By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—Jorge Videla and Reynaldo Bignone, Argentina’s former dictators were sentenced on Thursday, August 6, to fifty years (Videla) and fifteen years (Bignone) in jail for masterminding a plan to steal the children of political opponents, kill their mothers, and send them to live and be raised by “good” military families.

The verdict last week was the conclusion of a trial that began in February 2011, during which hundreds of hours of testimony were heard proving that these kidnappings were a deliberate policy action carried out by the top leaders of Videla and Bignone’s regimes. British journalist and one of the main witnesses in the trial, Robert Cox, noted that “the kidnapping of newly born babies is the last crime that former members of the military regime are willing to admit. It’s like the Nazis, what they did was so terrible they could never admit it.”

Shortly after Videla’s regime came to an end and Argentina’s democracy was restored in 1983, a “Never Again” commission was created documenting thousands of crimes against humanity throughout the military regime. However, hardly any of these crimes were brought to court and prosecuted until the late Nestor Kirchner was elected to the presidency 20 years later.

While an estimated 30,000 people were killed under Videla and Bignone’s regimes, this trial was brought in order to establish the true identities of about 500 babies that were alleged to be stolen by the dictators. At the conclusion of the trial, the prosecution could prove that over 100 babies were stolen—some were born in captivity, while others were kidnapped with their families, and raised by other families linked to the dictatorship.

Spectators watched in anticipation and celebration as the verdicts were announced on large television screens outside the federal courthouse of Buenos Aires. Human rights activist Tati Almeida exclaimed, “This is an historic day. Today legal justice has been made real — never again the justice of one’s own hands.”

Today, 105 of these kidnapped children, now in their 30s, have undergone DNA tests and have been reunited with their families through the efforts of an organization called Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo that was created by the mothers of missing women whose infants were stolen.

As the effort to restore Argentina’s democracy continues, Juan Garcia, who was left at an orphanage after his father was murdered by a military guerrilla group, said, “We’ll continue this fight for justice.”

 

For further information, please see:

Belle News – Jorge Videla and Reynaldo Bignone Found Guilty of Babies Theft in Argentina – 9 July 2012

The Guardian – Jorge Rafael Videla Convicted of Baby Thefts – 6 July 2012

The Telegraph – Former Argentine Dictators Found Guilty of Baby Thefts – 6 July 2012

Winnepeg Free Press – Argentina’s Dictators Guilty of Stealing Babies From Prisoners – 5 July 2012

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

ASUNCION, Paraguay — Paraguay’s now formerly ousted President Fernando Lugo has accused the country’s Congress of a “parliamentary coup d’etat” in order to force him out of power. Lugo, 61, said he would accept the decision in the name of peace but also made the following statement: “Lugo has not been dismissed; democracy has been dismissed. They have not respected the popular will.”

Friday, June 22, Fredrico Franco, the former vice president of Paraguay, was sworn in as the new president after the legislature voted to dismiss Lugo, who they said failed to fulfill his duties to maintain social harmony in the country. While Paraguay has long been ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in South America, Lugo was found to be indecisive in the face of the country’s challenges with corruption and drug trafficking.

Shortly before midnight on Sunday, June 24, Lugo made an appearance at a local demonstration where he told his supporters that his Presidency was targeted because he tried to offer support and aid to Paraguay’s poor majority.

Lugo’s impeachment and trial sparked after clashes during a recent land eviction resulted in 17 deaths of both police and land peasant farmers. Critics of the impeachment process in Paraguay argued, however, that Mr. Lugo’s lawyers only had a few hours to defend him in the Senate, after which Franco was quickly sworn in to the position.

When asked whether this decision thwarted the democratic setup of the government, new President Franco replied, “there was no break with democracy here. The transition of power through political trial is established in the national constitution.”

The Inter-American Human Rights Commission addressed its own concerns with the ousting of former President Lugo. Santiago Canton, the commission’s executive secretary noted, “It’s a travesty of justice and a trampling on the rule of law to remove a president in 24 hours without guarantees of due process.”

Argentinian President, Cristina Kirchner, took a firm stand saying that her country “will not validate this coup d’etat,” while the Brazilian government took a similar view that Lugo’s impeachment was “a rupture of the democratic order in Paraguay” that “compromises a fundamental pillar of democracy, an essential condition for regional integration.” Germany is the only foreign government to recognize the new leadership in Paraguay.

In order to restore its full democratic order, Paraguay now looks to its powerful neighbors for support with its new internal reform.

 

For further information, please see:

EIN News – Neighbors Protest as Paraguay Impeaches President – 25 June 2012

The Washington Post – Paraguay’s Lugo Says Parallel Govt Seeks to Regain Power; New Leader Rejects Region’s Response – 25 June 2012

Merco Press – Franco: “No Coup, a Change of Leadership”; Germany Admits New Government – 24 June 2012

The Telegraph – Paraguay’s Ousted Leader Fernando Lugo Denounces ‘Coup’ – 24 June 2012

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia — Viviana Hernandez still vividly recalls the acid attack that left her with burns on her face, chest, and hands, and took her eyesight in her left eye. “All of a sudden you see some liquid coming towards your face and you think that somebody might have slipped, or that they want to get you wet,” she said. “You never imagine that it can happen to you.”

The aim of these attacks is not to kill but to punish women. Hernandez, 28, noted that when her former husband wanted to get back together with her, she refused. She said, “he used to call me, to threaten me. On the day of the attack, he followed me.” While, her husband did not throw the acid himself, he did point her out to hired attackers.

Another young woman told BBC that “when they threw acid, they also told me: ‘it is your fault for being so pretty.” These attacks often result from domestic disputes or romantic rivals, and as a result, many of the victims are not given proper care, nor are they immediately hospitalized.

A plastic surgeon in Colombia, Dr. Linda Guerrero, explains that, “When a woman has little schooling and no job, she’s financially dependent on a man. That creates a situation where women are inferior, where men can say, ‘I’m the owner of that woman and therefore I have a right to do want I want with her.'”

Colombian Congresswoman Gloria Estela Diaz introduced a bill in mid-march to toughen the punishment for acid attackers. Currently, assailants can get a maximum ten-year jail sentence. Diaz’s bill will heighten the sentence from between eight-to-thirty years, without a possibility of reduced jail time. She also hopes to restrict the sale of the acids typically used against women–phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid, and nitric acids.

Many women continue to struggle proving the identity of their attacker. Hernandez is one of these women. As a result, she was forced to flee to another city to protect herself. “We carry this tragedy with us every day,” she stated.

For further information, please see:

UPI – 3 Arrested in Bogota for Acid Attacks – 6 June 2012

BBC – Colombia Acid Victims Seek Justice as Attacks Spread – 30 May 2012

Care2 Make a Difference – Acid Attacks on Colombian Women – 21 May 2012

Fijilive – Acid Attacks on Women Grow in Colombia – 8 March 2012