Former Argentine dictators tried for baby thefts

[Judi Lynn]

Feb 27, 3:47 PM EST
Former Argentine dictators tried for baby thefts
By DEBORA REY
Associated Press

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Francisco Madariaga doesn't know when he was born, but he's told his umbilical cord was still attached when he was pulled from his mother in a clandestine detention center and illegally adopted during Argentina's military dictatorship.

Madariaga, now 33, hopes to learn clues to his past when a long-awaited trial begins Monday, the first in which former Argentine leaders are charged with implementing a systematic plan to steal the babies of political prisoners. In all, about 400 infants are believed to have been stolen - a small fraction of the crimes against humanity that characterized the 1976-1983 dictatorship.

Former dictators Jorge Rafael Videla and Reynaldo Bignone face life sentences if convicted in the kidnapping of 34 children. Also charged are several former lower-ranking military men, including Madariaga's adoptive father."It's going to be good to confront them so they see that they couldn't get away with it with everyone, that sometimes the truth comes out," said Madariaga, now 33 and a plaintiff in the case.

The military junta's so-called Process of National Reorganization resulted in the kidnapping, torture and murder of as many as 30,000 political dissidents. But they generally drew a line against killing unborn children - so they kept pregnant detainees alive until they gave birth, before killing the mothers. Their babies were later given to military couples or their allies, who adopted them with falsified paperwork.

More:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_ARGENTINA_STOLEN_BABIES?SECTION=HOME&SITE=AP&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[joshcryer]

1. I wonder if Catholicism somehow "compelled" them to avoid abortion / infanticide.

Being afraid to break Catholic rules, but murder is OK because you can be absolved for that! Twisted doesn't begin to describe this. :puke:

[Judi Lynn]

2. Argentina's ex-military leaders tried over baby thefts

28 February 2011 Last updated at 10:32 ET
Argentina's ex-military leaders tried over baby thefts

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk.nyud.net:8090/media/images/51459000/jpg/_51459222_videlabignone.jpg

Videla (left) was military leader from 1976-81,
Reynaldo Bignone from 1982-83

Two former military leaders have gone on trial in Argentina, accused of overseeing the systematic theft of babies from political prisoners.

Jorge Videla and Reynaldo Bignone are accused of kidnapping some 30 children whose parents died or disappeared during the 1976-83 military rule.

Six others, including ex-officers and a doctor, are also on trial.

More than 100 children are known to have been given for adoption to military or police couples.

The long-awaited trial, which is being televised, is the first time Argentina's military leaders have faced charges of operating a systematic plan to steal babies from pregnant prisoners.

The parents were then killed or "disappeared".

More:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12597738

[Judi Lynn]

3. Trial begins for former Argentine dictators accused of stealing 34 babies

Trial begins for former Argentine dictators accused of stealing 34 babies
Michael Warren
Bueons Aires, Argentina— The Associated Press
Published Monday, Feb. 28, 2011 3:15PM EST
Last updated Monday, Feb. 28, 2011 3:18PM EST

~snip~
Mr. Videla, 85, has been sentenced to life in prison, and Mr. Bignone, 83, is serving a 25-year term for other crimes committed during the 1976-1983 dictatorship, but this is the first trial focused on the alleged plan to steal as many as 400 infants from leftists who were kidnapped, tortured and made to disappear during the junta's crackdown on political dissent.

There are 13,000 people on the official list of those killed, although rights groups estimate as many as 30,000 died.

The dictatorship generally drew the line at killing children, but the existence of babies belonging to people who officially no longer existed created a problem for the junta leaders. The indictment alleges they solved it by falsifying paperwork and arranging illegal adoptions by people sympathetic to the military regime.

Some 500 women were known to be pregnant before they disappeared, according to formal complaints from their families or other official witness accounts. To date, 102 people born to vanished dissidents have since recovered their true identities with the aid of the Grandmothers, which helped create a national database of DNA evidence to match children with their birth families.

More:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/trial-begins-for-former-argentine-dictators-accused-of-stealing-34-babies/article1923900/