Argentine court sentences 35 for Dirty War-era human rights abuses

[sandensea]

An Argentine federal court sentenced 35 former military and police officers yesterday for their roles in human rights atrocities committed in the seaside city of Mar del Plata during the country's Dirty War against dissidents in 1976-77.

A total of 28 defendants were sentenced to life in prison - the harshest penalty possible under under Argentine law. Another 7 defendants received sentences of 7 to 20 years, and five were acquitted.

The landmark "Subzone-15" case, one of the most significant since former President Néstor Kirchner signed a bill in 2003 rescinding amnesty for Dirty War perpetrators, involved 40 defendants (another three have died) and 272 identified victims - of which 161 were killed or remain missing.

Of the 111 survivors, 97 testified at the trial. Over 300 witnesses testified in the two-year trial.

Ten of the former defendants had already been sentenced to prison terms in past trials - which since 2006 have resulted in prison sentences for over 900 Dirty War defendants, out of some 3,000 investigated thus far.

Dictatorship documents indicate that 22,000 were "disappeared" between 1975 and 1978; human rights activists estimate the number to be as high as 30,000.

Among those newly sentenced was Gonzalo Gómez Centurión, a former Air Force and airline pilot who was earlier alleged to have taken part in the infamous "death flights" - in which up to 8,000 victims were thrown alive, though drugged, into the Río de la Plata estuary.

Gómez Centurión, who was sentenced to 12 years, belongs to a politically connected family - including Juan José Gómez Centurión, a former Army major who took part in two coup attempts in 1987 and 1988.

The latter later held high-ranking posts in the right-wing Mauricio Macri administration (2015-19). He ran for president last year on a fringe ticket, the right-wing "Us" Front.

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.loquepasa.net%2F2020%2F04%2F27%2Fmegajuicio-subzona-15-en-mar-del-plata-condenaron-a-prision-perpetua-a-28-acusados%2F

Witnesses gather last year outside the Federal Criminal Court in seaside Mar del Plata, where the "Subzone-15" trial took place.

The trial - with 40 defendants, 272 recorded victims, and over 300 witnesses - was one of the most significant since amnesty was lifted for 1970s Dirty War-era perpetrators in 2003.

[Judi Lynn]

1. Such cleansing news. Thank goodness this has happened.

Macri doesn't do his little girl any favors by dragging her out around fascist criminals,
like Juan José Gómez Centurión. Of course, she is completely familiar with them, by now, right?

Thank you, sandensea. What a great moment in the day, learning justice finally has been accomplished in this situation.

[sandensea]

2. The fact that Gomez C. attempted two coups ALONE should've disqualified him from any public office

But to Macri, this was hardly disqualifying.

Like many of those implicated in Dirty War abuses, 'Juanjo' was given amnesty by then-President Carlos Menem in the early '90s.

He was lucky in that no proof emerged he had a role in the abuses at the Azul barracks (where he served in the '70s). But his brother Gonzalo was not so fortunate.

Gonzalo's name first came up in the late '90s, when as a pilot for the national airline he was accused of being a 'Death Flight' pilot in the '70s.

He was the not the only one. One of them, Luis Luspori, even went on to be an executive at Aerolíneas Argentinas at the time it was Spanish-owned in the early 2000s.

As you can imagine, they're no fans of the current Fernández administration.