Argentina: mass graves excavated

[Judi Lynn]

Argentina: mass graves excavated
Submitted by WW4 Report on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 01:55.

The Argentine government, the opposition and grassroots organizations all marked Dec. 10 as the 25th anniversary of the return of democratic rule after a bloody 1976-1983 military dictatorship. The Mothers (Founding Line) and the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo—organizations of women demanding the return of youths disappeared during the dictatorship's "dirty war" against suspected leftists—demonstrated in the Plaza de Mayo to demand justice for the crimes of the period. "Let's look after democracy," said Tati Almayda, one of the leaders of the movement. "And let's get justice now, also, because the perpetrators of genocide are dying of old age—and the mothers are too."

One day earlier, on Dec. 9, experts from the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF) reported on their excavations in Pozo de Arana, a secret detention center used by the dictatorship from 1976 to 1977, or later, near La Plata in Buenos Aires province. They reported that they had found more than 10,000 charred bone fragments in four mass graves at the site, along with a wall apparently used for firing squads. The excavations, which were ordered last year by prosecutor Felix Crous, confirmed testimony by witnesses that the military executed detainees at the center and then incinerated and buried the remains. The EAAF has sent 38 bone samples to specialists in the US who worked on identifying the remains of victims of the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center in New York.

Former Buenos Aires province police investigations director Miguel Osvaldo Etchecolatz and his deputy, Ramon Camps, were responsible for Pozo de Arana; police agent Miguel Kearney was in direct command of the detention center. Camps died of cancer in 1994 without having spent a day in jail; Kearney is currently in detention and is being tried for his role at the center. Etchecolatz was sentenced to life in prison in September 2006, thanks in part to the testimony of a former detainee at the center, Jorge Julio Lopez, who disappeared at the same time that Etchecolatz was convicted.

Among those presumed killed at the center were six students from a La Plata high school who were seized on Sept. 16, 1976 for participating in a protest over increased bus fares; they were the subject of a well-known film, La Noche de los Lapices (The Night of the Pencils).

Also on Dec. 10, a court upheld preventive detention for Juan Carlos Rolón, who has been accused of the disappearance and death of journalist Rodolfo Walsh in 1977; Walsh was reportedly executed at the Navy Mechanics School (ESMA) in the city of Buenos Aires. (La Jornada, Dec. 11 from Notimex, AFP, PL; El Diario, Mexico, Dec. 10 from AFP; El Pais, Spain, Dec. 11 from correspondent)

http://www.ww4report.com/node/6527

Never forget, Henry Kissinger counseled the Argentinian generals of the junta during their genocidal days.

[judasdisney]

1. too late to recommend -- recommended.

The devil yet hides in Argentina.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Probably still a few really old Nazis stumbling around there, too!

I'm certain you're acquainted with the fact Argentina became a HUGE haven for Nazis on the run after WWII. Only in the last few years did I learn the CIA had a hand in getting them out of Germany, Poland, etc., and sliding them into new lives in South America, where they had a lot of fast allies within the right-wing elite.

What a bunch of monsters, people with comrades right here in THIS country, as well.

In a million years, will NEVER understand how Henry Kissinger became so twisted, personally, he embraced and counseled the filthiest, most inhuman fascist criminals in South American coup governments, or affiliated with Nazi-supporting, harboring cretins like Paraguay's Alfredo Stroessner.

On edit: Adding few paragraphs on Kissinger:

~snip~
Kissinger began to be hounded for alleged scheming in the geopolitical arena. In May 2001, a French judge served Kissinger a summons to answer questions about the death of French citizens during the Pinochet regime, as well as his knowledge about "Operation Condor."² Kissinger refused. He chose to return to the U.S. that night, rather than respond to foriegn inquiries.

In July of that year, Chile's highest court gave permission to an investigative judge to question Kissinger about the execution of American journalist Charles Horman by Pinochet loyalists in 1973. Although the questions were relayed via diplimatic channels, Kissinger again chose not to answer, leading to a request for his extradition by the Chilean government.

In August, 2001 the Argentine government requested a deposition from Kissinger regarding Operation Condor.

In September, the family of slain Chilean general Rene Schneider filed a civil suit in a U.S. federal court, asserting that Kissinger decided to execute Schneider because he opposed the ultimately failed 1970 coup against newly elected president Allende. The following day, Chilean human rights lawyers implicated Kissinger, along with Pinochet, Alfredo Stroessner (former dictator of Paraguay), and a number of U.S., Chilean, and Argentinian officials, in a criminal lawsuit claiming the defendants were complicit in "crimes against humanity, war crimes, violations of international treaties, conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping, and torture" in their role in Operation Condor.

Kissinger sworn in as Secretary of State

Late in 2001, Brazilian authorities were forced to cancel a speaking engagement for Kissinger because the government could not guarantee his protection from legal proceedings.

In 2002, the United Kingdom denied a request from a Spanish judge, backed by French officials, to request that Interpol detain Kissinger for questioning about events in Chile. In addition, a petition was filed in London for his arrest, citing "the destruction of civilian populations and environment in Indonesia from 1969 to 1975."

East Timorese activists have accused Kissinger of "aiding and abetting genocide" by backing the bloody Indonesian invasion and occupation of their island, a former Portuguese protectorate.

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1966.html