General Cristino Nicolaides, the head of the Army during the last dictatorship, died on Saturday night in Córdoba. The former army chief and member of the fourth military junta formed after the defeat of the Falklands was 86 years old. According to his lawyer he died as a result of lung problems while serving a sentence at home. He was cremated and buried in a private cemetery yesterday.

Nicolaides had been under house arrest after being sentenced in 2007 to 25 years in prison for the disappearance of six people from the Montonero group. Although he was carrying out his sentence his ongoing illness had meant that he could not be included in the upcoming human rights debates to begin in February. These will examine evidence surrounding the systematic kidnapping of babies during the last dictatorship. Nicolaides’ name had been removed from this list of defendents due to health problems.

The Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo had sent an expert to examine these health issues six months ago and confirmed his deterioration. The organisation stated that if the trial had been carried out four or five years ago the repressor may have been convicted.

Nicolaides avoided the Trial of the Juntas in 1985 by an agreement negotiated by the armed forces with former President Raul Alfonsin. The grounds on which he was being charged were various cases of human rights abuses during his post between 1981-1982 as head of the Army. Despite not being tried for everything he was accused of Nicolaides died, according to Pagina 12′s Luis Alen, under the “moral condemnation of society”.

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.

Emilio Eduardo Massera, former member of the military government of the last dictatorship in Argentina, died yesterday at the age of 85. He suffered a cardiac arrest in Buenos Aires Naval hospital, where his two sons were visiting him.

Along with Jorge Rafael Videla and Orlando Ramon Agosti, Massera was associated with the military junta that deposed of President “Isabel” Perón. During the the 1976 military coup he was the Commander of the Argentine Navy.

Following the restoration to democracy in December 1983, Massera, along with other members of the military junta were tried in a federal court for human rights violations. Responsible for the former School of Naval Mechanics (ESMA), Massera oversaw the largest clandestine detention center of the military dictatorship.

Receiving a life sentence under Raul Alfonsin’s government for crimes including abortion, assassination, and torture during the dictatorship, Massera was only imprisoned for five years. In 1990, along with other military oppressors, Massera was given amnesty by former President Carlos Menem. The decade after his release, the court reopened the human rights trials, ruling Menem’s pardon as unconstitutional. Massera suffered a stroke, however, in 2005 and was declared unfit for trial.

Human Rights organisations and political groups have urged the human rights trials to continue.

President of the organisation Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, Estela de Carlotto, stated that it was “regrettable” that Massera died without receiving adequate punishment for his crimes.

Victoria Donda, President of the Human Rights Commission of the Lower House, stated that “Emilio Massera died unpunished, which represents a serious offence to democracy and its institutions, because we believe that the only possible place for a genocide is prison”.

Donda is among the many thousands of victims of the dictatorship, born when her mother was held captive at the Navy Mechanical School (ESMA). Her mother was killed in the detention centre soon after giving birth, following which Donda was illegally adopted. She recovered her identity as a result of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo organisation, who continue to search for the children of the desaparecidos.

Donda called for the ESMA trials to continue as quickly as possible: “No other repressor should die unpunished”. These requests for ongoing cases to be undertaken rapidly are particularly pertinent as seven new trials are scheduled for the coming months. The total number of human rights abusers prosecuted for violations now stands at 783, over 140 more than in 2009.

Former dictator, Reynaldo Bignone, refused to testify as the trial resumed this morning. Held in José León Suáre, Bignone’s testimony was due to be heard along with that of former police officer Luis Abelardo Patti.

The Human Rights trial continues alleging crimes against humanity were committed in the north of Buenos Aires during the dictatorship. Accusations include the kidnapping and murder of Gaston Gonçalves and Diego Muniz Barreto.

Bignone’s silence follows former General Santiago Omar Riveros’ refusal to testify at the end of last Thursday’s hearing.

In addition to Bignone and Patti, the former commissioner of Escobar during the dictatorship, Juan Fernando Meneghini, was due to testify today. He is expected to continue distancing himself from the accusations, and repeat explanations renouncing responsibility for what took place after the military took over the area. Ana Oberlin, who represents part of the lawsuit, said Meneghini “cannot claim to break away from the situations that occurred because as commissioner he had responsibilities.”

Human Rights organisations yesterday reiterated complaints that have been repeated in each of the trials around the country: “The only thing we want to hear is where are the desaparecidos and what happened to them, everything else does not interest us”.