Argentines rally for missing "Dirty War" witness

[Judi Lynn]

Argentines rally for missing "Dirty War" witness
Wed Sep 27, 2006 9:57pm ET

By Kevin Gray

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Argentines rallied on Wednesday for the safety of an elderly man who vanished after his testimony of torture helped convict a former police officer in a "Dirty War" trial.

Jorge Julio Lopez, 77, disappeared on September 18, a day before Miguel Etchecolatz, a former police commissioner, was sentenced to life in prison for the murder, torture and kidnapping of six people during Argentina's 1976-83 dictatorship.

The disappearance of Lopez, a former construction worker, has reminded many Argentines of one of the country's darkest chapters that saw as many as 30,000 people killed.


Human rights activists, some holding aloft pictures of Lopez, joined ordinary Argentines to march on the Plaza de Mayo in downtown Buenos Aires.

"We fear he's been killed," said Marianela Ava, a 23-year-old sociology student. "It would be very symbolic if he isn't found."
(snip/...)

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-28T015717Z_01_N27339449_RTRUKOC_0_US-RIGHTS-ARGENTINA.xml&archived=False

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Argentines Rally for Missing Witness
Sep 27th - 7:58pm
By BILL CORMIER Associated Press Writer

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - Thousands of people led by the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo marched in a nighttime demonstration appealing for the safe return of a key "Dirty War" prosecution witness missing for more than a week.

The rally, led by the Mothers who are still searching for loved ones missing from a 1976-83 dictatorship, made its way peacefully from Congress to the offices of President Nestor Kirchner late Wednesday.

The group, estimated to number 10,000 people, lofted banners calling on the government to use all means possible to locate Jorge Julio Lopez, a former torture victim who testified recently at a human rights trial.

Lopez, 77, vanished on the eve of the Sept. 19 conviction of former police investigator Miguel Etchecolatz, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the disappearances of six people during the 1976-1983 dictatorship.

A former construction worker, Lopez testified that Etchecolatz was among those who tortured him in a clandestine center during the rule of the right-wing generals.
(snip/...)

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=389&sid=924278

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You may find the following timeline interesting.

Chronology of events surrounding the June 10, 1976 Kissinger-Guzzetti meeting

NOTE: Links below refer to source documents

March 24, 1976 - The Argentine military takes power in a coup d'etat, overthrowing the government of Isabel Perón.

April 30, 1976 - American citizen Gwenda Loken Lopez is captured and savagely tortured by Argentine security forces. She is finally freed in October after nearly six months of captivity..

May 5-7, 1976 - American citizen Mercedes Naveiro Bender is kidnapped and tortured by Argentine security forces. Naveiro witnesses the torture of scores of others while in detention.

May 20, 1976 - The bodies of former Uruguayan legislators Zelmar Michelini and Hector Gutierrez Ruiz are found in Buenos Aires. U.S. agencies suspect and subsequently come to believe that Michelini and Gutierrez Ruiz - who were vocal critics of the military regime in Uruguay - were murdered in a coordinated operation involving Uruguayan and Argentine security forces.

May 21, 1976 -Argentina's presidential secretary, Ricardo Yofre, tells U.S. Ambassador Robert Hill that Argentina is involved in "an all-out war against subversion. In the heat of the battle there will inevitably be some violations of human rights" Yofre also "warned that the government plans to drastically step up its campaign against the terrorists very shortly."
(snip)

"President said he had been gratified when FONMIN Guzzetti reported to him that Secretary of State Kissinger understood their problem and had said he hoped they could get terrorism under control as quickly as possible. Videla said he had the impression senior officers of the USG understood situation his govt faces but junior bureaucrats do not."
(snip/)

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB133/chron.htm

[Judi Lynn]

1. Threats seek to endanger human rights cases in Argentina

Threats seek to endanger human rights cases in Argentina

Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa
Published: Friday September 29, 2006

Buenos Aires- Numerous judges and attorneys across Argentina have received threats that seek to curb the investigation of human rights violations during the country's 1976-83 military dictatorship, Argentina's top justice official said Friday. Attorney General Esteban Righi urged those affected to report any threats to the relevant judicial authorities.

The country's courts last week for the first time used the term "genocide" to describe the systematic crimes that killed up to 30,000 people during the military regime.

A massive operation is currently in place to look for a key witness in that high-profile case who has been missing for close to two weeks.

Righi said that a list will be made of people who have been called to testify in future proceedings against alleged human rights abusers, in order to guarantee them protection.

Further, Argentine media reported that eight federal judges and eight attorneys in several of the country's provinces have received threatening letters posted in the capital.
(snip/...)

http://rawstory.com/news/2006/Threats_seek_to_endanger_human_righ_09292006.html

[struggle4progress]

2. Argentines rally for 'Dirty War' trials (Fri, Oct. 06, 2006)

OSCAR SERRAT
Associated Press
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - More than 12,000 people demanding the safe return of a "Dirty War" prosecution witness missing since mid-September marched peacefully through the Argentine capital Friday night.

Led by the Mothers of the Plaza - a group still searching for loved ones missing from a 1976-83 military dictatorship - demonstrators jammed the downtown plaza outside the offices of President Nestor Kirchner, calling for the return of former torture victim Jorge Julio Lopez.

The protest, the latest in a series, was more than twice as large as one on Sept. 27, which drew about 5,000 people. Police stood guard and no incidents were reported ...

Lopez, 77, vanished on the eve of the Sept. 19 conviction of a former police investigator in the first "Dirty War" trial since the Supreme Court last year overturned a pair of 1980s amnesty laws shielding many former state security agents from prosecution ...

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/15699013.htm