ARGENTINA: PROTESTS TAKE PLACE IN SUPPORT OF MILITARY OFFICERS ACCUSED OF DICTATORSHIP-ERA HUMAN RIGHTS CRIMES.

Record ID: 230532

  • Title: ARGENTINA: PROTESTS TAKE PLACE IN SUPPORT OF MILITARY OFFICERS ACCUSED OF DICTATORSHIP-ERA HUMAN RIGHTS CRIMES.
  • Date: 9th August 2003
  • Summary: (W8) BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (FILE) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV/MV/CU: MOTHERS OF PLAZA DE MAYO DEMONSTRATING AGAINST FORMER MILITARY OFFICERS (4 SHOTS) 0.17 (W8) BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (AUGUST 8, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 2. MV/CU/GV: SIGN IN THE PLAZA DE MAYO THAT READS: 'KIRCHNER STOP FIGHTING, START GOVERNING'; PROTESTERS IN THE PLAZA DE MAYO SINGING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM; DEMONSTRATORS PUTTING UP SIGN THAT READS: 'SOCIAL PEACE AND COMPLETED MEMORY. CLOSING WOUNDS AND LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE' (7 SHOTS) 1.00 3. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DEMONSTRATOR SALVADOR GARGIULO, SAYING: "Today, we came here to remember our dead-- dead because of subversion-- and to back the military forces because we want that, once and for all, peace exists in Argentina." 1.12 4. MV/GV: DEMONSTRATORS MARCHING IN THE PLAZA DE MAYO; YELLING 'VIVA' TO THE MILITARY OFFICERS WHOSE EXTRADITION HAS BEEN REQUESTED BY JUDGE BALTASAR GARZON OF SPAIN (4 SHOTS) 1.39 5. CU: UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN'S HAND HOLDING SIGN READING 'SOLDIER, DON'T ASK FOR FORGIVENESS FOR DEFENDING YOUR COUNTRY. ARGENTINA REMEMBERS' 1.43 6. MCU; (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNIDENTIFIED DEMONSTRATOR YELLING: "Long live the Argentine military and our armed forces. Yesterday's subversives are in the government and Kirchner is a Peronist in disguise." 1.55 7. CU/TILT UP: WOMAN WEARING MILITARY MEDALS AROUND HER NECK 2.00 8. MV: DEMONSTRATORS CONGREGATING TO READ STATEMENT 2.06 9. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNIDENTIFIED DEMONSTRATOR SAYING: "Some of us Argentines remember who was assassinated by the terrorism of the Montoneros, the ERP (Revolutionary Army of the People), FAR (Revolutionary Armed Forces) and other terrorists of which neither the state nor Judge Garzon mention regarding the judgement of the assassinated terrorists." 2.24 10. MV/GV: WOMEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PROTEST WAVING PROTESTERS FORWARD TO SEE ThE LISTS OF DEAD SOLDIERS (2 SHOTS) 2.33 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 24th August 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
  • Country: Argentina
  • Reuters ID: LVA3HUM4GBI1HTY4FGJWBY9DERHK
  • Story Text: A demonstration has been staged in Argentina in
    support of former military officers accused of
    dictatorship-era human rights crimes.



    More than 200 Argentines congregated in Buenos
    Aires on Friday (August 8) to express their opposition to
    the possible extradition of a group of former military
    officials and ask President Nestor Kirchner to "forget"
    what happened during the last military dictatorship.

    The march took place in the historic Plaza de Mayo
    where the famous Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de
    Mayo have marched every week demanding to know what
    happened to their children who "disappeared" during the
    1976 to 1983 dictatorship.

    Friday's demonstrators waved flags and posters and sang
    the National Anthem, demanding "justice for both sides" and
    praising the military.

    "Long live the Argentine military and our armed forces.

    Yesterday's subversives are in the government and Kirchner
    is a Peronist in disguise," shouted one demonstrator.

    In recent weeks, Argentina has found itself involved in
    a political dispute after Kirchner annulled a decree that
    had banned the extradition of soldiers. The move opened
    the door to extradite some 45 former military officials
    that were arrested by local authorities at the request of
    Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon last month.

    Kirchner's decision was widely applauded by many
    Argentines, although Friday's protesters - which included
    retired soldiers and school children - condemned it.

    "Some of us Argentines remember who was assassinated by
    the terrorism of the Montoneros, the ERP (Revolutionary
    Army of the People), FAR (Revolutionary Armed Forces) and
    other terrorists of which neither the state nor Judge
    Garzon mention regarding the judgement of the assassinated
    terrorists," said one demonstrator.

    In 2000, Garzon sent Argentina 48 requests to extradite
    former military officers accused of crimes during the
    dictatorship.

    But a decree signed in 2001 by then-President Fernando
    de la Rua ordered the Foreign Ministry to reject all
    requests for extradition of people for crimes allegedly
    committed on Argentine soil or already dealt with in the
    country.

    Argentina's military junta tortured and murdered
    opponents, tossing many into the Atlantic from planes and
    often stealing their victims' babies and giving them to
    military families to adopt. Some military officers
    ha
    ve been tried and convicted in
    absentia in Europe for crimes committed against the
    citizens of those nations in Argentina.



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