News of crimes against humanity

Milei challenges Argentina's longstanding human rights policies

27-11-2025 19:11 President’s decision to appoint the head of the Army, Lieutenant General Carlos Presti, as Argentina's new defence minister comes amid calls for a new march to demand the release of military officers convicted of offences committed during the last military dictatorship and and delays to trials investigating crimes against humanity.

by Giselle Leclercq

Human rights

Forensic experts identify remains of law student who disappeared in 1977

09-04-2025 11:13 Activist and law student Virginia Beatriz Tempone, 21, was abducted and forcibly disappeared in Mar del Plata in 1977 during the dictatorship’s time in power.

Human rights

Report: 20 convictions for crimes against humanity last year

27-03-2025 00:01 Annual report from PCCH puts tally at 1,195 convictions, 332 sentences for crimes against humanity since 2006 – the year in which such trials were resumed.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Ex-cop, ex-Army officer sentenced to lengthy jail terms for 1970s crimes

01-10-2024 15:12 Néstor Ciaramella and Enrique Del Pino found guilty of kidnapping, torture, disappearances, murder, sexual abuse and other crimes committed against 185 people between 1974 and 1977, in the lead up to the military dictatorship.

COURTS & HUMAN RIGHTS

Court in Argentina orders Maduro's arrest for crimes against humanity

24-09-2024 08:45 In a historic ruling, Argentina's justice system requests arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and around 30 others for alleged crimes against humanity. Interpol red alert issued for his detention.

HUMAN RIGHTS

UN mission says Venezuela repression was crime against humanity

19-09-2024 12:52 Venezuela committed a “crime against humanity” with its persecution of dissidents after July’s election, according to a United Nations report.

ARGENTINA-VENEZUELA BILATERAL ROW

Venezuela seeks arrest of President Milei as bilateral ties hit new low

18-09-2024 20:39 Attorney general in Caracas says he will seek arrest of President Milei, Karina Milei and Patricia Bullrich over confiscation of Venezuelan cargo plane; Tarek William Saab accuses Argentina leaders of “genocide” in clampdown on protests in Buenos Aires.

COURTS

NGO, prosecutors in Argentina ask courts to order Maduro's arrest

18-09-2024 15:23 Legal push in Argentina asking domestic courts to issue an international arrest warrant for Maduro, Cabello and around 30 others for crimes against humanity; Complaint is based on the principle of universal jurisdiction.

LA LIBERTAD AVANZA IN CRISIS

Arrieta jumps ship after leaking bills to free dictatorship criminals

28-08-2024 23:56 Amid controversy within La Libertad Avanza over the visit of pro-government deputies to criminals convicted for crimes against humanity at Ezeiza Prison, national deputy leaks draft bills and decree that aim to force through their release.

HUMAN RIGHTS & DICTATORSHIP

NGOs accuse Milei government ‘dismantling’ team investigating military records

12-04-2024 08:45 Injunction against move filed with courts as human rights groups denounce firing of 10 out of 13 researchers that probe archives of Armed Forces to assist investigations into crimes against humanity.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Court reopens probe into alleged crimes against humanity in Venezuela

06-04-2024 22:17 Court in Argentina, citing principle of universal jurisdiction, orders re-opening of investigation into crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Venezuela.

POLITICS & HUMAN RIGHTS

Alberto González: ESMA torturer – and vice-president’s mentor

29-03-2024 21:02 He headed the dreaded “underground” of the ESMA Navy Mechanics School concentration camp. Convicted for crimes against humanity, Alberto González was also the first dictatorship-era criminal to be sentenced for rape. He is also the mentor of Argentina’s Vice-President Victoria Villarruel.

by Juan Luis González

Human rights

‘Los Pozos’: 10 handed life sentences for dictatorship-era abuses

28-03-2024 14:28 Court issues 10 lifetime prison sentences as part of a long-running, mass prosecution into incidents of kidnapping, torture, rape and disappearances at three sites during the country's 1976-83 military dictatorship.

INTERVIEW / PERIODISMO PURO

Silvia Labayrú: ‘I was the first, I believe, to give birth at ESMA’

17-02-2024 06:43 Silvia Labayrú is a survivor of one of Argentina’s darkest places during the 1976-1983 era of state terrorism. Held at the ex-ESMA Navy Mechanics School, which served as a clandestine detention centre during the dictatorship’s rein of terror, she was kidnapped, tortured and raped several times during her captivity. In a feature interview, she recalls her experience and reveals the horrors she suffered during those black days.

by Jorge Fontevecchia