Argentine court sentences 35 for Dirty War-era human rights abuses
An Argentine federal court sentenced 35 former military and police officers yesterday for their roles in human rights atrocities committed in the seaside city of Mar del Plata during the country's Dirty War against dissidents in 1976-77.
A total of 28 defendants were sentenced to life in prison - the harshest penalty possible under under Argentine law. Another 7 defendants received sentences of 7 to 20 years, and five were acquitted.
The landmark "Subzone-15" case, one of the most significant since former President Néstor Kirchner signed a bill in 2003 rescinding amnesty for Dirty War perpetrators, involved 40 defendants (another three have died) and 272 identified victims - of which 161 were killed or remain missing.
Of the 111 survivors, 97 testified at the trial. Over 300 witnesses testified in the two-year trial.
Ten of the former defendants had already been sentenced to prison terms in past trials - which since 2006 have resulted in prison sentences for over 900 Dirty War defendants, out of some 3,000 investigated thus far.
Dictatorship documents indicate that 22,000 were "disappeared" between 1975 and 1978; human rights activists estimate the number to be as high as 30,000.
Among those newly sentenced was Gonzalo Gómez Centurión, a former Air Force and airline pilot who was earlier alleged to have taken part in the infamous "death flights" - in which up to 8,000 victims were thrown alive, though drugged, into the Río de la Plata estuary.
Gómez Centurión, who was sentenced to 12 years, belongs to a politically connected family - including Juan José Gómez Centurión, a former Army major who took part in two coup attempts in 1987 and 1988.
The latter later held high-ranking posts in the right-wing Mauricio Macri administration (2015-19). He ran for president last year on a fringe ticket, the right-wing "Us" Front.
At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.loquepasa.net%2F2020%2F04%2F27%2Fmegajuicio-subzona-15-en-mar-del-plata-condenaron-a-prision-perpetua-a-28-acusados%2F
Witnesses gather last year outside the Federal Criminal Court in seaside Mar del Plata, where the "Subzone-15" trial took place.
The trial - with 40 defendants, 272 recorded victims, and over 300 witnesses - was one of the most significant since amnesty was lifted for 1970s Dirty War-era perpetrators in 2003.
