Argentina: New Info on Timerman Case

For the second time in as many days I post on information provided by the excellent National Security Archive.

This time, it's focusing on Argentina, where documents show that the abduction of newspaper editor Jacobo Timerman led to severe conflict within the military junta itself.

The Timerman case is an emblematic one of the 'dirty war'. He was editor of La Opinion, one of the very few publications to be openly opposed to the dictatorship. This, naturally, made him a powerful enemy of the military and in 1977 he was detained and tortured. He was well-connected, and international condemnation of his treatment eventually pressured the military regime enough to secure his release, when he went into exile for the rest of the dictatorship.

Timerman's side of the story in detailed in his book Prisoner without a name, cell without a number, which is still in print. Now the other side can be revealed as well.

One September 1979 document states, "President Videla, the civilian Minister of Justice, and the entire Supreme Court threatened to resign" if the military high command refused to release Jacobo Timerman.

As before, the documents are available for download from the National Security Archive website.

Timerman Case Threatened Argentine Military Regime (National Security Archive)
Journalist's 1977 arrest threatened Argentine dictatorship, documents show (Journalism in the Americas)
Caso Timerman: el dia en que Videla amago con renunciar (Clarin)

Peru: More Violence at Majaz

The latest in a series of violent incidents at the Majaz/Rio Blanco mining camp owned by Zijin (formerly Monterrico Metals) continues, and this one seems to be shaping up into a battle of conflicting versions by the police on the one hand, and witnesses and human rights organisations on the other.

"We were trying to arrest those responsible for what happened in November* ... and we were attacked by bullets and rocks while trying to catch one suspect. We responded in legitimate defense," General Walter Rivera told Reuters.

[...]

David Velazco, a lawyer for the victims, said police used excessive force. He said police were serving warrants for eight suspects in the November attack, but there were no warrants out for the arrest of the two peasants killed on Wednesday.

"The peasants didn't shoot anybody. They don't have arms, only arrows or maybe some rocks," he said.

Violence erupts again over Chinese mine in Peru (Reuters)

In the fighting, two peasants – identified as Castulo Correa Huayama, 39, and Vicente Romero Ramirez, 52 – died from police gunfire and six other townspeople were wounded, among them an 18-year-old man who was hit in the head by a bullet, CNR reported.

Two Dead in Clashes Between Police, Peasants in Peru (LAHT)

* See here.

Muertes en Majaz: la version policial seria falsa (CNDDHH)
Mas abusos por parte de miembros de la PNP en contra de campesinos de Huancabamba (CNDDHH)
Rechazan version policial sobre muerte de comuneros de Huancabamba (La Republica)

Peru Events

A few things going on in Peru over the next week:

9th National Human Rights Awards in Lima on Wednesday:


Tenth edition of Ojos Propios dedicated to legendary Peruvian photographer Martin Chambi:


Human rights week and part of the Yuyanapaq exhibition in Trujillo:

Chile: Victor Jara Reburied

Legendary Chilean folk singer Victor Jara is receiving funeral honours 36 years after his death and will be reburied in Santiago tomorrow.
The musician and his broken hands became an international symbol of rejection of the Pinochet regime. Jara's widow Joan noted his iconic status;

“There’s a tendency to say, and even government leaders say this, that we’re working for justice particularly in emblematic cases,” she said.

“Victor is an emblematic case. I can have the hope that we can discover the truth and perhaps even achieve justice, that those responsible could be sentenced,” she said. “But it’s not right that so many other cases are left unresolved.”

Chile reburies slain singer Victor Jara (Hurriyet Daily News)
Chile honors famous folk singer killed in coup (AP)
Chile wake for singer Jara (BBC)
Wake Begins for Chile's Iconic Musician Victor Jara (Santiago Times)

Guatemala: Documents on Military Killings

In an information breakthrough, military documents obtained by Washington's National Security Archive as part of legal proceedings in Spain reveal details of human rights abuses in Guatemala in the 1980s.

There are almost 200 pages of platoon reports, and they each repeat a similar story: A military patrol enters a Mayan village in the Guatemalan region of El Quiché in the summer of 1982. The soldiers arrest anybody who does not flee in time and “eliminate” anybody who tries to escape. Then they burn the houses, destroy the crops and kill the livestock.

The story is, indeed, familiar. Indigenous people are automatically assumed of collusion with the guerrillas and simply wiped out by the armed forces of their own nation. This particular report focuses on 'Operation Sofia' in the summer of 1982 and, as Kate Doyle of the NSA points out, military intelligence from this period is rare and, thus, highly significant.

“The point man indicated an individual who on seeing the patrol tried to flee, but he was eliminated,” one report states. “He was carrying only supplies (juice, rice and salt).”

Court Papers Detail Killings by Guatemala's Military (NY Times)

The full 359-page document is available for download here:
Operation Sofia: Documenting Genocide in Guatemala (National Security Archive)

Argentina: Observing Exhumations

Quick link: The Argentine Post has a very interesting article from CNN's Brian Brynes about exhumations of victims of the dictatorship taking place in Argentina.

Brian Brynes Describes CNN's 'Backstory' on Argentina's Forensic Anthropology Team (The Argentine Post)

Guatemala's Unregulated Morticians

This is slightly off-topic, but the Guardian has a fascinating photo slideshow today by Rodrigo Abd of Guatemala's funeral industry. They see fit to include a caveat that some may find the images distressing; certainly, you don't usually see pictures of dead bodies in the UK press. This makes me wonder whether there's a zoolike aspect to the Guardian's printing of these photos - "look at those crazy Latin Americans over where life is cheap". Nevertheless, the content of the images themselves is even more disrespectful, including as it does scenes of businessmen squabbling over bereaved relatives and dead bodies rubbing shoulders with broken-down cars. From this blog's point of view, though, the images of the issues - including practical considerations - surrounding death, grief, and mourning are very interesting.

Guatemala's unregulated morticians (Guardian)