UN expert group on disappearances concludes visit to Argentina

Mission to Argentina
Buenos Aires, 24 July 2008

Mr. Santiago Corcuera, President-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and Mr. Saied Rajaie Khorasani, member of the Working Group, carried out a mission from 21 to 24 July to Argentina in order to compile information on the situation on enforced disappearances in the country. During this mission the Working Group visited the cities of Buenos Aires and Cordoba, and met with high level officials of the Government, the Defensor del Pueblo de la Nación and representatives of the civil society. The Working Group also visited ESMA in Buenos Aires, D2 and la Perla in Cordoba, previous detention centres, where thousands of persons were illegally detained, tortured, killed and ultimately disappeared.

During the visit, the Working Group was informed that in the cases where remains of victims of enforced or involuntary disappearances had not been found or identified, legislation enacted in 1994 provides for the issuing of a declaration of absence as a result of enforced disappearance, which enables civil rights to be exercised, concerning issues such as family matters or inheritance, while leaving open the possibility of investigating and prosecuting those responsible, and further provides for the possible reappearance of the victim declared absent and its relevant legal effects.

Regarding its task of monitoring the implementation of the Declaration, the Working Group is pleased to note that since democracy was restored in Argentina, major constitutional, legal and institutional progresses have been made in the country, despite setbacks which fortunately have been overcome, thanks to legislative and judicial measures in accordance with the relevant international standards. For example, the 1994 Constitution provides that the international human rights treaties to which Argentina is party enjoy constitutional rank. Despite the fact that impunity laws, such as the Due Obedience Act and the Full Stop Act were enacted in 1987, and that in the 1990s pardons were granted to persons accused or processed in cases relating to grave human rights violations, including enforced disappearances, these laws were abolished through legislative acts. These laws, together with pardons, were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, in compliance with article 18 of the Declaration.

Thanks to the important legislative progress, and even before this enter into force, the will of the jurisdictional authorities and the prosecution of justice, several cases of grave human rights violations have been judicially processed, and more than 20 judgments have been issued to the perpetrators of these abominable crimes. The Working Group received with great pleasure information there are close to 1,000 criminal proceedings currently open, and that yesterday a landmark judgment was handed down in Cordoba, which declared criminal responsibility for perpetrators of grave human rights violations, including enforced disappearances. The current processes regarding cases of enforced disappearances is in accordance with the international obligation regarding the right to justice foreseen in article 13 of the Declaration. However, the Working Group received frequent signs of concern and even frustration because of the delay in these processes.

With regard to the safety of witnesses, the Working Group received multiple petitions concerning the need to create a comprehensive protection programme. Although the Working Group received information from official sources concerning the measures put in place by the Government on this matter, both state and non-official sources expressed the need to strengthen these measures through a programme which includes the participation of both state actors, such as the Ministry of Justice, Security and Human Rights and the Ombudsman, and non-state actors, such as organizations of the families of the disappeared.


Integral text of the press release follows:

The following is the text of the press release issued by the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances of the United Nations Human Rights Council, following its mission to Argentina, carried out thanks to the kind invitation by its Government. The press release is issued by Mr. Santiago Corcuera, President-Rapporteur of the Working Group and by Mr. Saied Rajaie Khorasani, member of the Working Group. During the mission, carried out from 21 to 24 July, the Working Group compiled information on the situation on enforced disappearances in the country.

Since its creation, the Working Group has received 3,445 cases of enforced disappearances in Argentina for its consideration. The Working Group currently has 3,303 outstanding cases, where the fate or whereabouts of the victims is still unknown. However, the Working Group is aware that the number of cases of disappearances occurred during the so-called period of state terrorism, between 1976 and 1983, could be around 30,000.

The mission of the Working Group to Argentina ends with the present press conference. The members of the Working Group who have participated in the visit wish to express their gratitude to the Government of Argentina for the warm welcome and support provided to ensure the success of the mission. A fruitful exchange of information was held with all actors with whom the Working Group met.

During this mission the Working Group visited the cities of Buenos Aires and Cordoba. Meetings were held with high-level officials from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, Security and Human Rights, the Human Rights Secretariat, the Commission on Human Rights and Guarantees of the Honorable Senate, the Commission on Human Rights and Guarantees of the Honorable Chamber of Deputies, the Supreme Court of Justice, the Public Prosecutor, and the Prosecutorial Unit for Coordination and Follow-up of human rights violations occurred during the last dictatorship. The Working Group also had a meeting with the Defensor del Pueblo de la Nación (Ombudsman). During their visit to Cordoba, the Working Group met with the Human Rights Secretariat of the Province of Cordoba, the Directorate of the Witness Protection Programme of the Province of Cordoba and the Prosecutor responsable for Human Rights cases of the Province of Cordoba. Likewise, in both cities, the Working Group met with members of civil society organizations and representatives of organizations of the families of victims of enforced disappearances. The Working Group also visited ESMA in Buenos Aires, D2 and la Perla in Cordoba, previous detention centres, where thousands of persons were illegally detained, tortured, killed and ultimately disappeared.

The Working Group undertook this fact-finding mission based on the conviction that it should not only carry out missions to countries where there are contemporary conditions of political violence or internal armed conflicts that lead to enforced disappearances. Rather, it believes that it should also visit those countries where, although they experienced enforced disappearances in the past and now have democratic regimes, they still have a large number of outstanding cases with the Working Group, as is the case with Argentina. The above is based on the Working Group´s two-fold mandate. The Working Group has the core humanitarian mandate to serve as channel communication between the families of the disappeared persons and the governments of the countries where those disappearances have occurred. In addition, the Working Group also monitors States´compliance with their obligations deriving from the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (hereafter the “Declaration”).

Regarding the aspect of the mandate referring to the clarification of cases of enforced disappearances, the Working Group would like to highlight that during 2007, the fate of 55 victims of enforced disappearances was clarified thanks to the information provided by the Government. This shows the valuable efforts carried out by the Government of Argentina to locate human remains and carry out the genetic tests which will allow for the remains to be returned to the families. The Working Group received reliable information on the highest level of professionalism and high scientific standards of the Forensic Anthropology Team. Official sources assured the Working Group that those efforts will be continued until as many cases as possible are clarified. The Working Group expresses its great satisfaction at this and hopes to see much more information which will enable it to clarify cases still outstanding on their files. The same may be said regarding the reuniting of disappeared children with their families. The Working Group welcomes with great satisfaction reports on many of these children who have been found alive and who, as young adults, enjoy the right to their true identity.

We were also told that in those cases where remains had not been found or identified, legislation enacted in 1994 provides for the issuing of a declaration of absence as a result of enforced disappearance, which enables civil rights to be exercised, concerning issues such as family matters or inheritance, while leaving open the possibility of investigating and prosecuting those responsible, and further provides for the possible reappearance of the victim declared absent and its relevant legal effects.

Regarding its task of monitoring the implementation of the Declaration, the Working Group is pleased to note that since democracy was restored in Argentina, major constitutional, legal and institutional progresses have been made in the country, despite setbacks which fortunately have been overcome, thanks to legislative and judicial measures in accordance with the relevant international standards. For example, the 1994 Constitution provides that the international human rights treaties to which Argentina is party enjoy constitutional rank. Despite the fact that impunity laws, such as the Due Obedience Act and the Full Stop Act were enacted in 1987, and that in the 1990s pardons were granted to persons accused or processed in cases relating to grave human rights violations, including enforced disappearances, these laws were abolished through legislative acts. These laws, together with pardons, were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, in compliance with article 18 of the Declaration.

The Working Group is hopeful that the reform of the Federal Criminal Code, which defines the criminal conduct of enforced disappearance as an autonomous crime, is currently in process. If the reform is carried out successfully, it would imply compliance by the Argentinean Government with article 4 of the Declaration. Argentina is also party to the Interamerican Convention on Forced Disappearances of Persons, which has constitutional rank. The Working Group is pleased to know that Argentina has ratified the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and that it has deposited the declaration through which it recognizes the competency of the Committee foreseen by the Convention to receive individual petitions, as described in the above-mentioned treaty.

Thanks to the important legislative progress, and even before these enter into force, the will of the jurisdictional authorities and the prosecution of justice, several cases of grave human rights violations have been judicially processed, and more than 20 judgments have been issued to the perpetrators of these abominable crimes. The Working Group received with great pleasure information there are close to 1,000 criminal proceedings currently open, and that yesterday a landmark judgment was handed down in Cordoba, which declared criminal responsibility for perpetrators of grave human rights violations, including enforced disappearances. The current processes regarding cases of enforced disappearances is in accordance with the international obligation regarding the right to justice foreseen in article 13 of the Declaration. However, the Working Group received frequent signs of concern and even frustration because of the delay in these processes. The Working Group listened to several proposals to solve this problem, including the accumulation of petitions based on detention centres, regional or sub-regional, with the aim of facilitating the appearance of witnesses and to prevent them from having to render the same testimony in repeated occasions. The Working Group trusts that the recent reform to the Federal Law on Criminal Procedures which establishes the orality of the appeals process, among other measures geared to facilitate and accelerate the criminal proceedings, will have the expected results. However, the Working Group does not cease to attend to the concerns and even criticim expressed by official sectors regarding the problems that this reform could face once it enters into force, such as the lack of human and material resources needed to implement it correctly. It is important to remember that, according to article 14 of the Declaration, States should take any lawful and appropriate action available to them to bring to justice all persons presumed responsible for an act of enforced disappearance, who are found to be within their jurisdiction or under their control. Without a doubt, the more than twenty years of procedural inactivity and impunity that motivated the creation of the Due Obedience Act and the Full Stop Act caused great damage, constituting in istelf a violation of international human rights obligations, given that article 13, paragraph 6 of the Declaration establishes that an investigation should be able to be conducted for as long as the fate of the victim of enforced disappearance remains unclarified. This experience must be taken into account by other countries who still have amnesty laws or analogous measures in place, to abolish them as soon as possible and to give life to the rights to justice and truth, while the families of the victims and the perpetrators are still alive and able to be subjected to judicial proceedings.

With regard to the safety of witnesses, the Working Group received multiple petitions concerning the need to create a comprehensive protection programme. Although the Working Group received information from official sources concerning the measures put in place by the Government on this matter, both state and non-official sources expressed the need to strengthen these measures through a programme which includes the participation of both state actors, such as the Ministry of Justice, Security and Human Rights and the Ombudsman, and non-state actors, such as organizations of the families of the disappeared. The Working Group was informed that in the Province of Cordoba, a specialized unit was created exclusively to protect witnesses, with a revised list of police officers without any link to the perpetrators of human rights violations. The Working Group will reflect carefully on this issue, with the aim of being able to propose meaningful recommendations to the Argentinean Government. The Working Group hopes that these may be helpful to overcome the current problems and that they refer to the protection of witnesses, lawyers, prosecutors, judges and civil organizations involved in the investigation of cases of enforced disappearances, as well as the families of the disappeared, in reference to article 13, paragraph 3 of the Declaration. The Working Group received information on the case of Mr. Jorge Julio Lopez, whose wereabouts remain unkwnown, almost two years since his disappearance. At the time, the Working Group send a prompt intervention letter to the Government, with reference to article 13, paragraph 3 of the Declaration. It is unfortunate and worrying that thise case has not been resolved, as this situation creates an environment of uncertainty and uneasiness which is not favorable for the current judicial process. The case of the kidnapping of Mr. Luis Gerez is also registered in the same line.

The above-mentioned matters and others derived from the fact-finding carried out during this mission will be developed in a detailed fashion in a report by the Working Group on this mission. The report will also include a series of reccomendations and observations which will be communicated to the Government of Argentina in due time and through the appropriate institutional channels.

The Working Group was established by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 1980 to assist families in determining the fate and whereabouts of disappeared relatives. The Working Group endeavours to establish a channel of communication between the families and the Governments concerned, to ensure that individual cases are investigated, with the objective of clarifying the whereabouts of persons who, having disappeared, are placed outside the protection of the law. In view of the Working Group's humanitarian mandate, clarification occurs when the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person is clearly established. The Working Group continues to address cases of disappearances until they are resolved.

The Working Group is comprised of five independent experts from all regions of the world. The Chairman-Rapporteur is Mr. Santiago Corcuera, and the other Expert-Members are Mr. Darko Gottlicher, Mr. Saied Rajaie Khorasani, Mr. Jeremy J. Sarkin and Mr. Stephen J. Toope.

For more information on the WGEID, please refer to the web site: http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/disappear/index.htm