Political Crimes and Abuse of Power

Guatemalan Court Convicts National Police Chief

Washington, D.C., September 24, 2013 – On September 20, a Guatemalan tribunal convicted the former director of the National Police of Guatemala, retired Col. Hйctor Bol de la Cruz, and his subordinate Jorge Alberto Gуmez Lуpez for the 1984 disappearance of student and labor leader Edgar Fernando Garcнa. The verdict broke new ground in the case of Fernando Garcнa's abduction and presumed murder, by condemning senior police officials for their role in ordering, overseeing, and then concealing the crime.

Forced Disappearance in the Dominican Republic

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The Final Battle: Ríos Montt's Counterinsurgency Campaign
May 9, 2013

Indicted for Genocide: Guatemala's Efraín Ríos Montt
March 19, 2013

OPERATION CONDOR ON TRIAL: LEGAL PROCEEDINGS ON LATIN AMERICAN RENDITION AND ASSASSINATION PROGRAM OPEN IN BUENOS AIRES
March 8, 2013

Lifting the Veil on Colombia's "Emerald Czar"
December 21, 2012

STOLEN BABIES: Argentina Convicts Two Military Dictators
July 5, 2012

Update: The Guatemalan Death Squad Diary and the Right to Truth
May 3, 2012

The Final Battle: Ríos Montt's Counterinsurgency Campaign

After weeks of powerful testimony and excruciating procedural wrangling, the trial of former Guatemalan dictator Efraнn Rнos Montt and his intelligence chief Josй Rodrнguez Sбnchez on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity is coming to an end. With Judge Yazmin Barrios's request for closing arguments yesterday, the government's lead prosecutor, Orlando Lуpez, gave more than two hours of summation based heavily on the Guatemalan military plans, manuals, and operational records entered as evidence.

Indicted for Genocide: Guatemala's Efraín Ríos Montt

Washington, D.C., March 19, 2013 – The groundbreaking genocide trial of Efraнn Rнos Montt, retired army general and former dictator of Guatemala, opens today with the presentation of the prosecution's first witnesses. The trial will take place despite repeated efforts by defense lawyers to halt the proceedings with legal appeals and a bid for amnesty. On March 12, the Constitutional Court rejected the amnesty request once and for all, clearing the way for the trial to begin.

Operation Condor on Trial: Legal Proceedings on Latin America Rendition and Assassination Program Open in Buenos Aires

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Una justicia que trasciende las fronteras
Por Alejandra Dandan, March, 6 2013

STOLEN BABIES: Argentina Convicts Two Military Dictators
July 5, 2012

Kissinger Blocked Demarche on International Assassinations to Condor States
April 10, 2010

Southern Cone Rendition Program: Peru's Participation 
February 22, 2008

RENDITION IN THE SOUTHERN CONE: OPERATION CONDOR DOCUMENTS REVEALED FROM PARAGUAYAN "ARCHIVE OF TERROR"
December 21, 2007

Lifting the Veil on Colombia's "Emerald Czar"

Colombian Army "Facilitated" Paramilitary Operation at Miraflores "From Beginning to End" "Big-Time Narco" Carranza one of the "Best Known" Paramilitaries in Colombia but "Content to Operate Behind the Scenes" Washington, DC, December 21, 2012 – An individual using the reported alias of Colombian billionaire Vнctor Carranza Niсo “freely admitted” that “he and men under his command” were “responsible for the October 1997 Miraflores massacre” and that the Colombian Army “had facilitated the operation ‘from beginning to end,’” according to a formerly-Secret cable from the U.S.

Stolen Babies Argentina Convicts Two Military Dictators

Washington, D.C., July 5, 2012 –An Argentine tribunal today convicted two former military leaders for their roles in the kidnapping and theft of dozens of babies of executed and disappeared political prisoners during the dictatorship. Drawing on critical evidence provided from the United States, the court sentenced General Rafael Videla to 50 years and General Reynaldo Bignone to 15 years in prison for crimes that epitomized the vicious human rights abuses during the military regime that governed Argentina between 1976 and 1983.