PHOTO: in 2007, The Supreme Court of Spain convicted Scilingo of crimes against humanity. Image: EFE
THE RESTRICTION OF UNIVERSAL JUSTICE PROPOSED BY RAJOY DOES NOT AFFECT THE CASE OF THE ARGENTINE REPRESSOR
The reform launched by the Spanish government to limit judicial investigation to crimes committed within the national territory does not modify the sentence to 1084 years in prison for former military man Adolfo Scilingo. Yes, files pending cases.
By Flor Ragucci
Page/12 In Spain
From Barcelona
Monday, 24 February 2014
When in April 2005, Amnesty International (AI) expressed his satisfaction with the sentence of the National Court of Madrid to 640 years in prison for the repressor Adolfo Scilingo, You probably didn't imagine that, nine years later, The same legislation that led to that sentence would be about to be annulled by the Spanish government itself.. AI then stated: “The sentence is based on the principle of universal jurisdiction and counteracts the impunity from which many people benefited.”” and celebrated that this was “a clear message to warn the perpetrators of crimes against humanity that they will have no refuge.”.
Yeah, indeed, Scilingo was first sentenced to 640 years in prison and then, in 2007, a 1084 by a ruling of the Supreme Court of Spain, which considered the crimes of murder and illegal detention committed by him at the Higher School of Mechanics of the Navy (ESMA) as “crimes against humanity”. The so-called universal justice was then applied and, once the sentence has been passed, there is no going back. That's why, Your case is not affected by the proposal launched ten days ago by Mariano Rajoy's party to restrict its use in Spain..
“The Scilingo case is different from that of the genocides in Tibet, Rwanda or Guatemala that our country is investigating. The restriction of universal jurisdiction that the Popular Party wants (PP) determines the filing of open cases at the time the law comes into force, but it does not say anything about the sentences that are already final. “Revoking a criminal sentence would be absolutely unconstitutional”, explains José Elías, defense lawyer of the Tibetan monk who filed a lawsuit against China for the massacres perpetrated against his people.
“What the reform proposal does cause is this type of uncertainty”, Elías warns. By attempting to limit the application of a standard, universal justice, which has been a reference in Europe since 1995 and thanks to which Spain was a pioneer in terms of the protection of human rights, doubts shot in all directions. But the truth is that the initiative that the PP approved unilaterally due to its absolute majority in the Congress of Deputies restricts the law that allowed investigation of crimes committed outside the national territory because they are considered crimes against humanity only to cases in which the victims are Spanish and the accused are in Spanish territory at the time of being tried., as well as orders that the complaints opened in the present be archived.
Luckily, The trial of former military man Adolfo Scilingo did not take place with the Rajoy government. The conviction for 30 murders committed on two death flights during the Argentine dictatorship that, in accordance with international law, was applied in 2007 to the repressor, It is irrevocable. The Supreme Court also condemned Scilingo as the author of a crime of illegal detention and as an accomplice of others. 255 kidnappings, as many as were proven to have been committed during the time he was at ESMA.
In practice, The decision of the Spanish judges meant a maximum of 25 years of prison for the dictator and the transcendental fact of establishing that the crimes committed by Scilingo constituted crimes against humanity, according to international law, which supported that the Spanish courts could prosecute this type of crimes since then..
“The Scilingo case was already a reference point 2005, when the National Court evoked the Nuremberg Code to issue a sentence. “It was a totally pioneering way of interpreting the law.”, says José Elías, the defense lawyer in the case for Tibet that put the Spanish government in check against China. "Now, with the reform of the PP, our legislation dates back to the true Middle Ages and, on, for economic reasons, “non-legal”, duck.
In his day, when Spanish Justice was still a model worldwide, The Supreme Court noted that the most important characteristic of crimes against humanity is their “universal pursueability.”, Therefore, he justified the jurisdiction of the Iberian Justice to prosecute the former military man., In addition to the fact that in the ESMA, where Scilingo was stationed, there were victims with Spanish nationality. In addition, He alleged that crimes committed during the Argentine military dictatorship had not been prosecuted in his country because of the Full Stop and Due Obedience laws..
While at that time these regulations prevented the cause from advancing in Argentina, Judge Baltasar Garzón carried out the investigation in Spain. The former ship captain was detained in 1997 after providing the judge with information about the repressors and acknowledging that he participated in two death flights. Prosecutor Dolores Delgado, who accused Scilingo in the National Court, He then showed his satisfaction and specified that it was “one of the most advanced and progressive sentences in the world by incorporating international law into domestic law.”. Hoy, however, Spain is becoming, thanks to the submission of Rajoy's party to Chinese economic guidelines, in a space of impunity for any attack against human rights.
