| | |  Americas & Beyond | December 2008 
Argentina's 'Dirty War' Suspects to Stay in Jail
 Vicente L. Panetta - Associated Press
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| | Founded in October 1977, the Association of Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo seek the return of children who disappeared during Argentina's dirty war. | |
Buenos Aires, Argentina — An Argentine high court Friday suspended a controversial decision to grant bail to high-profile defendants accused of torturing and killing dissidents during the 1976-1983 dictatorship.
The court instead sent the cases to the Supreme Court after prosecutor Raul Plee appealed the ruling. The decision will keep the suspects behind bars until the Supreme Court ruling, at a date still to be determined.
On Thursday, a three-judge panel ordered the release of suspects including former navy officer Jorge Acosta, who was convicted in absentia in Italy for the killings of three Italians; and Alfredo Astiz, the so-called Angel of Death accused in the disappearance of two French nuns and the founder of the famed human rights group Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo.
The judges wrote in a ruling that the defendants had been held for too long while their trials moved forward slowly – some of them well past the legal limit of three years, such as Acosta, who has been detained since Aug. 16, 2001.
The panel's decision outraged human rights activists who said it reflected the Argentine judicial system's incapacity to effectively try war crimes suspects.
Early Friday, Argentina's human rights secretary, Eduardo Luis Duhalde, said the high court decision was politically motivated and "shameful," and he called for an investigation of the judges responsible.
At least 14 former state security agents and their civilian allies have been found guilty of human rights crimes, including forced disappearances and kidnapping. Another 358 are awaiting trial, according to the Center for Legal and Social Studies.
Official records put the number of disappeared at 13,000, while human rights groups say 30,000 were killed. |
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