar 13 2000 (IPS) - Argentine army chief General Ricardo Brinzoni described the kidnapping of children during the 1976-83 military dictatorship as an “unforgivable aberration,” and expressed his hopes that the biological families would find the lost youngsters.

Brinzoni, one of the few officers who put in writing his objections to the 1976 coup d’etat and the resultant repression in which 10,000 to 30,000 people “disappeared” – succeeded General Martín Balza as army chief in December.

It was Balza who issued a historic mea culpa in 1995 for the army’s responsibility in the kidnapping, torture and disappearances perpetrated by the de facto regime.

Both Balza and Brinzoni believe in an armed forces subordinate to civilian authority, and want to see a transformation towards a more professional, smaller and more efficient military. They also want to leave in the past the army’s suspicions and wariness regarding Argentina’s neighbouring countries.

Since assuming his post, Brinzoni has made several moves that have upset sectors of the army, such as dissolving the central intelligence office – a symbol of the military regime’s repressive techniques – and the dismissal of some 500 civilians employed there.

This month he instructed the army’s 300 sections throughout the country to interrupt their habitual routines and search for documents dating back to or shedding light on the dictatorship, in order to collaborate with the courts in cases involving forced disappearances.

“I believe that in the army there is no documentation,” said Brinzoni. “But many who took part in the decision-making and assumed responsibilities could have memories, and that is up to the individual conscience of each.”

The army chief proposed creating a “forum of discussion” or “venues for meetings and conversation for everyone to get together and heal wounds as far as possible, respecting the legitimate pain of so very many people.”

Legal proceedings are underway in the federal courts. In one case, the aim is to verify the fate of disappeared victims, but only to find out the truth, as the culprits of the events in question were let off the hook in the late 1980s and early 1990s by amnesty laws and a presidential pardon.

The aim of another case is to track down children kidnapped or born into captivity to political prisoners.

The human rights group Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo – mainly mothers of disappeared victims, who are seeking their lost grandchildren – calculates that some 500 minors were kidnapped and illegally adopted under false identities.

Just over 60 have been tracked down and identified by the rights group and reunited with their biological families.

The Grandmothers maintain that there was a systematic plan instructing members of the military how to proceed with the small children of political prisoners.

Former members of the military juntas that ruled during the dictatorship, like ex-general Jorge Videla or ex-admiral Eduardo Massera, have been charged and are under house arrest in connection with the kidnapping of minors.

The courts have repeatedly ordered searches for any existing documents referring to the dictatorship. But under Balza, no records were turned over by the armed forces.

Balza pointed out that just a few days prior to the restoration of democracy in 1983, then-army chief General Cristino Nicolaides ordered that all records on what the military termed the “anti- subversive fight” be burned.

But Brinzoni ordered a new search, which has come up with a few documents that have yet to be studied by the courts. It was also reported, however, that records were destroyed on the day of the search.

The army chief admitted Monday that records were destroyed. But he claimed they had nothing to do with the dictatorship. “I agree it was not good timing, but just like in a house, when you’re digging around for papers, you take advantage of the opportunity to clean out your closets.”

Brinzoni denied a report by the Buenos Aires daily ‘Clarín’ based on anonymous army intelligence sources that the documents destroyed included files that contained photos of victims of forced disappearance and a manual that explained how to break a detainee’s arm.

The army chief said such allegations must have reached the press through “some of the army’s men who could be annoyed” because they were not paid on time, due to budget problems. But, he insisted, “that is not truthful information.”

Brinzoni, who nevertheless ordered a military judge to investigate the content of the material destroyed, said that last week he received an anonymous message warning that confidential army records would start being published by the press.

“That anonymous message was turned over to the office of the public prosecutor. But it seems to have been linked to the changes we implemented in military intelligence, to put that area under the joint chiefs-of-staff,” said Brinzoni, who said the threat was connected to the information leaked to the press.

With respect to the illegal adoption of kidnapped minors, who were given new identities, Brinzoni termed the phenomenon “baby stealing,” as do “most people, among whom I include myself.”

“It is an unforgivable act, which I do not agree with in any way. I have always held that this was an aberration, and have always said I hoped that the families looking for their children or grandchildren would find them.”

Lastly, the army chief said that in his view, there was no systematic plan on how to proceed with kidnapped children or those born in captivity. But he stressed that he would accept any decision handed down by the courts, even if it ran counter to his own views.