RIGHTS-ARGENTINA: The Unfinished Story of the “Disappeared”

"The night of Oct. 23, 1976, nearly 33 years ago, was the last time I saw my son Pablo. He was 17 years old, and he was terrified. Since then I have had no reliable news about his fate. My family and I have been left at the mercy of the anguished torments of our imagination."

RIGHTS-CHILE: Personal Stories Bring the “Disappeared” to Life

Two Chilean women living in the United States were so moved by the plight of people who were detained and disappeared during the 1973-1990 dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet that they overcame the problems of distance, and wrote a book reconstructing the personal lives of eight victims through the accounts given by their closest relatives.

RIGHTS-ARGENTINA: Delayed Justice for Dictatorship Crimes

Trials for human rights crimes committed by the 1976-1983 dictatorship in Argentina, reopened four years ago after amnesty laws were struck down, are moving at such a slow pace that so far only 50 people have been convicted. At this rate it is estimated proceedings will continue for another 15 years.

CHILE: The Journalist Who Caught His Own Killer – On Film

Leonardo Henrichsen turned his film camera on the soldier who was aiming at him and held it steady until he was shot to death. But the justice system never caught up with the killer of the Argentine journalist, murdered 36 years ago in Chile while he was filming a military uprising for Swedish television.

RIGHTS-PARAGUAY: First Remains of Victims of Dictatorship Exhumed

The discovery of the remains of two victims of the 1954-1989 dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner in Paraguay has opened a new chapter in the investigation of human rights crimes committed by the regime.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Shades of Coups Past – And Yet to Come?

If the de facto government of Roberto Micheletti remains in power in Honduras, the Central American right may be encouraged to stage further coups against the fragile democracies that have emerged in the region over the last two decades, analysts warn.

RIGHTS-BRAZIL: Controversy Surrounds Army Search for Guerrilla Remains

The armed forces of Brazil will begin to search for the remains of guerrilla fighters who were forcibly disappeared in Araguaia, a remote area in the northern jungle state of Pará during the 1964-1985 military dictatorship, reviving an old debate on the role played by the army in that area.

PERU: Fujimori Admits Illegal Payment to Spy Chief

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) admitted that he paid 15 million dollars to his former security chief Vladimiro Montesinos on Sept. 22, 2000, just a few hours before the adviser fled to Panama.

CHILE: Home Truths About the Dictator and His Family?

"La Familia. Historia privada de los Pinochet" (The Family: Private History of the Pinochets), a book that delves into the personal life of the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and his immediate family, has had a mixed reception in this country and in Ecuador, where a man claiming to be his illegitimate son may soon identify himself.

HONDURAS: Activists Decry Suspension of Fundamental Rights

Local and international human rights organisations and left-wing legislators condemned the suspension of constitutional rights in Honduras during the night-time curfew, which tightened the state of siege in effect since President Manuel Zelaya was ousted Sunday.

RIGHTS-SPAIN: ‘Universal Justice’ Threatened

Spain, considered a pioneer in the area of universal justice and especially legal action in human rights cases, is about to take a step backwards in that regard. On Tuesday, activists and legal experts criticised a draft law that would limit the Spanish courts’ ability to investigate human rights abuses committed in other countries.

CORRUPTION-PERU: Ex-Ministers’ Testimony Could Sink Fujimori

The Peruvian justice system has the confessions of three convicted former ministers in the government of former President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), to support corruption charges against him, prosecutor Avelino Guillén told IPS.

RIGHTS-CHILE: Ex-Soldier Arrested for Victor Jara Murder

A judge in Chile has charged a former soldier in the 1973 murder of internationally renowned Chilean folk singer Víctor Jara. Up to now, the only person prosecuted in the case was the commanding officer at the temporary prison camp where the songwriter was killed shortly after the Sept. 11, 1973 coup led by General Augusto Pinochet.

CHILE: Study Shows How Leading Paper Colluded with Dictatorship

The coverage of human rights violations cases by the powerful conservative Chilean newspaper El Mercurio during the country’s 17-year dictatorship was the focus of a meticulous study by five young reporters.

RIGHTS: Campaign Against School of the Americas Lobbies El Salvador

Representatives of School of the Americas Watch visited El Salvador to ask the incoming government of the leftwing FMLN, which will take office in June, to stop sending military officers to the U.S. army academy, which has long been accused of teaching torture techniques.

Q&A: Fujimori Will Serve "At Least 18 Years"

It is highly unlikely that the Peruvian Supreme Court will overturn or reduce the 25-year sentence handed down to former president Alberto Fujimori, because the verdict is well-supported, said chief prosecutor José Antonio Peláez.

CHILE: Images of Exile

Painful images of the exile suffered by thousands of Chileans during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet and of the expressions of solidarity from the countries that took them in are presented in a new book with a prologue by internationally renowned writer Ariel Dorfman.

PERU: Rights Groups Applaud Fujimori Conviction

Human rights groups welcomed the conviction of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison Tuesday on charges of murder and kidnapping.

RIGHTS-MEXICO: Verdict Strengthens Dirty War Impunity

For decades, prosecutors, historians, activists and the families of victims of the political violence of the late 1960s and the 1970s in Mexico have blamed former president Luis Echeverría for the 1968 massacre of student protesters in Tlatelolco square in the capital and the disappearance of hundreds of people in the country’s "dirty war" on leftists and other dissidents.

Q&A: “Fujimori Gave the Order”

With a sentence set to be handed down shortly in the trial of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) for two notorious massacres of civilians – known as the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta killings – the prosecutor in the case, Avelino Guillén, said the defendant’s guilt has been amply proven.

RIGHTS-PERU: The Comforts of Impunity

Retired military officers facing prosecution in Peru for cases of corruption or human rights violations allegedly committed during the 1980-2000 civil war are awaiting trial in the comfort of their homes.