Uruguay: A demonstration in Montevideo on or around 24 August 1994, to protest the extradition of three Spanish terrorists held at the Filtro Hospital, during which a young man was allegedly shot in the head by a police officer; convictions or results of a 1999 investigation into that death
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 30 April 2002 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | URY38821.E |
| Reference | 2 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Uruguay: A demonstration in Montevideo on or around 24 August 1994, to protest the extradition of three Spanish terrorists held at the Filtro Hospital, during which a young man was allegedly shot in the head by a police officer; convictions or results of a 1999 investigation into that death , 30 April 2002, URY38821.E , available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3df4bec010.html [accessed 22 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
For reports on the demonstrations of 24 August 1994 which resulted in confrontations between protesters and police near the Filtro Hospital, please consult the documents attached to URY18159.E of 7 September 1994, available through Regional Documentation Centres.
Further to those reports, a report on a 1997 debate in the Uruguayan Senate on ETA attacks in Spain indicates that Senator Marina Arismendi of the Communist Party held the then Minister of the Interior, Dr. Angel Gianola, responsible for the death of Fernando Morroni during the 24 August 1994 events near the Filtro Hospital (El País 16 July 1997). A Senator from another party countered that "those truly responsible for that death" (los verdaderos responsables de esa muerte) were the tupamaros and the Communist Party, "who placed innocent people at the front of their demonstration" (que puso a esa gente inocente al frente de su manifestación) (ibid.).
A 20 August 1999 report states that "Uruguayan justice blamed [24-year old Alvaro Fernando] Morroni's death equally on the police and the tupamaros" (la justicia ... responsabiliza por igual a Policía y tupamaros) (CUI 20 Aug. 1999).
Uruguayan student and union groups organized a march on 24 August 2001 to commemorate the events of 24 August 1994, under the slogan "down with impunity" ("Abajo la impunidad") (Radio El Espectador 24 Aug. 2001). Similar demonstrations were held in earlier years:
On 24 August 1998 the PIT-CNT workers central and other organizations coordinated a commemorative march to demand justice against those responsible for the death of Morroni, described as a young militant of the workers central (El País 25 Aug. 1998).
A 24 August 2000 march was organized by the Taxi union and other "civic and radical left groups" (organizaciones sociales y de la izquierda radical) to "demand a clarification of the 24 August 1994 events near the Filtro Hospital" (para reclamar el esclarecimiento de los episodios ocurridos aquella noche del año 1994 en las inmediaciones del Filtro) (ibid. 22 Aug. 2000). During the demonstration, two journalists covering the event were reportedly assaulted by some demonstrators (ibid. 26 Aug. 2000).
An opinion piece published soon after the 2000 march criticized the Frente Amplio and the leader of the Movement of the Left (Corriente de Izquierda) for attempting to have the newly-created Peace Commission (Comisión de la Paz) consider the Morroni case under its mandate, criticizing also their 1994 call through the radio for young people to undergo a "baptism of blood" (bautismo de sangre) defending the detained ETA members (ibid. 16 Sept. 2000). A leader of the PIT-CNT reportedly stated that it "was a mistake of the union movement to demand asylum in 1994 for persons presumably linked to ETA" (fue un error del movimiento sindical pedir (en 1994) el derecho de asilo a gente supuestamente vinculada con la ETA) (ibid. 26 Aug. 2000).
A 24 August 2001 demonstration followed a series of days of protest by the PIT-CNT and other union organizations (ibid. 23 Aug. 2001). The 2001 demonstration reportedly included Basque and Argentinean protesters; it was criticized publicly by the Minister of Education and Culture, particularly the participation of persons linked to the ETA in the demonstration and the fact that Uruguay – unlike Argentina and other Latin American countries – had never seen a march to denounce or protest terrorist acts committed by the ETA (ibid. 24 Aug. 2001). A political commentary on student demonstrations and occupations of educational centres suggested that the past death of Fernando Morroni and another student's death in 1968 were being used as an excuse to further political agendas of certain groups, rather than actually protest or commemorate their deaths (ibid. 2 Sept. 2001).
No reports of a 1999 investigation into the death of Fernando Morroni on 24 August 1994 could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. The weekly Brecha reported in 1995 that the death of Morroni had not been resolved due to a lack of evidence (8 Dec. 1995). A woman who was wounded during the 24 August 1994 demonstration by an 8.9 mm bullet, a calibre used by police, sued the government and obtained approximately US$6,000 in compensation in March 1997 (4 Apr. 1997). Fernando Morroni was reportedly killed by a 6 mm bullet shot from behind (CUI 20 Aug. 1999).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Brecha [Montevideo]. 4 April 1997. No. 592. Carina Gobbi. "La responsabilidad fue de la Policía."
_____. 8 December 1995. No. 523. Pepe Mujica. "Los fueros de la verdad."
Centro Uruguay Independiente (CUI), Montevideo. 20 August 1999. Referencias de Prensa. "Información General y Política: Extreadición de vascos. A cinco años de los hechos del Hospital Filtro."
El País [Montevideo]. 2 September 2001. Alvaro Giz. "La moda de las ocupaciones."
_____. 24 August 2001. "Mercader dijo que hay simpatizantes de ETA."
_____. 23 August 2001. "Ofensiva del PIT-CNT en el acto en Florida."
_____. 16 September 2000. Flavio Beltrán. "Estado del alma."
_____. 26 August 2000. "Una marcha con agresiones."
_____. 22 August 2000. "Piden llevar caso Morroni a Comisión para la Paz."
_____. 25 August 1998. "Concentración y marcha al Filtro."
_____. 16 July 1997. "Parlamento condenó crimen de Blanco por terroristas de ETA."
Radio El Espectador, Montevideo. 24 August 2001. "Evocación de un día amargo."
Additional Sources Consulted
Country Reports 1999-2001. 2000-2002.
IRB Databases.
Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 1999-2001.
Latin American Regional Reports: Southern Cone Report [London]. 1999-2001.
Internet sites, including:
Brecha [Montevideo]. Searchable archives. 1995-2002.
Centro Uruguay Independiente (CUI), Montevideo. Referencias de Prensa (Press summaries). 1999.
Clarín [Buenos Aires]. Searchable archives.
El País [Montevideo]. Searchable archives. 1997-2002.
