Latin America Feels the “Garzon Effect”

Latin America owes Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón, who is facing prosecution in his country for trying to investigate Franco-era abuses, for the groundbreaking invocation of legal principles that have led to trials for crimes against humanity in Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, Peru and Uruguay, human rights lawyers say.

RIGHTS-SPAIN: Franco-Era Crimes Reach Courts in Argentina

Invoking the principle of universal jurisdiction for crimes against humanity, the relatives of two Spanish mayors who were executed during that country's 1936-1939 civil war filed genocide charges in Argentina Wednesday.

GUATEMALA: Bringing Murdered Activist Bishop Back to Life on the Screen

On the evening of Apr. 26, 1998, as Bishop Juan Gerardi returned to the parish house at St. Sebastian's Church, three blocks from the seat of national government in the heart of the Guatemalan capital, he had no idea it would be the last day of his life. That night, his head was bludgeoned with a concrete block.

U.S.: Kissinger Rescinded Warning Against Condor Assassinations

Five days before the assassination in downtown Washington of former Chilean Defence Minister Orlando Letelier, then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger rescinded instructions to U.S. ambassadors in Latin America's Southern Cone to warn the region's military regimes against carrying out "a series of international murders", according to documents released by the National Security Archive (NSA) here.

RIGHTS: Spain’s Most Famous Judge May Be Suspended

Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón, who became world-famous when he issued the warrant that resulted in former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet's arrest in London in 1998, is now facing legal charges himself, which could cost him his job.

RIGHTS-PERU: Generals on Trial for Murders of 37 Students

There is more than enough evidence to convict three generals and other army officers in the kidnapping and murder of 36 university students from the highlands city of Huancayo in Peru between 1989 and 1993, Víctor Lizárraga of the National Human Rights Coordinator (CNDDHH) told IPS.

RIGHTS-ARGENTINA: Witnesses in Danger

The murder this week of Silvia Suppo, a victim of rape during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship in Argentina, has fuelled fears for the safety of key witnesses in human rights trials.

RIGHTS-PERU: Alleged Letter-Bomb Killer Faces Justice

The arrest in Peru of a former Army Intelligence Service (SIE) agent, retired Captain Víctor Penas, may clear up the murder of journalist Melissa Alfaro, and the mutilation of human rights defender Augusto Zúñiga, both victims of letter-bombs in 1991.

CHILE: Another Chance for Reparations for Pinochet Victims

Over the next six months, a new commission will receive testimony from victims of the 1973-1990 dictatorship of the late General Augusto Pinochet, who have not qualified for reparations since Chile's return to democracy.

RIGHTS-GUATEMALA: The Best-Kept Secrets – the Military’s

Human rights groups are worried that the declassification of military archives dating from Guatemala's 1960-1996 civil war, which left more than 200,000 victims, by a special commission will not go far enough in terms of clarifying the atrocities.

ARGENTINA: Torture Priest Still Celebrating Mass – Behind Bars

More than two years after he was sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity committed during the 1976-1983 dictatorship in Argentina, former police chaplain Christian von Wernich has not been penalised by the Catholic Church.

PERU: Generals in the Dock in Human Rights Trial

A trial against 41 Peruvian soldiers and officers accused of murdering six men and two women in the highlands village of Pucará in 1989, during the first term of current President Alan García, has reopened.

PERU: Victims of Military Rapists Wait for Justice 25 Years On

"I want justice. That will be a kind of peace," says Micaela, a 40-year-old woman from the Andean region of Peru who is a survivor of the sexual violence prevalent during the 1980-2000 civil war. Twenty-five years ago, soldiers assaulted her at a military base and in her own home.

RIGHTS-GUATEMALA: Naming the “Disappeared”

Through the "My Name Is Not XX" campaign, the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation is working to identify the remains of thousands of victims who were forcibly disappeared during the country's 1960-1996 armed conflict, by inviting their relatives to provide DNA samples.

RIGHTS: Brazil’s Turn for Truth and Justice?

Almost 25 years after the fall of the dictatorship in Brazil, relatives of the victims and human rights activists are still battling to discover the fate of those who were murdered or "disappeared," gain access to official records and find out in detail what went on under the repressive regime.

RIGHTS-GUATEMALA: Army Records Spur Hopes for Justice

Original Guatemalan army records on a scorched-earth campaign known as "Operation Sofía", presented as evidence in a human rights case in Spain, have bolstered hopes for justice among the relatives of victims of Guatemala's 36-year civil war in which more than 200,000 people, mainly Mayan Indians, were killed.

RIGHTS-PERU: Gov’t Seeks Legal Shield for Security Forces

The Peruvian government has moved to protect the armed forces and police against investigations for crimes committed in the line of duty, especially in areas convulsed by social protests or where remnants of the Maoist Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) guerrillas are still active.

ARGENTINA: Dubious Past? No Problem for Private Security Firms

Civil society groups in Argentina are concerned that private security firms, which have mushroomed to 850 in Greater Buenos Aires, employ many former police officers and troops who played an active role in the political repression during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship.

RIGHTS-BRAZIL: The Long Shadow of the Dictatorship

Those who died and "disappeared" during the 1964-1985 military dictatorship in Brazil represent a mere "one percent of the agenda" of the Special Secretariat for Human Rights (SEDH), but captivate "99 percent of the attention of the press," complained Human Rights Secretary Paulo Vannuchi.

CHILE: Human Rights Institute to Keep the Past from Coming Back

The Chilean parliament has approved the creation of a national institute for human rights, another step towards fulfilling the human rights agenda of the government of socialist President Michelle Bachelet.

CHILE: Alleged Human Rights Abusers on Army Payroll

Thirteen retired military officers facing prosecution for human rights crimes and corruption as well as one who has been convicted are still on the Chilean army's payroll.