Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment In the early years of the 21st Century, 2000 to
2025 gvnet.com/torture/Argentina.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Argentina. Some of these links may lead to websites that
present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No attempt
has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking for
material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on this
page and others to see which aspects of Torture by Authorities are of
particular interest to you. You might
be interested in exploring the moral justification for inflicting pain or
inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment in order to obtain critical
information that may save countless lives, or to elicit a confession for a
criminal act, or to punish someone to teach him a lesson outside of the
courtroom. Perhaps your paper might
focus on some of the methods of torture, like fear, extreme temperatures,
starvation, thirst, sleep deprivation, suffocation, or immersion in freezing water On the other
hand, you might choose to write about the people acting in an official capacity
who perpetrate such cruelty. There is
a lot to the subject of Torture by Authorities. Scan other countries as well as this
one. Draw comparisons between activity
in adjacent countries and/or regions.
Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper
resources that are available on-line. ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Argentina U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/argentina/
[accessed 4 July
2021] TORTURE AND OTHER
CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT The PPN reported
427 cases of torture or mistreatment in 2019. As of June the PPN had recorded
87 cases. Although the PPN created a National Registry of Cases of Torture in
2010, its reporting remained largely limited to the city and province of
Buenos Aires (home to approximately 46 percent of the population) Impunity remained a
significant problem in security forces at all levels. Corruption and a slow,
politicized judicial system impeded efforts to investigate abuses. The government
generally denounced reported abuses and took efforts to train military and
security forces at all levels on human rights. PRISON AND DETENTION
CENTER CONDITIONS The Federal
Penitentiary Service reported 52 inmate deaths in federal prisons through
October 31, of which 19 were violent. According to human
rights organizations and research centers, inmates in many facilities also
suffered from poor nutrition; inadequate medical and psychological treatment;
inadequate sanitation, heating, ventilation, and light; limited family
visits; and frequent degrading treatment. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/argentina/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 14 May
2020] F3. IS THERE PROTECTION FROM THE ILLEGITIMATE
USE OF PHYSICAL FORCE AND FREEDOM FROM WAR AND INSURGENCIES? Police misconduct,
including torture and brutality against suspects in custody, is endemic.
Prisons are overcrowded, and conditions remain substandard throughout the
country. Arbitrary arrests and abuse by police are rarely punished in the
courts, and police collusion with drug traffickers is common. In September
2019, the chief of the Federal Police in Santa Fe was arrested for impeding an
investigation following a violent attack against him, and he was later
charged with drug trafficking. In May 2019, four young people were killed
when their car crashed as they fled police officers who opened fire on them
in the province of Buenos Aires. As a result, 12 officers were suspended
pending an investigation. Trial
investigating torture of Luciano Arruga begins Buenos Aires Herald
with online media, 5 May 2015 www.buenosairesherald.com/article/188383/trial-investigating-torture-of-luciano-arruga-begins [accessed 17 May
2015] zcomm.org/znetarticle/where-is-luciano-arruga-disappeared-in-argentina-s-democracy-by-marie-trigona/ [accessed 25
December 2018] The trial
investigating the torture of Luciano Arruga — the
16-year-old teenager disappeared and then allegedly killed in a car accident
in January 2009 — by police officers began yesterday at La Matanza’s Criminal Court No. 3 in Greater Buenos Aires. Three police
officers are accused of carrying out the torture against Arruga
when he was detained on September 22, 2008. Three months later, the young
teenager disappeared until his body was finally discovered last year in an
unmarked grave. “After his arrest,
Luciano was afraid... all this began when he refused to rob for the police,” Mónica Alegre, Arruga’s mother,
testified in court. Alegre recalled that her son was detained for hours in a
police station located in a poor neighbourhood in
Lomas del Mirador, La Matanza
district. Of the three police
officers accused of committing the torture, only one is on trial so far —
Julio Diego Torales. Officers are accused of
beating Arruga during that detention. Human
Rights Watch World Report 2015 - Events of 2014 Human Rights Watch,
29 January 2015 www.hrw.org/world-report/2015/...
or www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/wr2015_web.pdf [accessed 18 March
2015] ARGENTINA POLICE ABUSE - Police abuse
remains a serious problem, despite a 2011 commitment by authorities in at
least 19 provinces not to resort to excessive use of force when dealing with
public protests. In May 2014, 22 people were injured after local police
forces dispersed a workers’ demonstration in the province of Tucumán, using
rubber bullets and police batons with excessive force, according to CELS. In
June, police in the province of Chaco fired rubber bullets at demonstrators
and beat and detained protesters, leaving more than 100 people injured. PRISON CONDITIONS - Overcrowding,
ill-treatment by prison guards, inadequate facilities, and inmate violence
continue to be serious problems in prisons. According to the National
Penitentiary Office (Procuración Penitenciaria de la Nación), an
official body created by Congress, there were 88 deaths, including 41 violent
ones, in federal prisons between January 2013 and October 2014. The office
also documented 724 cases of torture or ill-treatment in federal prisons in
2013, and 520 in the first 10 months of 2014. Shocking video
shows torture in Tucumán Buenos Aires Herald,
1 Oct 2014 www.buenosairesherald.com/article/171127/shocking-video-shows-torture-in-tucum%C3%A1n [accessed 17
November 2014] The video depicts a
police violently attacking a young man in handcuffs on the floor, shirtless. The
victim — who had allegedly been arrested hours earlier — is seen being thrown
against the floor repeatedly. The officer laughs and forces him to make farm
animal sounds. “What does the
horse say? What does the rooster say? What does the little dog say? Bark!”
the policeman tells the arrested man while he beats him. 'Torture by
provincial police’ concerns US State Department Buenos Aires Herald,
27 February 2014 www.buenosairesherald.com/article/153184/torture-by-provincial-police%E2%80%99-concerns-us-state-department [accessed 1 March
2014] The annual US State
Department Report on Human rights has drawn attention to cases of “torture by
provincial police, harsh prison conditions and gender violence”, as cause for
concern in Argentina. Other conditions described
were “excessive force by police” characterized by “occasional arbitrary
arrest and detention.” In addition, the
office run by Secretary of State John Kerry informed over “prolonged pretrial
detention; actions that risked impairing freedom of the press; continued
concerns about judicial inefficiency,” and “official corruption.” Human Rights
Overview Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org/americas/argentina [accessed 16 January
2013] Argentina continues
to make significant progress prosecuting military and police personnel for
enforced disappearances, killings, and torture during the country’s “dirty
war” between 1976 and 1983. However, trials have been subject to delays. Argentina adopted
comprehensive legislation to regulate broadcast and print media in 2009. The
impact of this legislation on freedom of expression will depend on how it is
implemented by a new regulatory body. Argentina has yet to adopt legislation
to regulate access to official information. Significant ongoing
human rights concerns include deplorable prison conditions, torture, and
arbitrary restrictions on women’s reproductive rights. AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL From an old article -- URL not available Article was published
sometime prior to 2015 TORTURE AND OTHER
ILL-TREATMENT
- In February, mobile phone images of the torture in 2010 of two prisoners by
prison guards in San Felipe prison, Mendoza province, came to light.
Prisoners Matías Tello
and Andrés Yacante, who were suspected by prison
officers of involvement in circulating the images, received threats and were
transferred to Almafuerte prison where they alleged
that they were tortured. By the end of the year nobody had been brought to
justice. EXCESSIVE USE OF
FORCE
- Police used excessive force during the removal in July of 700 families from
a private estate in Libertador San Martín, Jujuy
province. Four people, including a policeman, were killed and at least 30
injured. The police officer in charge was removed from his post and the
provincial government Minister of Security and Justice resigned. Search … AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL For more
articles:: Search Amnesty
International Website www.amnesty.org/en/search/?q=argentina+torture&ref=&year=&lang=en&adv=1&sort=relevance [accessed 25 December
2018] ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61713.htm [accessed 16 January
2013] 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61713.htm [accessed 2 July
2019] TORTURE
AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT – Although the law
prohibits such practices and provides penalties for torture similar to those
for homicide, some police and prison guards continued to employ torture and
brutality. Human rights organizations reported police brutality and
occasional torture of suspects. While the government investigated reports of
police brutality in prisons, there were few convictions in comparison to the
number of complaints. In another case
documented by the independent Buenos Aires Provincial Memory Commission,
Cristian Lopez Toledo and Claudio Marquez Laineker,
prisoners at the Buenos Aires provincial prison in La Plata, were tortured
with electric shocks after they requested to meet with the Memory Commission
during its visit to the prison in August. In the subsequent trial, expert
witnesses verified the commission's claims. Freedom House
Country Report - Political Rights: 2 Civil Liberties: 2 Status: Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/argentina [accessed 16 January
2013] LONG URL
ç 2009 Country Reports begin on Page 21 [accessed 11 May
2020] Police have been
accused of misconduct including a growing number of extrajudicial executions.
The Buenos Aires provincial police have been involved in drug trafficking,
extortion, and other crimes. Arbitrary arrests and abuse by police are rarely
punished in the courts owing to intimidation of witnesses and judges, particularly
in Buenos Aires province. The torture of detainees in police custody in the
province is endemic, and the provincial penal service is rife with
corruption. Prison conditions remain substandard throughout the country. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this
webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, " Torture by Police, Forced
Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment in the early years of the 21st
Century- Argentina", http://gvnet.com/torture/Argentina.htm, [accessed
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