Uruguay: Aftermath of amnesty lifting

A post on Uruguay is well overdue as there have been a few linked stories in the news since the lifting of the country's amnesty.

On 1 November, AFP reported that human rights group IELSUR had filed a complaint "against some 100 troops in the name of 90 people detained in a decade-long crackdown against communists launched in 1975". The plaintiffs allege "torture, cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment during the entire period of their detention," according to IELSUR lawyer Jorge Pan. 28 women had also filed complaints of sexual abuse during the period.

Flood of rights lawsuits after Uruguay lifts amnesty (AFP)

The following day, German Catholic news agency KNA reported that the 28 women had made their statements on 28 October, followed by another 170 dictatorship victims on 29 October and about 140 on 30 October. It pointed out that female members of the military were implicated in torture for the first time.

Folteropfer der Militärdiktatur erstatten Anzeige (KNA)

On 10 November, Prensa Latina referred to a report from Uruguayan daily La Republica stating that a dozen military men would appear in court as part of the investigations conducted to clarify a crime committed during the dictatorship. Judge Mariana Mota will interrogate three military men on Monday in the case of Aldo Perrini, who was tortured to death after being arrested by soldiers of the 4th Infantry Battalion of the department of Colonia, the agency wrote.

Uruguay: Soldiers Summoned for Crimes During Dictatorship (Prensa Latina)

Finally, the Journalism in the Americas blog picked up on the case of Rodolfo Porley, who has filed charges for torture he suffered during the 1970s. More detail is provided by El Comercio of Ecuador, which reports Porley's claims that his motivation is the memory of the victims and a desire to prevent similiar incidents happening again.

Journalist in Uruguay sues for torture he suffered under military dictatorship (Journalism in the Americas)
Periodista uruguayo denuncia torturas y crímenes de lesa humanidad (El Comercio, Ecuador)

A map of Latin American dreams

I recently discovered the work of Martín Weber (thanks to Peru Foto). His photographs in "A map of Latin American dreams" are just beautiful, and several of them are relevant to this blog. Here is just one of them:
See more here.

News Round-up

Argentina
I did not know that UN special rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, was a victim of the Argentine junta:
Argentina's Dirty War lessons for the world (BBC)

Guatemala
Reuters profiles new Guatemalan president Otto Perez and discusses his role in the country's civil war
Special report: Guatemala's new leader faces questions (Reuters)

Paraguay

Paraguay: no money to identify dictatorship dead (AP)

Peru:
Colina victims laid to rest
Nineteen Years Later, Death Squad Victims Given Burial in Santa (Peruvian Times)

Peru: Not one, but 15,000 voices

I had an email from the guys at EPAF, the Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team, bringing my attention to their campaign "Not one, but 15,000 voices", which focuses on the more than 15,000 Peruvians that were “disappeared” during the period of political violence (1980-2000). It includes a series of videos, of which I've embedded one above, with some relatives telling their experiences in their own words, subtitled in English and with images by photographer Jonathan Moller (whom I've written about before).

The clips are sobering, but it's also important to hear people testifying about their experience. In the English-speaking world, I think we still don't really have an idea of Peru as a country particularly affected by "disappearance" - Argentina, perhaps, yes, but Peru? - and we also don't have much opportunity to hear people speaking directly about what happened, especially Quechua speakers. Check out more of the videos and information at EPAF's English-language page: Not one, but 15,000 voices.

News round-up

Argentina/US
Obama asked to declassify documents on children’s disappearance in Argentina (Mercopress)
Congressman to Obama: Declassify Argentina files (AP)
And here's the official website of Congressman Maurice Hinchey

Colombia
Colombia: Spy Agency Dissolved (New York Times)
Forced Disappearances in Colombia (COHA)

Guatemala
The Guatemalan Government’s Apology for the 1954 Coup (Americas Quarterly)
Guatemalan journalist receives threats after reporting on forced disappearances (Journalism in the Americas)
Mejia too sick to stand trial (Central American Politics)

Peru: RIP Carlos Bendezú

In fact, until a few hours ago I didn't know the name Carlos Bendezú, but I was certainly aware of one his photographs, which became one of the icons of the Peruvian conflict. Bendezú took this for magazine Caretas in 1980, when Sendero was still very much an unknown quantity.


Fallece fotógrafo Carlos Bendezú (La Republica)

Peru: Remembering Barrios Altos

Peru's La Republica has a long article on the memory of the Barrios Altos massacre. One of its survivors, Tomás Livias Ortega, is an ice-cream seller and the article contains an image of an interesting initiative to keep the memory of the case alive. Anyone who has been to Peru will be familiar with the ice-cream sellers and their little carts.


El batallón de los heladeros (La Republica)