Judge Orders Officers Freed

[Judi Lynn]

September 2, 2003

THE WORLD
Judge Orders Officers Freed
The Argentine military men accused of rights abuses in the '70s and '80s may still face trials.

By Héctor Tobar, Times Staff Writer


BUENOS AIRES — An Argentine judge ordered the release Monday of most of the 40 former military men being held on charges of murder and other crimes committed during the "dirty war" of the 1970s and '80s, days after the Spanish government said it would not seek their extradition.

President Nestor Kirchner used Spain's announcement to increase pressure on the Argentine Supreme Court to overturn the amnesty laws that prohibit trying the men here. On Monday, an Argentine judicial panel moved to bring new charges against the former military men and about 30 others.

"Now it's up to the Court to decide," Kirchner said. "We've always wanted to try them in Argentina. Now we have the ability to do so. Those who were responsible for the genocide of the dictatorship will have to take responsibility for their actions." (snip)

(snip) The dictatorship, among the bloodiest in Latin American history, silenced a burgeoning protest movement with widespread use of torture, kidnappings and extrajudicial executions. Thousands of victims were buried in clandestine cemeteries or tossed from airplanes into the Atlantic Ocean. (snip/...)

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-argen2sep02,1,6444681.story?coll=la-headlines-world

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