Fwd: Pinochet Judge indicts 98 in Argentine 'dirty war'

["Macdonald Stainsby" <mstainsby@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>Pinochet judge indicts 98 in Argentine 'dirty war'
>cases
>
>Copyright © 1999 Nando Media
>Copyright © 1999 Associated Press
>
>
>
>MADRID, Spain (November 2, 1999 10:49 p.m. EST
>http://www.nandotimes.com) - The Spanish
>judge seeking to prosecute former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet
>took aim Tuesday at
>alleged perpetrators of the "dirty war" in Argentina, filing international
>arrest warrants for
>98 former military officers.
>
>Judge Baltasar Garzon charged former the officials linked to the military
>juntas that ruled
>Argentina from 1976 to 1983 with genocide, terrorism and torture.
>
>An Argentine government report has said at least 9,000 people
>disappeared and are
>presumed dead from the military regime's crackdown on leftists and
>dissidents. Some
>human rights groups estimate the figure at 30,000.
>
>Argentina put several former military leaders on trial after democracy
>was restored in
>1983. They were sentenced to life in prison, but pardoned five years
>later by the President
>Carlos Menem.
>
>Among those named Tuesday was former Gen. Jorge Videla, who was
>the first
>junta-backed president, former navy chief Adm. Emilio Massera, and
>former dictator
>Leopoldo Galtieri.
>
>Garzon's 300-page indictment said the officers sought "to eliminate
>people based on their
>race, ideology and religion," according to EFE state news agency.
>
>The indictment also requested the officers' assets be frozen worldwide,
>EFE reported.
>
>A similar warrant filed by Garzon led to Pinochet's arrest last year in
>Britain. Since then,
>the Spanish magistrate has been trying to extradite Pinochet and put
>him on trial in Spain
>for alleged torture and human rights violations in Chile during his
>dictatorship.
>
>Pinochet is under police custody in London, pending resolution of
>Garzon's extradition
>request.
>
>Menem issued a decree last year to block cooperation with Garzon's
>judicial probe into
>human rights abuses in Argentina. His successor, President-elect
>Fernando de la Rua, is
>also expected to refuse to aid the Spanish judge.
>
>Videla and Massera have also been accused by Argentine officials of
>kidnapping children
>born to political prisoners who disappeared and putting them up for
>adoption. They are
>under house arrest. Galtieri lives in the Buenos Aires area.
>
>

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