50 Argentine Dirty War convicts transferred from prison to house arrest so far this year.

[forest444]

Last edited Thu Jul 28, 2016, 11:49 PM - Edit history (1)

A series of federal court rulings in Argentina have resulted in transfers from prison to house arrest for some 50 former military and police officers convicted for crimes against humanity committed during the last dictatorship (1976-83), judicial sources said.

Up to 30,000 Argentines were killed during the state-sponsored Dirty War, primarily from 1976 to 1978.

The rulings have benefited Dirty War convicts who are over 70 years old and whose lawyers filed requests for house arrest based on health reasons. While these decisions officially depend solely on judges' discretion, Army Chief of Staff Diego Suñer - a Macri appointee - was confirmed to have actively lobbied on behalf of those seeking a transfer to house arrest.

According to Justice Ministry officials speaking to local news daily Clarín on condition of anonymity, this trend reflects "a change in court doctrine" from the one prevailing during the populist administrations of former Presidents Néstor and Cristina Kirchner (2003-15).

Their administrations made human rights a central political issue in Argentina, and Néstor Kirchner's signature of a 2003 bill rescinding two amnesty laws that since 1987 had shielded Dirty War suspects led to hundreds of trials and convictions.

The pace of prosecutions has slowed dramatically since President Mauricio Macri took office in December, however - a change foreshadowed by Macri's description of human rights as a "scam" during the 2015 campaign.

This change in policy was further underscored by Defense Minister Julio Martínez's decision to allow Dirty War convicts to be treated in military hospitals (which had been banned due to a numerous escape attempts), as well as by revelations that Justice Minsiter Germán Garavano had held secret talks in April with Argentina's leading Dirty War apologist, Cecilia Pando.

These developments mark a sharp departure from the Kirchner era, when 2,389 officers were accused, 1,132 arrested, and 681 convicted. This marked the fist time in world history that human rights abuses were systematically prosecuted (rather than a few top officials), something described by the dictator who oversaw most of the Dirty War, General Jorge Videla as "our worst moments."

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.minutouno.com/notas/1499617-en-lo-que-va-del-ano-unos-50-ex-represores-obtuvieron-la-prision-domiciliaria&prev=search

[Judi Lynn]

1. A new low point following so many other low point milestones already created by Macri.

These people committed crimes against the human race. That sets them apart from the human race. They don't belong, not sure they ever did.

Macri is making it pretty clear what kind of person he is. I surely hope the population will shake itself and start resisting his dirty plans for the country.

There are surely a lot of fascists throughout the Americas, forest444. Our Hemisphere is diseased. We need the cure, A.S.A.P.