EQUIPO NIZKOR |
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28Apr11
The Federal Court of Bahía Blanca Releases 36 Military Officials Responsible for Crimes Against Humanity
On April 26th, 2011, the Federal Court of Bahía Blanca notified the parties of the rulings delivered by the judges Agustín Enrique Fernández, Ricardo Emilio Planes and Ángel Alberto Argañaraz in which they order the release of 36 individuals charged with crimes against humanity.
In order to reach this decision, the judges analysed the crimes allegedly committed as if the defendants were common criminals charged with common crimes, which was only possible by avoiding, omitting and concealing previous decisions rendered by the Supreme Court of Justice and the Court of Criminal Appeals.
In previous cases, the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals precisely held that any decision on this type of procedural issue should take into consideration the specific offences themselves and the conditions to which the defendants are subject in such proceedings, beyond the specific way in which they relate to each case. As such it is to be hoped that once brought before Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court, the ruling will be reversed once again and the defendants will be once again detained, since this is required by the applicable criteria.
The challenge will then be to detain once again these military and naval officers charged with crimes against humanity, which crimes are not subject to amnesty, whose perpetrators cannot invoke due obedience, and cannot be granted "asylum" or "refuge" and therefore, in light of the gravity of this criminal offence, cannot be released.
Therefore, we consider irrelevant from all points of view the legal basis used by the judges in question, insofar as it was not intended to meet the established legal principles, but rather to obstruct justice by allowing the release of individuals accused with one of the most serious of crimes existing in international criminal law. In straightforward terms, we are facing two rulings that can only be considered as being aberrant.
The responsibility for these actions lies with the judges, and this must sooner or later be criminally dealt with and rectified.
In the meantime, we must require the intervention of the highest courts of the Nation so that they guarantee that necessary measures be taken so that the Federal Court of Bahía Blanca be composed of upright and honest judges that are capable of administering justice.
Many years have passed, even more than the victims expected, without justice being done in Bahía Blanca, where arbitrariness reigns as well as the use of unjust judicial proceedings whose only goal, as is known by the Bahían society, is to cover-up the crimes and their perpetrators.
Equipo Nizkor
Charleroi, Madrid and Bahía Blanca
April 28th, 2011
 | This document has been published on 02Jun11 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. |