The Break from Impunity in Argentina

[Judi Lynn]

The Break from Impunity in Argentina
Alexandria Prain
October 29, 2009



Former Buenos Aires' Provincial Police Chaplain
Christian Von Wernich listens to the pronouncement
of his sentence in La Plata on Oct. 9, 2007,
sentenced to life imprisonment for collaborating
in murders, kidnappings and torture during
Argentina's 1976-1983 military dictatorship.
(Photo: Juan Mabromata/ AFP-Getty Images)

The room turned alarmingly quiet as the court and audience listened to the testimony of Carina Rapaccini. It was the first time in over 30 years that she had testified publicly about the fateful night of her father's disappearance. Though she had been only 9 years old at the time, the memory of the event appeared to be so fresh in her bloodshot eyes, it was as though it had occurred only moments before.

Tearfully she proclaimed, "I don't understand everything that happened. Thirty-three years have passed and still I know nothing. It was a silence so big and still, it goes on. I have no one in my family to speak of this with. I am alone, but I fight for this case, for all of these cases, for the memory of what happened."

Testimonies, such as Rapaccini's, commenced the third week of September and have signified for those injured during the Argentine military junta that their excruciating battle against impunity may finally be coming to an end. For the first time in nearly 30 years, testimonies, to be followed by criminal prosecutions, have been reinitiated against those responsible for the state-sponsored terrorism that occurred between 1976 and 1983.

Beside the victims of this dark history is the human rights organization, La Asamblea Permanente por los Derechos Humanos La Plata (APDH), the Assembly for Human Rights. Lawyers from this organization have been working with and representing victims and their families since the midst of the military junta. They have also been acting as the strong hand against the government to end the impunity that has wreaked havoc on the Argentine judicial system.

More:
http://www.worldpress.org/Americas/3444.cfm