The discovery Friday of new archives from the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner is expected to shed new light on the regime that ruled Paraguay from 1954 to 1989.
Identity cards and folders full of photographs and information on former political prisoners were found in the basement of a building in downtown Asunción that belonged to the Interior Ministry.
The discovery was made possible by a tip-off from a former military cadet who served in the Interior Ministry under Stroessner.
Local human rights activist Martín Almada, who uncovered the so-called "Archives of Terror" in 1992, said the man who provided the information used to take meals to political prisoners held in the basement, which was used as a torture chamber by then interior minister Sabino Augusto Montanaro, a key member of Stroessner's inner circle who is now living in Honduras, where he was granted political asylum.
The building now serves as the venue for meetings by Paraguay's Council of Governors.
The first to enter the basement were Almada and the governor of the southern department (province) of Misiones, Víctor Pereira, who reported the discovery of the archives to the Office of the Public Prosecutor.
The basement is dark, and there is water on the floor and mildew on the walls. By smashing a hole in the wall, the investigators found another lightless room where files containing the names and records of political prisoners were discovered in a pile of garbage.
According to Almada, winner of the 2002 Right Livelihood Award -- also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize -- Paraguayan, Argentine, Brazilian, Uruguayan and Chilean political prisoners were tortured in the basement, victims of Operation Condor, a coordinated plan among the military governments that ruled those countries in the 1970s and 1980s that was aimed at tracking down, capturing, torturing and eliminating left-wing opponents.
"I call on the government, through the Foreign Ministry, to secure the extradition of Montanaro so that he can be brought to justice in Paraguay," said Almada.
A Paraguayan court has already requested Montanaro's extradition.
Newspapers from that era were also found in the basement.
After the news of the discovery was announced, many victims of the dictatorship, politicians and human rights advocates flocked to the building and began to file through the basement.
To protect the records, prosecutor Fátima Britos, accompanied by a forensic specialist and other experts, restricted access to the basement.
Identity cards and folders full of photographs and information on former political prisoners were found in the basement of a building in downtown Asunción that belonged to the Interior Ministry.
The discovery was made possible by a tip-off from a former military cadet who served in the Interior Ministry under Stroessner.
Local human rights activist Martín Almada, who uncovered the so-called "Archives of Terror" in 1992, said the man who provided the information used to take meals to political prisoners held in the basement, which was used as a torture chamber by then interior minister Sabino Augusto Montanaro, a key member of Stroessner's inner circle who is now living in Honduras, where he was granted political asylum.
The building now serves as the venue for meetings by Paraguay's Council of Governors.
The first to enter the basement were Almada and the governor of the southern department (province) of Misiones, Víctor Pereira, who reported the discovery of the archives to the Office of the Public Prosecutor.
The basement is dark, and there is water on the floor and mildew on the walls. By smashing a hole in the wall, the investigators found another lightless room where files containing the names and records of political prisoners were discovered in a pile of garbage.
According to Almada, winner of the 2002 Right Livelihood Award -- also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize -- Paraguayan, Argentine, Brazilian, Uruguayan and Chilean political prisoners were tortured in the basement, victims of Operation Condor, a coordinated plan among the military governments that ruled those countries in the 1970s and 1980s that was aimed at tracking down, capturing, torturing and eliminating left-wing opponents.
"I call on the government, through the Foreign Ministry, to secure the extradition of Montanaro so that he can be brought to justice in Paraguay," said Almada.
A Paraguayan court has already requested Montanaro's extradition.
Newspapers from that era were also found in the basement.
After the news of the discovery was announced, many victims of the dictatorship, politicians and human rights advocates flocked to the building and began to file through the basement.
To protect the records, prosecutor Fátima Britos, accompanied by a forensic specialist and other experts, restricted access to the basement.
~ more... ~
No comments:
Post a Comment