Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 1997 - Argentina, 1 January 1997, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aa000.html [accessed 27 May 2023]
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One prisoner of conscience remained imprisoned. There were reports of torture and ill-treatment of detainees in police stations. Investigations into past "disappearances" made little progress, although new legal proceedings were initiated. Dozens of killings by police in circumstances suggesting possible extrajudicial executions were reported. Demonstrators were beaten and otherwise ill-treated by police. In February, Argentina ratified the Inter-American Convention on the Forced Disappearance of Persons. In September, the newly-created constitutional body of Buenos Aires, in charge of drawing up the statutes under which the capital city will be governed, amended the Buenos Aires police by-laws. The new legislation removes federal police powers to arrest, interrogate and detain suspected offenders for up to 30 days without bringing them before a judge. The new police regulations, incorporating these guarantees, had not been approved by the end of the year. In its report to the UN Commission on Human Rights, the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances observed that the Argentine State was obliged to conduct investigations thoroughly and impartially "for as long as the fate of the victim of enforced disappearance remains unclarified", in accordance with the provisions of the UN Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. One prisoner of conscience remained in jail at the end of the year. Fray Antonio Puigjane, a 68-year-old Franciscan friar, was arrested in the wake of an armed attack in January 1989 by members of the Movimiento Todos por la Patria (MTP), All for the Fatherland Movement (see Amnesty International Reports1990 to 1993). Fray Antonio Puigjane, a leading member of the MTP, had denied any knowledge of the attack and had not participated in it. In October 1989, he was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations that he was aware of and contributed to the attack. At the end of the year, his case was pending before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States. Incidents of torture and ill-treatment of detainees in police stations were reported. In February, Leandro Oliva and his female companion, a minor, were arrested by a police patrol in Buenos Aires after cannabis was reportedly found in his possession. In his complaint, filed before the Human Rights Under-Secretariat in the Ministry of the Interior, Leandro Oliva stated that while on his way to Police Station No. 5 he was subjected to torture, including being burned with cigarettes. In the police station, he stated that he and his companion were handcuffed, beaten, and threatened with the same fate as Walter Bulacio, a youth who died in police custody in 1991 (see Amnesty International Report 1996). In March, Clarisa Andrea Lencina filed an official complaint against two police officers of Police Station No. 3 at Berazategui, Buenos Aires Province. She stated that she had been subjected to beatings, near-asphyxiation and other physical abuse on the two occasions when she was detained in February and March. Fernando Pérez Ferreira, a student, was arrested in July in San Carlos de Bariloche, Neuquén Province. According to the legal complaint filed by his parents, he was severely beaten during the seven hours of his detention. Three police officers were reportedly suspended from duty and a police inquiry was announced. In July, 11 young people were arrested in Buenos Aires by armed police in civilian clothes. The youths were taken to Police Station No. 21 in Buenos Aires where they were allegedly beaten. Some were held incommunicado for 17 hours and interrogated about their attendance at a public meeting organized by Hijos por la Identidad y la Justicia contra el Olvido y el Silencio, Children for Identity and Justice against Oblivion and Silence, a group formed by children of the "disappeared". A complaint relating to this incident was filed, but no inquiry was known to have been initiated. Little progress was made in investigations into past "disappearances", although new information came to light from neighbouring countries regarding collaboration in the past between their security forces and the Argentine military government in carrying out human rights violations. In May, a former Uruguayan navy captain, Jorge Tróccoli, stated that nationals from both countries had been arrested and made to "disappear" by Uruguayan and Argentine security forces personnel (see Uruguay entry). In July, the Paraguayan Supreme Court released to the Argentine authorities files on the arrest in Paraguay and subsequent "disappearance" of Argentine nationals Alejandro Logoluso, Dora Marta Landi and José Nell in 1977 (see Paraguay entry). The police record of their arrest stated that the three were handed over, with two Uruguayan prisoners, to members of the Argentine and Uruguayan security forces. Their whereabouts remain unknown. Two other investigations into the cases of three foreign nationals French nuns Alice Domon and Léonie Duquet, and Dagmar Hagelin, of joint Swedish/Argentine nationality who "disappeared" in Argentina in 1977, were reopened in March and June respectively by the Argentine Appeals Court. The investigations had not concluded by the end of the year. Legal initiatives on cases of Italian and Spanish nationals who "disappeared" in Argentina were undertaken by courts in their respective countries. In May, an Italian judge ordered that the investigation continue into the cases of more than 70 Italians and Argentines of Italian origin who "disappeared" in Argentina during the period of military rule. In September, a Spanish High Court judge summoned more than 100 members of the Argentine security forces, including members of former military juntas, to testify in the cases of 300 Spanish citizens who "disappeared" in Argentina between 1976 and 1983. In February, the government agreed to pay compensation to the families of Adolfo Argentino Garrido, Raúl Baigorria and Pablo Cristian Guardatti after their cases had been submitted to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of the Organization of American States. The three men "disappeared" between 1990 and 1992 in Mendoza after detention by members of the provincial police (see Amnesty International Reports 1993 and 1994). The provincial government agreed to the appointment of an independent commission to investigate the fate of the three men. Dozens of killings by police in circumstances suggesting possible extrajudicial executions were reported and led to investigations in some cases. In February, Alejandro Mirabete was shot by two police officers in civilian clothes in Belgrano, a district of Buenos Aires. He died at Pirovano Hospital after nine days in a coma. The police officers had shot Alejandro Mirabete when he ran away after they requested his identification papers. Initial claims by police authorities that Alejandro Mirabete was armed and had been wounded while struggling with the police were contradicted by eye-witnesses, who subsequently reported that they had been harassed and threatened with death. A police officer was arrested and charged with manslaughter. Throughout the year widespread demonstrations against government policies were forcibly dispersed by the police, who beat and ill-treated demonstrators. In February, a student demonstration in the city of La Plata, Buenos Aires Province, was dispersed with rubber bullets and tear-gas by police officers, some of whom were reportedly wearing hoods and driving unmarked vehicles. Several journalists were beaten with truncheons, and Hernán Ramos, a television cameraman, was seriously injured when he was hit by rubber bullets fired at point-blank range by police officers in civilian clothes. In February, Amnesty International wrote to the federal and provincial authorities urging a full and independent inquiry into the incidents in La Plata. In April, the provincial Security Secretary replied that 11 police officers had been temporarily suspended from duty and that a police investigation into the incident had been initiated. No findings were known to have been made public by the end of the year. In July, Amnesty International wrote to the Minister of Government and Justice of Corrientes Province asking for a prompt, thorough and independent investigation into the killing of Pedro Salvador Aguirre. The Minister replied that two police officers had been suspended from duty. He also stated that an investigation into the killing had been initiated, but no findings were known to have been made public by the end of the year. Throughout the year, Amnesty International urged the government to clarify the fate of victims of past "disappearances". Amnesty International repeated its calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Fray Antonio Puigjane.
