The former dictator Jorge Rafael Videla was sentenced to life imprisonment yesterday. The first of the 1976-83 military dictatorship’s four leaders, it was ruled that Videla will serve life for crimes against humanity. The trial, carried out in the province of Córdoba, ended the decade-long wait for a resolution. His sentence will be carried out in a federal jail.
During the trial the former coup leader was found “criminally responsible for the crimes of aggravated torture” and murder.
The ruling, served by judges Jaime Díaz Gavier, Carlos Lascano and José María Pérez Villalobos, stated that Videla was responsible for tortures imposed on political prisoners, aggravated homicides and torture followed by death.
Accused of state terrorism under Operation Condor during the Dirty War - the name given to the 1976-83 military junta - Videla presented his case to the court of Tuesday. Defending his repressive actions he justified the state terrorism that was carried out during the dictatorship.
Luciano Benjamín Menéndez, another one of the leading officials during the dictatorship, was also found guilty and responsible fro the use of fatal torture. The judges ruled that he too must serve a life sentence.
The ruling was read in the presence of human rights organisations such as the Madres de Plaza de Mayo who have been active since the dictatorships and throughout the trial. Also present were a number of the victims’ relatives who have awaited the verdict for over two decades.
Previous human rights trials began under president elect Raúl Alfonsín when he created the National Commission on the Disappearence of Persons (CONADEP) in December 1983 under which Videla was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1985. This sentence was revoked by former president Carlos Menem in October 1989 when he pardoned those convicted in the human rights trials as part of his controversial sweeping reforms. Under Néstor Kirchner’s presidency in 2006 the Supreme Court ruled these pardons void, and reopened the trials.
During the last military dictatorship, human rights organisations estimate that around 30,000 people were ‘disappeared’ and many are still unaccounted for. Estimates also suggest that 500 children of the disaparecidos were deprived of their true identity.
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[...] for fucking up Argentina in the 70′s and killing over 30,000 people? Well he has been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of genocide and human rights violations. Just in time for Christmas! [...]
[...] day in the history of Argentina. It was the day that ex-dictator Jorge Rafael Videla, 85, was finally sentenced to life in prison for his crimes during the Argentine “Dirty War,” when 30,000 people “disappeared.” He was [...]
[...] the military leaders and their subordinates to justice. Last year, junta leader and ex-dictator Jorge Rafael Videla, 85, was sentenced to life in prison. This year, trials have started against several other military men, among them former captain and [...]