"Devuelvan a los chicos"

CRONICA, Buenos Aires







VIDELA, CONDENADO POR EL ROBO DE BEBÉS

"La pesadilla de los bebés robados perseguirá a las víctimas durante muchos años"

Las víctimas y familiares de los niños robados se muestran satisfechos con la condena al exdictador Videla "no por venganza, sino como un acto de justicia"

CADENA SER   06-07-2012
Los niños robados, desaparecidos o adoptados ilegalmente son uno de los legados más dolorosos de la represión de la disidencia de izquierdas, sobre los que se piensa que hasta 30.000 personas fueron asesinadas.
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Manifestantes escuchan la sentencia a los exdictadores Jorge Rafael Videla y Reynaldo Bignone en el juicio en su contra en Buenos Aires
Manifestantes escuchan la sentencia a los exdictadores Jorge Rafael Videla y Reynaldo Bignone en el juicio en su contra en Buenos Aires- (EFE)
Han sido 102 niños los que han descubierto su identidad verdadera, pero muchas familias siguen buscando a sus hijos más de tres décadas después. Los activistas consideran, incluso, que podría haber cientos de personas que no saben que fueron arrebatadas de sus padres.
"Esto es lo que estábamos buscando", declara el abuelo de uno de los niños robados, "Nunca hemos querido venganza,pedíamos justicia y se ha hecho justicia".
"Al final, tu alma se endurece"
No obstante, aun existen casos sin cerrar. Clara Anahí Mariani, por ejemplo, fue secuestrada a los tres meses de vida, cuando los servicios de seguridad allanaron su casa y mataron a su madre. Desde entonces, su abuela no ha dejado de buscarla incansablemente.
"Muchas chicas vienen a ver si son Clara Anahí", comenta la abuela, que estaba tejiendo un jersey para su nieta cuando ocurrieron los fatídicos hechos, hace ya 36 años.
"Al principio era horrible comprobar que una niña que tenía el mismo nombre, la misma fecha de cumpleaños y muchas más coincidencias no diera positivo en la prueba de ADN. Al final, tu alma se endurece".
Las condenas efectuadas han dado un poco de consuelo a los familiares y activistas, pero esta abuela dice que la pesadilla de los bebés robados perseguirá a las víctimas durante muchos años.
"Es como un cuento de hadas ver en los periódicos que un niño desaparecido ha sido encontrado y que ha conocido a su familia".
"Es una sentencia histórica"
Entre las víctimas también se encuentra Macarena, la nieta del poeta argentino Juan Gelman, que ya había sido localizada en el año 2000, donde nació mientras su madre estaba detenida, y se sumó a la alegría compartida con las víctimas al conocer la noticia.
"Es una sentencia histórica que confirma el plan sistemático del robo de bebés, se empiezan a ver las caras de los responsables", ha declarado la activista.
También Estela de Carlotto, presidenta de la Asociación Civil Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, considera que hay motivos para celebrar porque "ellos tuvieron la aberrante idea de que no íbamos a criar a nuestros nietos, pero hemos viajado por todo el mundo para encontrarlos".
Según las estimaciones de las organizaciones humanitarias, aún hay más de 400 denuncias pendientes por casos similares y unas 300 familias que han depositado sus datos en bancos de ADN con la esperanza de recuperar sus hijos y nietos robados.


Dernières infos
Syrie: pour le CNT, la défection du général Mounaf Tlass, porte un "coup énorme" au régime et l'opposition va chercher à "coopérer" avec lui
  


ARGENTINE - 
Article publié le : vendredi 06 juillet 2012 - Dernière modification le : vendredi 06 juillet 2012

Le vol de bébés sous la dictature argentine a été planifié de manière systématique

Buenos Aires, 5 juillet 2012. Des membres d'organisations des droits de l'homme, des victimes et leurs proches écoutent le verdict rendu à l'encontre de l'ancien général Videla.
Buenos Aires, 5 juillet 2012. Des membres d'organisations des droits de l'homme, des victimes et leurs proches écoutent le verdict rendu à l'encontre de l'ancien général Videla.
REUTERS/Enrique Marcarian

Par RFI
C'est la fin d’un procès historique en Argentine, où la justice a condamné l’ancien général Jorge Videla et huit autres accusés pour leur responsabilité dans le vol de bébés nés de femmes détenues sous la dictature. Ces bébés étaient ensuite adoptés illégalement par des familles proches des militaires. Quelque 500 enfants auraient ainsi été dépouillés de leur identité, souvent après l’assassinat de leurs parents, entre 1976 et 1983. Pas plus de 105 d’entre-eux ont été retrouvés par les grands-mères de la place de Mai. Les autres vivent toujours sous une fausse identité.

De notre correspondant à Buenos Aires, Jean-Louis Buchet
Cinquante ans de prison, c'est la peine maximale pour l'ancien chef de la junte argentine, Jorge Videla. Si d’autres condamnations ont suscité des réactions mitigées, la sentence a été bien accueillie par les victimes et leurs familles. Les juges ont considéré qu’il y avait bien eu un plan systématique de vol de bébés nés durant la captivité de leurs mères sous la dictature, comme le demandaient le ministère public et les parties civiles.

L'ancien général Jorge Videla.
REUTERS
Pour Rosa Roisemblit, vice-présidente des grands-mères de la place de Mai, c’est un aboutissement. « Nous n’avions jamais imaginé que nous arriverions un jour à ce résultat, obtenu après tant d’années, où il a été prouvé que nous avions raison et qu’il y avait bien un plan systématique de séquestration de nos petits-enfants. »
Victoria Monténégro, un des 105 anciens bébés volés qui ont pu récupérer leur identité, parle de réparation. « C’est une sensation réparatrice. Que la justice se prononce et que l’on appelle enfin les choses par leur nom, c’est très important. Beaucoup de gens vont enfin comprendre qu’il n’y a pas d’acte d’amour dans une appropriation. Et cela nous aidera à retrouver les frères qui nous manquent. »
Ce qui frappe, c’est l’absence de haine. Grands-mères, mères de disparus, petits-enfants identifiés, ont attendu plus de trente ans pour que justice soit faite sans jamais s’en prendre directement à leurs bourreaux.
TAGS: ARGENTINE

  • Argentina condena a 50 años de cárcel al dictador Videla por el robo de bebés

    La sentencia da la razón a las Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo

    Reconoce que fue una “práctica sistemática” ejercida por el Estado

    Buenos Aires 6 JUL 2012 - 11:14 CET2031
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    Dieciséis años después de que las Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo denunciaran la “apropiación sistemática” de los nietos desaparecidos durante la dictadura, un tribunal integrado por dos hombres y una mujer les dio ayer la razón. El dictador Jorge Rafael Videla, de 86 años, el hombre que gobernó Argentina desde 1976 a 1981, fue condenado a 50 años de cárcel. Y su sucesor, tras la guerra de las Malvinas, Reynaldo Bignone, de 84 años, a 15 años de prisión. Además, fueron condenados también los altos mandos militares Jorge El Tigre Acosta, a 30 años y Antonio Vañek, a 40. En total, fueron 11 los acusados, de los cuales quien obtuvo la pena menor fue la única mujer, Inés Susana Colombo, condenada a cinco años.
    Hasta ahora se habían condenado en Argentina a unas 25 personas por apropiación de menores. Pero se trataba de casos concretos en los que el acusado respondía por su propio delito. Lo que las Abuelas han intentado probar en esta causa es que los 500 robos de niños que ellas estiman que se perpetraron en la dictadura militar (1976-1983) obedecieron a un plan sistemático diseñado desde la cúpula del Estado. Y así lo reconoció la sentencia al considerar que se ejerció el “terrorismo de Estado” mediante “la práctica sistemática y generalizada de sustracción, retención y ocultamiento de niños menores de 10 años”, bajo un “plan general de aniquilación”.
    Los imputados habían asumido en sus declaraciones que hubo apropiaciones, pero las achacaron a la decisión particular de mandos medios o inferiores que actuaban por su cuenta y riesgo. Ayer, escucharon impávidos la sentencia. Cuando la jueza María del Carmen Roqueta, presidenta del tribunal, leyó que la condena de Videla era de 50 años, en la sala, repleta de familiares de desaparecidos, se escucharon gritos y aplausos.

    Han pasado ya 16 años desde que las Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo  denunciaron la “apropiación sistemática” de los niños
    “Es verdad que no hemos encontrado una orden escrita que pruebe que hubo un plan, pero la reconstrucción de varios elementos nos llevó a la conclusión de que hubo un plan sistemático”, indica Alan Lud, abogado de las Abuelas. “A pesar de que Videla dijo que las apropiaciones solo se produjeron en la Capital Federal y la provincia de Buenos Aires, en realidad se registraron también en otras provincias. Otra prueba es que había oficiales y médicos destinados al cuidado de las mujeres embarazadas, para que se garantizara que se produzca el parto… Eso tenía que haberlo decidido alguien”. Ese alguien, llámese Videla (1976-1981) o Bignone (1982-1983), nunca reconoció la legitimidad del tribunal. En sus últimas palabras de defensa, Videla alegó que las presas eran terroristas y que usaban a sus bebés como escudos humanos.
    En este juicio se abordaron los casos de 35 nietos, de los cuales solo 20 se prestaron a declarar. Durante el año y medio en que se han prolongado las sesiones de la vista oral, muchas abuelas confiaban en que alguno de los encausados asumiera su culpa y, sobre todo, revelase el paradero de algunas de las personas desaparecidas. Pero no fue así.

    En este juicio se abordaron los casos de 35 nietos, de los cuales solo 20 declarararon
    Desde que se inició el juicio en 1996, ya murieron varios de los acusados, como el dictador Emilio Eduardo Massera, fallecieron también algunas abuelas, se jubilaron los abogados que iniciaron la causa y el letrado que representa ahora a las Abuelas, Alan Lud, de 31 años, no había nacido cuando se perpetraron los robos de bebés. Desde entonces, 105 nietos han recuperado su identidad biológica gracias, en buena parte, a la búsqueda de las Abuelas.
    Muchas de ellas celebraron ayer abrazadas la satisfacción de haber vivido al menos para ver cómo se hacía justicia. “Videla estaba cumpliendo ya cadena perpetua tras una sentencia de 1985”, explicó el letrado de las Abuelas. “Pero el Código Penal argentino establece que a partir de un número determinado de años en prisión se puede acceder a la condicional. Si la condena hubiese sido de 25 años o inferior, podría haber accedido a ella. Pero al ser de 50 años, su petición de libertad condicional será denegada”.




     LE MONDE



    Vols de bébés : la justice argentine inflige 50 ans de prison à Jorge Videla

    Le Monde.fr avec AFP | • Mis à jour le
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    Le tribunal a décidé de "condamner l'ex-général Jorge Videla (86 ans, à g.) à cinquante ans de réclusion (...) et l'ex-général Reynaldo Bignone (84 ans, à d.) à quinze ans", a lu la présidente du tribunal, Maria Roqueta, devant une salle comble.

    La justice argentine a condamné jeudi à de lourdes peines de prison d'anciens responsables de la dictature (1976-1983), dont les deux anciens dictateurs Jorge Videla et Reynaldo Bignone, coupables d'avoir mis en place "un plan systématique" de vols de bébés d'opposants.

    Le tribunal a décidé de "condamner l'ex-général Jorge Videla (86 ans) à cinquante ans de réclusion (...) et l'ex-général Reynaldo Bignone (84 ans) à quinze ans", a lu la présidente du tribunal, Maria Roqueta, devant une salle comble. Au total, huit anciens responsables militaires étaient jugés depuis février 2011 pour leur participation à ce que la justice a qualifié de "plan systématique" de vols et d'appropriation par des proches du régime de 35 enfants d'opposants nés en détention.
    Ont également été condamnés Jorge "Tigre" Acosta (trente ans de prison), Antonio Vañek (quarante ans), Juan Azic (quatorze ans), Jorge Magnacco, un ancien médecin militaire (dix ans), et Santiago Riveros (vingt ans). En revanche, l'ancien responsable de la marine Rubén Franco a été acquitté. Jorge "Tigre" Acosta était un responsable de l'ESMA (Ecole de mécanique de la marine), centre de torture emblématique situé en plein Buenos Aires, où sont nés et ont été pris à leur mère la plupart des bébés.
    Egalement poursuivis, mais pour appropriation d'enfants, Victor Gallo, ex-militaire, et son épouse, professeur, Susana Colombo. Ils ont, eux, écopé de quinze et cinq ans de prison. L'ancien policier Eduardo Ruffo, poursuivi dans ce même volet, a été acquitté.
    CRIS DE JOIE



    Le verdict a été accueilli avec des cris de joie, des chants et des larmes sur le parvis du tribunal où des centaines de personnes ont suivi sur un écran géant la lecture de la décision.
    Le verdict a été accueilli avec des cris de joie, des chants et des larmes sur le parvis du tribunal où des centaines de personnes ont suivi sur un écran géant la lecture de la décision. Présente dans la salle d'audience, Estela de Carlotto, dirigeante de l'organisation des Grands-Mères de la Place de Mai, à l'origine de la découverte de l'identité de 105 enfants volés, s'est réjouie d'une décision qui "confirme qu'il y a eu en Argentine un plan systématique de vol de bébés". Son organisation évalue à environ 500 le nombre de "bébés volés" puis "adoptés" sous une fausse identité sous la dictature.
    Au pouvoir de 1976 à 1981, Jorge Videla purge déjà deux peines de prison à perpétuité pour crime contre l'humanité. Reynaldo Bignone (1982-1983) purge également deux peines (perpétuité et vingt-cinq ans de prison), pour violation des droits de l'homme. "Toutes celles qui ont accouché, que je respecte en tant que mères, étaient des militantes actives de la machinerie du terrorisme. Elles ont utilisé leurs enfants comme boucliers humains", avait affirmé Jorge Videla la semaine dernière à l'audience.
    Le plus souvent, le bébé né en détention était remis à un militaire ou à un proche d'un militaire, tandis que sa mère était peu de temps après jetée à la mer, nue et vivante, d'un avion militaire en plein vol. Quelque 30 000 opposants ont été tués ou portés disparus sous le régime militaire argentin, selon les organisations de défense de droits de l'homme.




     Libération

    • Actualités


    • Enfants volés : la dictature argentine finalement condamnée

    Des membres d’associations de défense des droits de l’homme, jeudi, à Buenos Aires, devant un écran retransmettant le verdict.
    Des membres d’associations de défense des droits de l’homme, jeudi, à Buenos Aires, devant un écran retransmettant le verdict. (PHOTO J.MABROMATA. AFP)

    Récit Avec une peine de cinquante ans de prison pour l’ex-dictateur Jorge Videla, la justice a dénoncé un système organisé. Une «adoptée» raconte.

    Par Mathilde Guillaume Correspondante à Buenos Aires
    Cinquante ans. La sentence tombe, coupante, définitive, historique. Jorge Rafael Videla, président de la junte militaire au pouvoir durant les années sombres de la dictature argentine, et dix de ses sbires ont été reconnus coupables de l’appropriation systématique de bébés. Seules quelques condamnations isolées avaient jusqu’à présent été prononcées. Seize ans après les premiers dossiers constitués et seize mois après l’ouverture du procès, le tribunal de Comodoro Py a reconnu, jeudi soir, l’existence d’un plan implacable qui a arraché près de 500 nouveau-nés à leurs familles, entre 1977 et 1983.
    «Tête de rien». Nés en captivité de mères jugées subversives, ces enfants avaient été donnés en adoption à des proches de la junte pour y être élevés sous de fausses identités. A l’extérieur du tribunal, encore un peu hébétée, Laura Catalina de Sanctis Ovando ne semble pas voir les scènes de liesse autour d’elle et reste à l’écart des embrassades. Il y a trente-cinq ans, elle a été enlevée aux bras de sa mère, à l’hôpital militaire de Campo de Mayo, pour être élevée par un major de l’armée et sa femme. Son histoire est l’une des 35 qui ont été abordées durant ce long procès. «Je me souviens que, petite, je me regardais dans la glace et me répétais : "Tête de rien, tête de rien." Je ne ressemblais pas à mes supposés parents, et puis ma mère n’avait aucune photo d’elle enceinte de moi, j’ai toujours senti que quelque chose n’allait pas, mais c’était trop effrayant de me poser ce genre de questions.» Tellement effrayant qu’elle tente de s’enfuir au Paraguay lorsque la justice la contacte en 2007 pour des analyses ADN à la suite d’un recoupement de témoignages fait par les Grands-Mères de la place de Mai, cette organisation qui lutte pour retrouver leurs petits-enfants perdus.
    Depuis le retour de la démocratie et son besoin de pacifier un pays blessé, l’Argentine a changé. Surtout avec l’arrivée au pouvoir de Néstor Kirchner, qui a fait abroger en 2003 les lois d’impunité qui protégeaient les criminels de la dictature, et a rouvert une histoire que beaucoup essayaient d’oublier. Les grands-mères se sont alors organisées, soutenues par le gouvernement, ont mis en place un fichier ADN, collecté les témoignages. Les dossiers s’empilent, les procès commencent. Tout va plus vite. Trop vite pour Laura Catalina, qui fuit sa propre histoire au volant d’une camionnette où elle a empilé ses meubles et ses chats. «C’était un peu pour protéger ceux qui m’ont élevée, un peu par peur d’être face à cette vérité qui me paralysait.»
    Mais la police la rattrape et confisque ses vêtements pour en prélever l’ADN, comme le prévoit la loi argentine. «Ça a été un soulagement, le processus était en marche et ne dépendait plus de moi. Mais quand les résultats sont arrivés, j’ai d’abord refusé d’y croire. Même si je le savais fissuré, là, tout mon monde s’effondrait carrément. Ça a été très dur. J’ai mis un an avant de contacter les Grands-Mères et remonter le fil.»
    Elle découvre sur des photos le visage de sa mère, étudiante en psychologie de 21 ans, ainsi qu’une carte que celle-ci avait réussi à faire parvenir à sa famille quelques jours après la naissance, et que Laura Catalina conserve soigneusement dans une pochette plastique. On y lit : «Prenez bien soin de ma petite fille, j’imagine qu’elle est avec vous. Souvenez-vous de moi et aimez-moi en elle.»
    Arrogance. En fouillant la maison où elle a grandi, elle met la main sur une autre lettre, envoyée par sa mère adoptive à son mari quelques jours avant l’appropriation. «J’ai rencontré l’assistante du Mouvement [des familles chrétiennes], qui m’a assuré que les bébés n’avaient aucune malformation, qu’ils étaient très sains. Elle s’étonnait presque que ces accouchements soient aussi normaux. Je t’expliquerai la suite plus tard.» Ce dernier courrier a été ajouté au dossier comme une des preuves de l’existence d’un plan systématique d’appropriation de bébés par la dictature, avec l’aide notamment du Mouvement des familles chrétiennes. C’est justement ce point-là que les accusés se sont obstinés à nier durant toute la durée du procès. Pour eux, il s’agit d’actions individuelles, menées par des subalternes des centres de détention clandestins. Leur attitude arrogante de défi n’a jamais faibli. La semaine dernière, Rafael Videla avait même accusé les femmes enceintes séquestrées de se servir de leurs bébés à venir comme de «boucliers humains».
    Mais même le verdict très sévère, qui s’ajoute à d’autres (Jorge Rafael Videla a déjà été condamné à perpétuité pour d’autres crimes) n’a pas réussi à occulter la déception des associations. «J’aurais voulu qu’ils disent la vérité, s’insurge Chicha Mariani, une grand-mère encore à la recherche de sa petite-fille. Ce silence les rend forts. De cette manière, ils continuent de nous torturer.» Jugement après jugement, les années de prison s’accumulent pour les criminels de la dictature. Le processus judiciaire poursuit son cours, d’autres procès attendent leur fin. Le regard un peu flou, Laura Catalina conclue : «Espérons que tout ça nous permettra de tourner la page, d’abandonner le ressentiment pour regarder enfin le futur de manière pacifiée.»

    http://www.krmg.com/ap/ap/top-news/2-ex-argentine-dictators-convicted-in-baby-thefts/pbC2p/

    2 ex-Argentine dictators convicted in baby thefts

    A woman holds a sign that reads in Spanish "Give the children back" outside a court where Argentina's historic stolen babies trial is being held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, July 5, 2012. Former dictators Jorge Videla and Reynaldo Bignone and a handful of other retired military and police officials are accused of systematically stealing babies from leftists who were kidnapped and killed when a military junta ran the country three decades ago. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
    A woman holds a sign that reads in Spanish "Give the children back" outside a court where Argentina's historic stolen babies trial is being held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, July 5, 2012. Former dictators Jorge Videla and Reynaldo Bignone and a handful of other retired military and police officials are accused of systematically stealing babies from leftists who were kidnapped and killed when a military junta ran the country three decades ago. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)




     http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/07/2_ex-argentine_dictators_convi.html

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    Massachusetts

     http://www.macombdaily.com/article/20120705/NEWS05/120709717



    The Macomb Daily




    Two ex-Argentine dictators convicted in baby thefts
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    A woman holds a sign that reads in Spanish 'Give the children back' outside a court where Argentina's historic stolen babies trial is being held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, July 5, 2012. Former dictators Jorge Videla and Reynaldo Bignone and a handful of other retired military and police officials are accused of systematically stealing babies from leftists who were kidnapped and killed when a military junta ran the country three decades ago. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)



     http://news.uk.msn.com/world/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=250496011


    Updated: 06 July 2012 18:40 | By pa.press.net

    Ex-dictators guilty of baby thefts


    A couple kiss outside a court in Argentina where a trial over stolen babies took place (© AP)
    AP
    A couple kiss outside a court in Argentina where a trial over stolen babies took place (AP)
    Former Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla has been convicted and jailed for 50 years for a systematic plan to steal babies from prisoners who were kidnapped, tortured and killed during the military junta's war on left-wing dissenters 30 years ago.
    Argentina's last dictator, Reynaldo Bignone, was also convicted and jailed for 15 years.
    "This is a historic day. Today legal justice has been made real - never again the justice of one's own hands, which the repressors were known for," prominent rights activist Tati Almeida said outside the court in Buenos Aires, where a jubilant crowd watched on a big screen and cheered each sentence.
    The baby thefts set Argentina's 1976-1983 regime apart from all the other juntas that ruled in Latin America at the time. Videla and other military and police officials were determined to remove any trace of the armed leftist guerrilla movement they said threatened the country's future.
    The "dirty war" eventually claimed 13,000 victims according to official records. Many were pregnant women who were "disappeared" shortly after giving birth in clandestine maternity wards.
    Videla, 86, denied there was any systematic plan to remove the babies and said prisoners used their unborn children as "human shields" in their fight against the state. Nine others, mostly former military and police officials, also were accused in the trial, which focused on 34 baby thefts. Seven were convicted and two were found not guilty.
    Witnesses included former US diplomat Elliot Abrams, called to give evidence after a long-secret memo describing his clandestine meeting with Argentina's ambassador was made public at the request of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a human rights group whose evidence-gathering efforts were key to the trial.
    The Grandmothers group has since used DNA evidence to help 106 people who were stolen from prisoners as babies recover their true identities, and 26 of these cases were part of this trial. The rights group estimates as many as 500 babies could have been stolen, but the destruction of documents and passage of time make it impossible to know for sure.
    Prosecutors had asked for 50 years for Videla and four others. Ms Almeida said "in some cases we would have preferred longer sentences, but since they're such old men now, it's almost like a perpetual sentence".
    Videla received the maximum sentence as the man criminally responsible for 20 of the thefts. He and Bignone, 84, already have life sentences for other crimes against humanity and are serving time behind bars despite an Argentine law that usually permits criminals over 70 to stay at home.

     http://www.salon.com/2012/07/07/the_week_in_pictures_55/

      Saturday, Jul 7, 2012 10:00 AM -0300

    The Week in Pictures

    From shopping mall dress codes to fireworks on the Fourth of July, here's what dominated the headlines this week SLIDE SHOW

    By
    Topics:
    The Week in Pictures A couple kisses outside a court where Argentina's historic "stolen babies" trial is being held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday. Former dictators Jorge Videla and Reynaldo Bignone and a handful of other retired military and police officials are accused of systematically stealing babies from leftists who were kidnapped and killed when a military junta ran the country three decades ago. (Credit: (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko))View the slide show
    This week saw a riveting protest in Argentina, tense economy talks in Europe, and a football victory for Spain. In case you missed anything, here’s our visual recap of the week’s top stories.




     http://www.news.com.au/world/former-argentine-dictators-guilty-of-stealing-babies-kidnap-and-torture/story-fndir2ev-1226418950785




    'Dirty war' dictators guilty of stealing babies, kidnap and torture

    • Debora Rey
    • July 06, 2012 1:30PM

    • Jorge Rafael Videla gets 50 years behind bars
    • Reynaldo Bignone sentenced to 15 years
    • Baby stealing and torture in "dirty war" 
    •  
    •  
     FORMER Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla was convicted and sentenced to 50 years Thursday for a systematic program to steal babies from prisoners who were kidnapped, tortured and killed during the military junta's war on leftist dissidents three decades ago.
    Argentina's last dictator, Reynaldo Bignone, also was convicted and got 15 years. Both men already were in prison for other human rights abuses.
    "This is an historic day. Today legal justice has been made real - never again the justice of one's own hands, which the repressors were known for,'' prominent rights activist Tati Almeida said outside the courthouse, where a jubilant crowd watched on a big screen and cheered each sentence.
    The baby thefts set Argentina's 1976-1983 regime apart from all the other juntas that ruled in Latin America at the time. Videla and other military and police officials were determined to remove any trace of the armed leftist guerrilla movement they said threatened the country's future.
    The "dirty war'' eventually claimed 13,000 victims according to official records. Many were pregnant women who were "disappeared'' shortly after giving birth in clandestine maternity wards.
    Videla denied in his testimony that there was any systematic plan to remove the babies, and said prisoners used their unborn children as "human shields'' in their fight against the state.
    Nine others, mostly former military and police officials, also were accused in the trial, which focused on 34 baby thefts. Seven were convicted and two were found not guilty.
    Witnesses included former U.S. diplomat Elliot Abrams. He was called to testify after a long-classified memo describing his secret meeting with Argentina's ambassador was made public at the request of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a human rights group whose evidence-gathering efforts were key to the trial.
    Abrams testified from Washington that he secretly urged Bignone to reveal the stolen babies' identities as a way to smooth Argentina's return to democracy.
    "We knew that it wasn't just one or two children,'' Abrams testified, suggesting that there must have been some sort of directive from a high level official - "a plan, because there were many people who were being murdered or jailed.''
    No reconciliation effort was made. Instead, Bignone ordered the military to destroy evidence of "dirty war'' activities, and the junta denied any knowledge of baby thefts, let alone responsibility for the disappearances of political prisoners.

    Protesters outside Argentina court over stolen babies case
    People hold signs that read in Spanish "Give the children back" outside the court where Argentina's historic stolen babies trial is being held in Buenos Aires. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
    Source: AP
    The U.S. government also revealed little of what it knew as the junta's death squads were eliminating opponents.
    The Grandmothers group has since used DNA evidence to help 106 people who were stolen from prisoners as babies recover their true identities, and 26 of these cases were part of this trial. Many were raised by military officials or their allies, who falsified their birth names, trying to remove any hint of their leftist origins.
    The rights group estimates as many as 500 babies could have been stolen in all, but the destruction of documents and passage of time make it impossible to know for sure.
    The trial featured gut-wrenching testimony from grandmothers and other relatives who searched inconsolably for their missing relatives, and from people who learned as young adults that they were raised by the very people involved in the disappearance of their birth parents.
    Prosecutors had asked for 50 years for Videla and four others. Almeida, the rights activist, said that "in some cases we would have preferred longer sentences, but since they're such old men now, it's almost like a perpetual sentence.''
    Videla, 86, received the maximum sentence as the man criminally responsible for 20 of the thefts.
    He and Bignone, 84, already have life sentences for other crimes against humanity, and are serving time behind bars despite an Argentine law that usually permits criminals over 70 to stay at home.
    Seven others were convicted and sentenced by the three-judge panel on Thursday: former Adm. Antonio Vanek, 40 years; former marine Jorge "Tigre'' Acosta, 30; former Gen. Santiago Omar Riveros, 20; former navy prefect Juan Antonio Azic, 14; and Dr. Jorge Magnacco, who witnesses said handled some of the births, 10.
    Former Capt. Victor Gallo and his ex-wife Susana Colombo, were sentenced to 15 and five years in jail, respectively. Their adopted son, Francisco Madariaga, testified against them and said he hoped their sentences would set an example.
    Retired Adm. Ruben Omar Franco and a former intelligence agent, Eduardo Ruffo, were absolved.
    According to Argentine judicial procedure, the basis for the convictions and sentences won't be revealed until Sept. 17, said the president of the judicial tribunal, Maria del Carmen Roqueta.


     http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/06/12592712-wasnt-just-one-or-two-children-ex-argentine-dictators-jailed-for-baby-thefts?lite

    Wasn't just one or two children': Ex-Argentine dictators jailed for baby thefts


    Enrique Marcarian / Reuters
    Members of human rights groups and other organisation react after hearing the verdict in the trial of former Argentine dictator Jorge Videla and other military officers in Buenos Aires on Thursday.
    By msnbc.com news services
    BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Three key figures from Argentina's "Dirty War" got hefty jail terms for the systematic theft of babies from political prisoners during the 1976-1983 dictatorship, an Argentine court ruled on Thursday.
    The missing children -- stolen from their parents and illegally adopted, often by military families --  are one of the most painful legacies of the crackdown on leftist dissent in which rights groups say up to 30,000 people were killed.
    <br>
    Just over 100 of the children have discovered their true identities, but many families are still searching more than three decades later. Activists say there could be several hundred more individuals who do not know they were taken as babies from their parents.


     http://metronews.ca/news/world/287569/argentina-convicts-2-dictators-of-stealing-babies/




    July 5, 2012 Updated: July 6, 2012 | 12:05 pm
    Adjust Text Size

    Argentina convicts 2 dictators of stealing babies

    By Michael Warren The Associated Press
    Share this Article
    Natacha Pisarenko A couple kisses outside a court where Argentina's historic stolen babies trial is being held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, July 5, 2012. Former dictators Jorge Videla and Reynaldo Bignone and a handful of other retired military and police officials are accused of systematically stealing babies from leftists who were kidnapped and killed when a military junta ran the country three decades ago. The signs read in Spanish "Give the children back." (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
    BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – The conviction of two former dictators for the systematic stealing of babies from political prisoners 30 years ago is a big step in Argentina’s effort to punish that era’s human rights abuses, though certainly not the last.
    Following Thursday’s convictions of Rafael Videla and Reynaldo Bignone, at least 17 other major cases are before judges or are nearing trial.
    Among them is a “mega-trial” involving the Navy Mechanics School, which became a feared torture centre as the 1976-1983 military junta kidnapped and killed 13,000 opponents while trying to annihilate an armed leftist uprising. That case involves 65 defendants, nearly 900 victims, more than 100 witnesses and about 60,000 pages of evidence.

    Inspired by the Cuban revolution and Salvador Allende’s socialist presidency in Chile, leftist idealists across Latin America debated in the 1970s about how best to change their countries — through armed revolution or elections. With Allende’s death during the 1973 coup of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, a hard core of activists figured guerrilla war was their only alternative, and carried out a series of ransom kidnappings, hijackings, assassinations and bombings.
    Argentina’s insurgents alone killed hundreds of military and police officers, right-wing politicians and executives of foreign-owned companies. Fearing outright civil war, military dictatorships took over much of the continent, and with the support of the United States government, imposed what Latin leaders now describe as regimes of state-sponsored terror.
    Just before she was ousted by Argentina’s military in 1976, President Isabel Peron decreed that leftist subversives must be “annihilated” to crush even the threat of armed revolution.
    Still, Argentina’s baby thefts set its junta apart. No other military regime in Latin America went to such lengths to remove traces of the political prisoners they captured and killed.
    A “Never Again” commission formed shortly after Argentina’s democracy was restored in 1983 documented thousands of crimes against humanity during the military regime, but hardly any of the violators were prosecuted until the late Nestor Kirchner was elected president 20 years later.
    Justice Minister Julio Alak said Thursday that Kirchner’s wife and successor, President Cristina Fernandez, deserves credit for making the human rights cases a cornerstone of government.
    “It’s unthinkable that in a state of law, the murderers of the people could be in any place but prison,” Alak said after the verdicts were read.
    Videla, 86, was sentenced to 50 years in prison, while the 84-year-old Bignone got 15 years, adding to the life sentences both men already had for other crimes against humanity. Seven co-defendants also were convicted, and two were acquitted by a three-judge panel.
    While the dictators are behind bars, most defendants convicted of rights violations remain free on appeal, and many others have yet to stand trial.
    According to a March tally by Argentina’s independent Center for Legal and Social Studies, a total of 1,861 defendants have been named in cases of state terror, but verdicts were reached for only 17 per cent of them — with 92 per cent of these found guilty. Since the trials began in 2006, at least 65 have resulted in sentences, but only seven cases have exhausted an appeals process that takes more than two years on average.
    Still, Thursday’s verdicts were a cause for celebration outside the federal courthouse in Buenos Aires, where activists watched them being announced on a huge television screen.
    “This is an historic day. Today legal justice has been made real — never again the justice of one’s own hands,” prominent rights activist Tati Almeida said.
    Many pregnant prisoners were “disappeared” shortly after giving birth in clandestine maternity wards, their babies handed over to trusted military and police families.
    Still, Videla testified that there was no systematic program for stealing babies, and accused prisoners of using their unborn children as “human shields.”
    He called himself a “political prisoner,” and characterized his sentence as farcical act of revenge by people who after being defeated militarily now occupy positions in the government. But Videla said he would accept his sentence “in protest, as an act of service,” and with a clear conscience.
    Witnesses included former U.S. diplomat Elliot Abrams. He was called to testify after a memo describing his secret meeting with Argentina’s ambassador was declassified at the request of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a rights group whose evidence-gathering efforts were key to the prosecution.
    Abrams said he secretly urged that Bignone reveal the children’s identities as a way to smooth Argentina’s return to democracy.
    “We knew that it wasn’t just one or two children,” Abrams testified, suggesting that there must have been a plan directed from a high level to handle the prisoner’s babies.
    Instead, Bignone ordered the military to destroy evidence of “dirty war” activities, and the junta denied any knowledge of baby thefts. The U.S. government also revealed little of what it knew at the time when junta death squads were eliminating opponents.
    The Grandmothers have since helped 106 people recover their true identities through DNA testing, and 26 of these cases were part of this trial. As many as 400 other young adults could be out there still, the Grandmothers say, but it’s impossible to know for sure.
    The trial featured gut-wrenching testimony from relatives who searched inconsolably for their missing children, and from young adults who recently learned that they were raised by some of the very people involved in the disappearance of their birth parents.
    The other sentences included former Adm. Antonio Vanek, 40 years; former marine Jorge “Tigre” Acosta, 30; former Gen. Santiago Omar Riveros, 20; former navy prefect Juan Antonio Azic, 14; and Dr. Jorge Magnacco, who witnesses said handled some of the births, 10.
    Former Capt. Victor Gallo and his ex-wife Susana Colombo were sentenced to 15 and five years in jail, respectively, after their adopted son, now going by his original birth name Francisco Madariaga, testified against them.
    Retired Adm. Ruben Omar Franco and Eduardo Ruffo, a former intelligence agent accused of handing Madariago over to Gallo, were absolved.
    ___
    Associated Press writer Debora Rey contributed to this report.



     http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/6afc0c74fe624387ad6634521fd19dea/LT-Argentina-Stolen-Babies




    Argentina's dictators guilty of stealing babies from prisoners; but many others remain free

    • MICHAEL WARREN  Associated Press
    • July 06, 2012 - 12:01 pm EDT

    BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — The conviction of two former dictators for the systematic stealing of babies from political prisoners 30 years ago is a big step in Argentina's effort to punish that era's human rights abuses, though certainly not the last.
    PHOTO: A couple kisses outside a court where Argentina's historic stolen babies trial is being held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, July 5, 2012. Former dictators Jorge Videla and Reynaldo Bignone and a handful of other retired military and police officials are accused of systematically stealing babies from leftists who were kidnapped and killed when a military junta ran the country three decades ago. The signs read in Spanish "Give the children back." (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
    A couple kisses outside a court where Argentina's historic stolen babies trial is being held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, July 5, 2012. Former dictators Jorge Videla and Reynaldo Bignone and a handful of other retired military and police officials are accused of systematically stealing babies from leftists who were kidnapped and killed when a military junta ran the country three decades ago. The signs read in Spanish "Give the children back." (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
    Following Thursday's convictions of Rafael Videla and Reynaldo Bignone, at least 17 other major cases are before judges or are nearing trial.
    Among them is a "mega-trial" involving the Navy Mechanics School, which became a feared torture center as the 1976-1983 military junta kidnapped and killed 13,000 opponents while trying to annihilate an armed leftist uprising. That case involves 65 defendants, nearly 900 victims, more than 100 witnesses and about 60,000 pages of evidence.
    Inspired by the Cuban revolution and Salvador Allende's socialist presidency in Chile, leftist idealists across Latin America debated in the 1970s about how best to change their countries — through armed revolution or elections. With Allende's death during the 1973 coup of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, a hard core of activists figured guerrilla war was their only alternative, and carried out a series of ransom kidnappings, hijackings, assassinations and bombings.
    Argentina's insurgents alone killed hundreds of military and police officers, right-wing politicians and executives of foreign-owned companies. Fearing outright civil war, military dictatorships took over much of the continent, and with the support of the United States government, imposed what Latin leaders now describe as regimes of state-sponsored terror.
    Just before she was ousted by Argentina's military in 1976, President Isabel Peron decreed that leftist subversives must be "annihilated" to crush even the threat of armed revolution.
    Still, Argentina's baby thefts set its junta apart. No other military regime in Latin America went to such lengths to remove traces of the political prisoners they captured and killed.
    A "Never Again" commission formed shortly after Argentina's democracy was restored in 1983 documented thousands of crimes against humanity during the military regime, but hardly any of the violators were prosecuted until the late Nestor Kirchner was elected president 20 years later.
    Justice Minister Julio Alak said Thursday that Kirchner's wife and successor, President Cristina Fernandez, deserves credit for making the human rights cases a cornerstone of government.
    "It's unthinkable that in a state of law, the murderers of the people could be in any place but prison," Alak said after the verdicts were read.
    Videla, 86, was sentenced to 50 years in prison, while the 84-year-old Bignone got 15 years, adding to the life sentences both men already had for other crimes against humanity. Seven co-defendants also were convicted, and two were acquitted by a three-judge panel.
    While the dictators are behind bars, most defendants convicted of rights violations remain free on appeal, and many others have yet to stand trial.
    According to a March tally by Argentina's independent Center for Legal and Social Studies, a total of 1,861 defendants have been named in cases of state terror, but verdicts were reached for only 17 percent of them — with 92 percent of these found guilty. Since the trials began in 2006, at least 65 have resulted in sentences, but only seven cases have exhausted an appeals process that takes more than two years on average.
    Still, Thursday's verdicts were a cause for celebration outside the federal courthouse in Buenos Aires, where activists watched them being announced on a huge television screen.
    "This is an historic day. Today legal justice has been made real — never again the justice of one's own hands," prominent rights activist Tati Almeida said.
    Many pregnant prisoners were "disappeared" shortly after giving birth in clandestine maternity wards, their babies handed over to trusted military and police families.
    Still, Videla testified that there was no systematic program for stealing babies, and accused prisoners of using their unborn children as "human shields."
    He called himself a "political prisoner," and characterized his sentence as farcical act of revenge by people who after being defeated militarily now occupy positions in the government. But Videla said he would accept his sentence "in protest, as an act of service," and with a clear conscience.
    Witnesses included former U.S. diplomat Elliot Abrams. He was called to testify after a memo describing his secret meeting with Argentina's ambassador was declassified at the request of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a rights group whose evidence-gathering efforts were key to the prosecution.
    Abrams said he secretly urged that Bignone reveal the children's identities as a way to smooth Argentina's return to democracy.
    "We knew that it wasn't just one or two children," Abrams testified, suggesting that there must have been a plan directed from a high level to handle the prisoner's babies.
    Instead, Bignone ordered the military to destroy evidence of "dirty war" activities, and the junta denied any knowledge of baby thefts. The U.S. government also revealed little of what it knew at the time when junta death squads were eliminating opponents.
    The Grandmothers have since helped 106 people recover their true identities through DNA testing, and 26 of these cases were part of this trial. As many as 400 other young adults could be out there still, the Grandmothers say, but it's impossible to know for sure.
    The trial featured gut-wrenching testimony from relatives who searched inconsolably for their missing children, and from young adults who recently learned that they were raised by some of the very people involved in the disappearance of their birth parents.
    The other sentences included former Adm. Antonio Vanek, 40 years; former marine Jorge "Tigre" Acosta, 30; former Gen. Santiago Omar Riveros, 20; former navy prefect Juan Antonio Azic, 14; and Dr. Jorge Magnacco, who witnesses said handled some of the births, 10.
    Former Capt. Victor Gallo and his ex-wife Susana Colombo were sentenced to 15 and five years in jail, respectively, after their adopted son, now going by his original birth name Francisco Madariaga, testified against them.
    Retired Adm. Ruben Omar Franco and Eduardo Ruffo, a former intelligence agent accused of handing Madariago over to Gallo, were absolved.
    ___
    Associated Press writer Debora Rey contributed to this report.


     http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/05/4612752.html?mi_rss=Day%20in%20Pictures



    Natacha Pisarenko
    People hold up signs that read in Spanish "Give the children back" outside a court where Argentina's historic stolen babies trial is being held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, July 5, 2012. Former dictators Jorge Videla and Reynaldo Bignone and a handful of other retired military and police officials are accused of systematically stealing babies from leftists who were kidnapped and killed when a military junta ran the country three decades ago.




     news.yahoo.com/photos/argentina-s-stolen-children-trial-slideshow/


    Argentina convicts 2 dictators of stealing babies

    By MICHAEL WARREN | Associated Press – Fri, Jul 6, 2012
    BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — The conviction of two former dictators for the systematic stealing of babies from political prisoners 30 years ago is a big step in Argentina's effort to punish that era's human rights abuses, though certainly not the last.
    Following Thursday's convictions of Rafael Videla and Reynaldo Bignone, at least 17 other major cases are before judges or are nearing trial.
    Among them is a "mega-trial" involving the Navy Mechanics School, which became a feared torture center as the 1976-1983 military junta kidnapped and killed 13,000 opponents while trying to annihilate an armed leftist uprising. That case involves 65 defendants, nearly 900 victims, more than 100 witnesses and about 60,000 pages of evidence.
    Inspired by the Cuban revolution and Salvador Allende's socialist presidency in Chile, leftist idealists across Latin America debated in the 1970s about how best to change their countries — through armed revolution or elections. With Allende's death during the 1973 coup of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, a hard core of activists figured guerrilla war was their only alternative, and carried out a series of ransom kidnappings, hijackings, assassinations and bombings.
    Argentina's insurgents alone killed hundreds of military and police officers, right-wing politicians and executives of foreign-owned companies. Fearing outright civil war, military dictatorships took over much of the continent, and with the support of the United States government, imposed what Latin leaders now describe as regimes of state-sponsored terror.
    Just before she was ousted by Argentina's military in 1976, President Isabel Peron decreed that leftist subversives must be "annihilated" to crush even the threat of armed revolution.
    Still, Argentina's baby thefts set its junta apart. No other military regime in Latin America went to such lengths to remove traces of the political prisoners they captured and killed.
    A "Never Again" commission formed shortly after Argentina's democracy was restored in 1983 documented thousands of crimes against humanity during the military regime, but hardly any of the violators were prosecuted until the late Nestor Kirchner was elected president 20 years later.
    Justice Minister Julio Alak said Thursday that Kirchner's wife and successor, President Cristina Fernandez, deserves credit for making the human rights cases a cornerstone of government.
    "It's unthinkable that in a state of law, the murderers of the people could be in any place but prison," Alak said after the verdicts were read.
    Videla, 86, was sentenced to 50 years in prison, while the 84-year-old Bignone got 15 years, adding to the life sentences both men already had for other crimes against humanity. Seven co-defendants also were convicted, and two were acquitted by a three-judge panel.
    While the dictators are behind bars, most defendants convicted of rights violations remain free on appeal, and many others have yet to stand trial.
    According to a March tally by Argentina's independent Center for Legal and Social Studies, a total of 1,861 defendants have been named in cases of state terror, but verdicts were reached for only 17 percent of them — with 92 percent of these found guilty. Since the trials began in 2006, at least 65 have resulted in sentences, but only seven cases have exhausted an appeals process that takes more than two years on average.
    Still, Thursday's verdicts were a cause for celebration outside the federal courthouse in Buenos Aires, where activists watched them being announced on a huge television screen.
    "This is an historic day. Today legal justice has been made real — never again the justice of one's own hands," prominent rights activist Tati Almeida said.
    Many pregnant prisoners were "disappeared" shortly after giving birth in clandestine maternity wards, their babies handed over to trusted military and police families.
    Still, Videla testified that there was no systematic program for stealing babies, and accused prisoners of using their unborn children as "human shields."
    He called himself a "political prisoner," and characterized his sentence as farcical act of revenge by people who after being defeated militarily now occupy positions in the government. But Videla said he would accept his sentence "in protest, as an act of service," and with a clear conscience.
    Witnesses included former U.S. diplomat Elliot Abrams. He was called to testify after a memo describing his secret meeting with Argentina's ambassador was declassified at the request of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a rights group whose evidence-gathering efforts were key to the prosecution.
    Abrams said he secretly urged that Bignone reveal the children's identities as a way to smooth Argentina's return to democracy.
    "We knew that it wasn't just one or two children," Abrams testified, suggesting that there must have been a plan directed from a high level to handle the prisoner's babies.
    Instead, Bignone ordered the military to destroy evidence of "dirty war" activities, and the junta denied any knowledge of baby thefts. The U.S. government also revealed little of what it knew at the time when junta death squads were eliminating opponents.
    The Grandmothers have since helped 106 people recover their true identities through DNA testing, and 26 of these cases were part of this trial. As many as 400 other young adults could be out there still, the Grandmothers say, but it's impossible to know for sure.
    The trial featured gut-wrenching testimony from relatives who searched inconsolably for their missing children, and from young adults who recently learned that they were raised by some of the very people involved in the disappearance of their birth parents.
    The other sentences included former Adm. Antonio Vanek, 40 years; former marine Jorge "Tigre" Acosta, 30; former Gen. Santiago Omar Riveros, 20; former navy prefect Juan Antonio Azic, 14; and Dr. Jorge Magnacco, who witnesses said handled some of the births, 10.
    Former Capt. Victor Gallo and his ex-wife Susana Colombo were sentenced to 15 and five years in jail, respectively, after their adopted son, now going by his original birth name Francisco Madariaga, testified against them.
    Retired Adm. Ruben Omar Franco and Eduardo Ruffo, a former intelligence agent accused of handing Madariago over to Gallo, were absolved.
    ___
    Associated Press writer Debora Rey contributed to this report.


     http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20120706/NEWS05/120709671/argentina-convicts-2-dictators-of-stealing-babies




     The Mercury
    Serving Pottstown, PA and The Tri County area.. 

    Argentina convicts 2 dictators of stealing babies
    • By Michael Warren
      Associated Press
    • Posted: 07/06/12 09:30 am
    •  


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