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Scars heal slowly in Argentina
From ANDREW THOMPSON, in Buenos Aires
HUMAN rights in Argentina are in
a grey area. The country is much more
peaceful than during the long period of
violence from 1974 to 1979, when the
"dirty war" was waged between the
security services and various guerilla
organisations.
Yet today there are two main issues of
concern. The first is how to resolve the social
and moral scars left by that war: the second
is whether the relatively freer atmosphere
will last.
Within Argentina, there is no consensus
on how many people were killed or "disap
peared" during the 1970s. Human-rights
organisations say they have full details of
7,000 cases, but estimate the real number
to be much higher.
On March 30 this year mass trade-union
demonstrations against Government
economic policies were violently repressed
by the police: one man was killed. During
the South Atlantic war, a number of foreign
journalists were kidnapped for short periods.
Recently, there have been signs that the
right-wing squads are again becoming activc,
although a much lower level then in the past.
The "mothers of the Plaza de Mayo", the
group of relatives of disappeared persons
who demonstrate every Thursday outside
Government House, have begun to receive
threats. The house of one of the "mothers"
was broken into, and the walls were painted
with threatening slogans. Others have re
ceived threatening telephone calls.
However, a sign that times have changcd
came when General Mario Leport, head of
the Buenos Aires province police, then prom
ised "guarantees of protection and an in
vestigation of the threats". The "mothers",
he said, "also have the right to live in peace".
Although many opponents of the regime
doubt that those responsible will ever be
brought before a court, the fact that the
police chief feels it necessary to make these
statements is seen as step in the right
direction.
However, the relatives of the disappeared
have never been told whether the victims are
alive or dead. The Roman Catholic Church
has recently been pressing the Government
for a full clarification of what has happened.
It is believed that General Llamil Reston.
the Interior Minister, is now working on the
outlines of an amnesty law, in an attempt to
defuse this explosive issue. The question of
the "disappeared ones" remains one of the
major main obstacles to an unconditional
military withdrawal from government.
According to the human-rights organisa
tions, there arc now 446 political prisoners
held "at the disposition of the executive
power" who have never been accused of any
crime. In other cases, accused people who
have been declared innocent by the courts,
have been kept in prison.
A further 273 prisoners have been sen
tenced by military courts, which have since
been declared unconstitutional by the Su
preme Court. An additional 83, the human
rights activists say, have been tried and
condemned to long sentences without proper
legal defence. To these must be added 218
prisoners who should be released (having
finished their sentences) but who remain in
jail.
Finally, among the prisoners there arc a
number who are seriously ill, and about 35
who are mentally disturbed. Last year some
prioners committed suicide in their cells.
Many observers arc cautious about the
future. One Argentine journalist commented
that the armed forces too had suffered many
deaths at the hands of the guerilla forces,
and that as a result a powerful body of
military opinion remained opposed to any
clarification of the fate of the "disappeared
ones".
In the present economic and social crisis,
there is a real prospect of a different kind
of violence - that of open confrontations
between protesters and the police. Although
the two guerilla organisations no longer exist
as real forces in the country, social tensions
remain extremely high.
The Times
London
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