A court sentenced one of Argentina’s most feared former military leaders to life in prison on Thursday for the 1977 kidnapping, torture and killing of four leftist activists.
Luciano Benjamin Menendez, 81, was commander of the regional Third Army Corps in Cordoba for five years during Argentina’s 1976-1983 military dictatorship and controlled one of the regime’s most notorious torture centers.
Hours before the sentencing, an unrepentant Menendez read a statement in front of television cameras in the courtroom saying the regime’s repression had been justified in the face of a leftist militant threat.
“We had to take appropriate measures,” he said, enraging activists, one of whom screamed “genocide” and had to be removed from the courtroom.
Menendez, who was already under house arrest for previous “dirty war” convictions, will be transferred to a prison following Thursday’s conviction and sentencing.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the courtroom — many holding placards and pictures of the alleged victims — erupted into cheers upon hearing the verdict, which was read on local television stations.
The verdict was considered important, both because of Menendez’s gruesome reputation and because he was ordered to serve the rest of his sentence in prison.
Many convicted former military officers are serving their sentences under house arrest, as allowed by an Argentine law that applies to those over 70 years old or of poor health. A court can choose to send them to prison anyway, however, as was the case with Menendez.
Six other former military officers and one civilian were also convicted on Thursday in connection with the killings of the activists and given sentences ranging from life in prison to 18 years. The trial lasted less than two months.
The four victims — Hilda Palacios, Humberto Brandalisis, Carlos Lajas and Raul Cardozo — were kidnapped in 1977. They were members of the Revolutionary Workers Party.
Prosecutors said the four were taken to the prison and torture center known as “La Perla,” which was run by the Third Army Corps, and killed within a month. Their bodies were then dropped in the street to make it seem as if they had been killed in a shootout, before they were picked up by the authorities.
Palacios’ body was found in 2004 in a local cemetery. The bodies of the others have not been found.
Menendez’s is the latest conviction of a “dirty war” suspect.
Seven ex-military officers and a former police official were convicted of human rights abuses in December. Also, a top ex-navy chief was charged earlier this month in the 1977 kidnapping and murder of a prominent journalist.
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez has made advancing human rights trials a priority since taking office. In 2005, the Supreme Court struck down amnesty laws from the 1980s that had protected suspects from the dictatorship.
About 13,000 people were killed during the dictatorship, official numbers showed, but human rights groups claim the number is closer to 30,000.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese