Miguel Osvaldo Etchecolatz (1 May 1929 – 2 July 2022) was an Argentine police officer, who worked in the
Buenos Aires Provincial Police
The Buenos Aires Provincial Police (Spanish: ''PolicÃa de la Provincia de Buenos Aires'', informally ''PolicÃa Bonaerense'') is the police service responsible for policing the Province of Buenos Aires, in Argentina.
It is one of the biggest po ...
during the first years of the
military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer.
The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...
of the 1970s. Etchecolatz was deeply involved in the "anti-subversion operation" known as the
National Reorganization Process
The National Reorganization Process (Spanish: ''Proceso de Reorganización Nacional'', often simply ''el Proceso'', "the Process") was the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983, in which it was supported by the United Sta ...
(''El proceso''). He was first convicted in 1986 of crimes committed during this period, but passage that year of the ''
Ley de Punto Final
The Full stop law, ''Ley de Punto Final'', was passed by the National Congress of Argentina in 1986, three years after the end of the military dictatorship of the Proceso de Reorganización Nacional (1976 to 1983) and restoration of democracy. F ...
,'' which created amnesty for security officers, meant that he was released without a sentence. In 2003 Congress repealed the law, and the government re-opened prosecution of crimes during the
Dirty War
The Dirty War ( es, Guerra sucia) is the name used by the military junta or civic-military dictatorship of Argentina ( es, dictadura cÃvico-militar de Argentina, links=no) for the period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983 a ...
.
In 2004, Etchecolatz was one of the first two officials convicted and sentenced for
child abduction
Child abduction or child theft is the unauthorized removal of a Minor (law), minor (a child under the age of Age of majority, legal adulthood) from the Child custody, custody of the child's Parent, natural parents or Legal guardian, legally appo ...
: taking a child from "disappeared" parents, passing it on for adoption by officials of the regime, and hiding the child's true identity. He and
Jorge Berges were each sentenced to seven years.
He was also deemed responsible of the "
Night of the Pencils", when 10 high-school students were abducted by security forces in the city of
La Plata
La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. According to the , it has a population of 654,324 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 787,294 inhabitants. It is located 9 kilometers (6 miles) inland from th ...
near
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the RÃo de la Plata, on South ...
in September 1976. Six of the 10 were "
forcibly disappeared
An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organiza ...
", with their fate remaining unknown. The four survivors said they were tortured.
For his actions in the Provincial Police during ''El proceso'', in 2006 he was tried, convicted and sentenced to
life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
, on numerous charges of
homicide
Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...
, illegal deprivation of freedom (
kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...
), and
torture
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...
. The tribunal in passing the sentence said that Etchecolatz's crimes were "
crimes against humanity
Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...
in the context of the
genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...
that took place in Argentina".
[Klein, Naomi]
''The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism''
Macmillan, 2007; , , pp. 100–102: "The presiding member of the court, Carlos Rozanski, described the offences as part of a systematic attack intended to destroy parts of society that the victims represented and as such they constituted genocide. Rozanski noted that the International (CPPCG) does not include in its list of offences the elimination of political groups (that category was removed at the behest of Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
), but the court based its decision on the 11 December 1946 United Nations General Assembly Resolution, unanimously adopted by member-nations, barring acts of genocide 'when racial, religious, political and other groups have been destroyed, entirely or in part', adding that the court considered the original UN definition to be more legitimate than the politically compromised CPPCG definition." This was the first time that the term "genocide" had been used to characterize the crimes committed against political prisoners during the
Dirty War
The Dirty War ( es, Guerra sucia) is the name used by the military junta or civic-military dictatorship of Argentina ( es, dictadura cÃvico-militar de Argentina, links=no) for the period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983 a ...
.
The term "Dirty War" refers to the widespread state terrorism and atrocities committed under the military dictatorship of Argentina during 1976 to 1983. A
military junta
A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in ...
was established, led by General
Jorge Rafael Videla
Jorge Rafael Videla (; ; 2 August 1925 – 17 May 2013) was an Argentine military officer and dictator, Commander in Chief of the Army, member of the Military Junta, and ''de facto'' President of Argentina from 29 March 1976 to 29 March 1981. H ...
, after a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
against President
Isabel Perón
Isabel MartÃnez de Perón (, born MarÃa Estela MartÃnez Cartas, 4 February 1931), also known as Isabelita, is an Argentine politician who served as President of Argentina from 1974 to 1976. She was one of the first female republican heads ...
. During the military rule, tens of thousands of political dissidents were killed or "forcibly disappeared".
During the dictatorship
Etchecolatz served as Commissioner General of Police, directly reporting to Police Chief
Ramón Camps
Ramón Juan Alberto Camps (25 January 1927 – 22 August 1994) was an Argentina, Argentine general and the head of the Buenos Aires Provincial Police during the National Reorganization Process (1976–1983). Although he was found guilty of mul ...
. He served as Director of Investigations of the Buenos Aires provincial police from March 1976 until late 1977. During his period in office,
Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...
had the highest number of illegal detentions in the country. Etchecolatz was second in command during the "
Night of the Pencils", when several high school students were detained and tortured, and some murdered.
Return to democracy
In 1983, democratic rule was restored in Argentina. The
Trial of Juntas began in 1985, and numerous top figures were prosecuted, including General Ramón Camps, who was convicted and sentenced to life. In a 1986 trial, Etchecolatz was convicted and sentenced to 23 years for several counts of illegal detention and
forced disappearance
An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organiza ...
s. He was spared a prison sentence because that year Congress passed the "
Full Stop Law
The Full stop law, ''Ley de Punto Final'', was passed by the National Congress of Argentina in 1986, three years after the end of the military dictatorship of the Proceso de Reorganización Nacional (1976 to 1983) and restoration of democracy. F ...
" (''
Ley de Punto Final
The Full stop law, ''Ley de Punto Final'', was passed by the National Congress of Argentina in 1986, three years after the end of the military dictatorship of the Proceso de Reorganización Nacional (1976 to 1983) and restoration of democracy. F ...
'') and the "
Law of Due Obedience", which halted prosecution of officers for crimes committed during the
Dirty War
The Dirty War ( es, Guerra sucia) is the name used by the military junta or civic-military dictatorship of Argentina ( es, dictadura cÃvico-militar de Argentina, links=no) for the period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983 a ...
.
After his release, Etchecolatz wrote a book defending his actions, called ''La otra campaña del Nunca Más'' (''The Other Never Again Campaign''). The title referred to ''Nunca Más'' (''Never Again''), the report produced by the
National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons
National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons (Spanish: ', CONADEP) was an Argentine organization created by President Raúl AlfonsÃn on 15 December 1983, shortly after his inauguration, to investigate the fate of the ''desaparecidos'' (vi ...
, which had heard testimony about the disappeared and survivors of state terror. Jorge and Marcelo Gristelli, owners of a Catholic publishing house, released the book in 1998 at the
Buenos Aires International Book Fair
The Buenos Aires International Book Fair (''Spanish: Feria Internacional del Libro de Buenos Aires'') is held every April in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and is one of the top five book expos in the world, oriented to the Literature, literary community ...
.
In his book, Etchecolatz stated: "I never had, or thought to have, or was haunted by, any sense of blame. For having killed? I was the executor of a law made by man. I was the keeper of divine precepts. And I would do it again."
[ In 2001, the Gristellis were seen shielding Etchecolatz as he left court in Buenos Aires; they reportedly used violence against left-wing demonstrators who allegedly confronted and insulted the former police officer.]["Hermanos de palos y libros"]
("Brothers of sticks and books"), '' ClarÃn'', 10 April 2001
Etchecolatz also faced civil trials, which were outside the purview of the Pardon Laws (these had covered acts that were committed in the context of military or police procedure). In 2004, both he and Jorge Berges were convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison for the abduction of a "disappeared" couple's child, handing it on for illegal adoption, and the suppression of the child's true identity.["Argentines jailed for baby theft"](_blank)
BBC News, 30 March 2004 They were the first officials convicted for "baby snatching", but estimates are that 400 children were taken from political prisoners. Seventy-seven have had their identities restored to them.
He was imprisoned in Villa Devoto
Villa Devoto is a neighborhood or district located in the northwestern area of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Its administrative limits are defined by Lope de Vega, General Paz, San MartÃn, and Francisco Beiró Avenues; and JoaquÃn V. Gonzà ...
in 2004 and 2005. He was later allowed to continue the sentence under house arrest
In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...
due to his advanced age (over 70 years old at the time). Although Etchecolatz's lawyers claimed he had a terminal illness, after police found a firearm in his home in 2006 in violation of the terms of house arrest, he was transferred to the Marcos Paz
Marcos Paz (1813 – January 2, 1868) was Governor of Córdoba and Tucumán Provinces, an Argentine Senator, and Vice President of Argentina from October 12, 1862, until his death in 1868.
Biography
Marcos Paz was born to a prominent Tu ...
prison.
The 2006 trial
In 2003, Congress repealed the 1986 "Pardon Laws" (Ley de Punto Final
The Full stop law, ''Ley de Punto Final'', was passed by the National Congress of Argentina in 1986, three years after the end of the military dictatorship of the Proceso de Reorganización Nacional (1976 to 1983) and restoration of democracy. F ...
), and re-opened investigation and prosecution of crimes committed during the Dirty War. Human rights activists said that potentially hundreds of people could be brought to trial. Etchecolatz was the first official of that era to be prosecuted.
Beginning in June 2006, he was tried for human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
abuses, in a case that drew international attention. On 19 September 2006, he was found guilty of the detention and torture of Jorge López and Nilda Eloy, and the homicides of Ambrosio Francisco De Marco, Patricia Graciela Dell'Orto, Diana Teruggi de Mariani, Elena Arce Sahores, Nora Livia Formiga and Margarita Delgado.
In passing sentence, the tribunal said that Etchecolatz's crimes were "crimes against humanity
Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...
in the context of the genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...
that took place in Argentina". It was the first time that the term genocide was used in Argentine trials to characterize the crimes committed against political prisoners, and the court explained its reasoning.(See footnote quote in Lead)
Together with Police Chief Ramón Camps
Ramón Juan Alberto Camps (25 January 1927 – 22 August 1994) was an Argentina, Argentine general and the head of the Buenos Aires Provincial Police during the National Reorganization Process (1976–1983). Although he was found guilty of mul ...
, Etchecolatz is believed to have operated at least eight clandestine detention centres in La Plata
La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. According to the , it has a population of 654,324 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 787,294 inhabitants. It is located 9 kilometers (6 miles) inland from th ...
, Quilmes
Quilmes () is a city on the coast of the RÃo de la Plata, Rio de la Plata, in the , on the south east of the Greater Buenos Aires. The city was founded in 1666 and it is the seat of the Quilmes Partido, eponymous county. With a population of 230 ...
, Banfield, and MartÃnez. More than 100 witnesses were called, including former president Raúl AlfonsÃn
Raúl Ricardo AlfonsÃn (12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. He was the first democratically elected president after more than ...
(1983–1989), under whose administration the Pardon Laws were passed in 1986.["Argentina holds 'Dirty War' Trial"](_blank)
BBC News, 21 June 2006.["Condenaron a Etchecolatz a reclusión perpetua"](_blank)
("Etchecolatz sentenced to life imprisonment"), ''La Nación'', 19 September 2006.
Etchecolatz criticized the procedures of the trial as biased and the judges as obedient to other powers. He said he was "an old man who is ill, with no money and no power", and "a part of a war that we onwith the arms and that we're losing politically." He refused to acknowledge the authority of the judges, telling them "You are not the judge. The supreme judge awaits us after death. ..It's not this tribunal that sentences me, it's you." The last thing he said before hearing the sentence was to claim he was "a prisoner of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...
" and "a political prisoner
A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...
".
Political intimidation
Disappearance of Jorge Julio López
Before Etchecolatz was sentenced, Jorge Julio López, who was among those illegally detained and who testified in the trial, was reported as missing and feared "disappeared". He was seen for the last time on 17 September 2006. The provincial government offered a 200,000 peso (US$ 64,000) reward for information on his whereabouts. López, a 77-year-old retired mason with Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
, was initially thought to have suffered post-traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...
after re-living his ordeal during the trial, or chosen to hide after being threatened. But, after a few days, the theory that he had been kidnapped gained support among the authorities.
Buenos Aires Governor Felipe Solá
Felipe Solá (born 23 July 1950) is an Argentine agricultural engineer and politician. He previously served as Governor of Buenos Aires Province, from 2002 to 2007, and as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship under President Alberto Fernánd ...
stated that López "could be the first ''desaparecido'' since the years of state terrorism", and that this could be intended "to intimidate future witnesses or block their participation in other trials". President Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner (; 25 February 195027 October 2010) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, Governor of Santa Cruz Province from 1991 to 2003, Secretary General of UNASUR and ...
warned, "The past is not defeated... utwe cannot go back to that past". Human and civil rights organizations allege that active and retired provincial police personnel took part in the kidnapping of López, to intimidate other witnesses and impede future trials.["Esto no es una desaparición cualquiera"](_blank)
("This is not just another disappearance") '' Página/12'', 26 September 2006 (in Spanish).
On 6 October 2006, a demonstration of tens of thousands at the Plaza de Mayo
The Plaza de Mayo (; en, May Square) is a city square and main foundational site of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was formed in 1884 after the demolition of the Recova building, unifying the city's Plaza Mayor and Plaza de Armas, by that time know ...
, demanded López be found.
Suspicions about the cause of López's disappearance were strengthened in 2014, when Etchecolatz and 14 others were convicted in a trial addressing crimes committed at the 'La Cacha' clandestine detention centre, the place where, among others, Laura Carlotto, the daughter of the head of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo
The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo ( es, italic=no, Asociación Civil Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo) is a human rights organization with the goal of finding the children stolen and illegally adopted during the 1976–1983 Argentine military dicta ...
, Estela de Carlotto
Enriqueta Estela Barnes de Carlotto (born 22 October 1930) is an Argentine human rights activist and president of the association of Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo. One of her daughters, Laura Estela Carlotto, was kidnapped and missing whil ...
, was held. As the judge handed down sentences, Etchecolatz took a piece of paper and wrote on it: "Jorge Julio López." The moment was captured by photographers and when the images were inspected, the other side of the piece of paper could also be read. It said the missing person's name, again, along with the addition of one other word: "Kidnap."
Threats to judges
On 27 September 2006, judge Carlos Rozanski, president of the court that sentenced Etchecolatz, confirmed he received a long letter that claimed judges were being pressured by the national government and denounced those who "from the offices of power do not look for justice but for revenge against those who defended the Nation." The letter was signed by the self-styled ''Third International Congress of Victims of Terrorism – Barcelona – Spain.'' The officia
Third International Congress of Terror Victims
denied any involvement. Three trial judges also received threatening telephone calls.
The same letter was received by Santa Fe federal judge Reinaldo RodrÃguez and by several federal prosecutors. The text was "well-written" and correctly addressed, and contained covert threats, pointing out that the senders "are bound, as citizens, to monitor that udicial officialsfulfill their functions", and that "this farce will end soon, and those who have not honored their posts will be accountable to a particularly impartial court".["Amenazaron al presidente del tribunal que condenó al represor Etchecolatz" ("They threatened the presiding judge who sentenced repressor Etchecolatz")](_blank)
Clarin.com, 27 September 2006. (in Spanish)
pagina12.com, 28 September 2006.
See also
* Rodolfo Almirón
Rodolfo Eduardo Almirón Sena (17 February 1936 – 5 June 2009) was a former Argentine police officer and a leader of an extreme right-wing death squad known as the Triple A, operating in Argentina from 1973 to 1976 against the left-wing of ...
* Ramón Camps
Ramón Juan Alberto Camps (25 January 1927 – 22 August 1994) was an Argentina, Argentine general and the head of the Buenos Aires Provincial Police during the National Reorganization Process (1976–1983). Although he was found guilty of mul ...
* Leopoldo Galtieri
Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri (; 15 July 1926 12 January 2003) was an Argentine general and politician of Italian descent who served as President of Argentina from December 1981 to June 1982. Galtieri ruled as a military dictator during the Natio ...
* History of Argentina
The history of Argentina can be divided into four main parts: the pre-Columbian time or early history (up to the sixteenth century), the colonial period (1536–1809), the period of nation-building (1810–1880), and the history of modern Argenti ...
* Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo
The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo is an Argentine human rights association formed in response to the National Reorganization Process, the military dictatorship by Jorge Rafael Videla, with the goal of finding the ''desaparecidos'', initially, an ...
* National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons
National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons (Spanish: ', CONADEP) was an Argentine organization created by President Raúl AlfonsÃn on 15 December 1983, shortly after his inauguration, to investigate the fate of the ''desaparecidos'' (vi ...
* Night of the Pencils
* Operation Condor
Operation Condor ( es, link=no, Operación Cóndor, also known as ''Plan Cóndor''; pt, Operação Condor) was a United States–backed campaign of political repression and state terror involving intelligence operations and assassination of o ...
* José López Rega
José López Rega (17 November 1916 – 9 June 1989) was an Argentine politician who served as Minister of Social Welfare from 1973 to 1975, first under Juan Perón and continuing under Isabel Perón, Juan Perón's third wife and presidential su ...
* State terrorism
State terrorism refers to acts of terrorism which a state conducts against another state or against its own citizens.Martin, 2006: p. 111.
Definition
There is neither an academic nor an international legal consensus regarding the proper def ...
References and notes
External links
Trial Watch profile
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Etchecolatz, Miguel
1929 births
2022 deaths
Argentine police officers convicted of murder
Operatives of the Dirty War
Police officers convicted of crimes against humanity
Argentine people convicted of crimes against humanity
Argentine prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Argentina
People convicted of murder by Argentina
Place of birth missing
People convicted of kidnapping
Genocide perpetrators