19 former military officers in Argentina sentenced to long prison terms for crimes against humanity

A Federal court in Buenos Aires, Argentina has sentenced 19 former military officers to long prison terms for crimes against humanity, including forced disappearances, murder, torture, and kidnapping of children during the country’s military dictatorships in 1976-83. Among those sentenced was General Santiago Riveros, previously convicted for other human rights violations who received a life sentence after being found guilty of more than 100 crimes.

The court ruled that crimes were committed against some 350 victims, including six auto plant workers at the Mercedes Benz factory who were abducted by right-wing death squads for having union sympathies.

They were then tortured and killed in the notorious Campo De Mayo detention centre run by Riveros outside Buenos Aires.