Human Rights Defender Attacked in Argentina
Buenos Aires, Argentina
November 17, 1998
Human rights investigator Esteban Cuya was attacked yesterday after a day of searching for evidence in the cases of dozens of German citizens who were "disappeared" during Argentina's military dictatorship.
Mr. Cuya, an investigator with the Nuremberg Human Rights Center, is also the Coordinator of the Coalition Against Impunity, a group dedicated to determining the fate of Germans disappeared in Argentina and bringing those responsible to justice. Mr. Cuya was forced to flee Peru under threat of persecution.
After meeting with Nobel Laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel and having dinner, Mr. Cuya entered a cab on his way to a friend's house. The taxi driver asked Mr. Cuya what he had done during the day and then two cars blocked the taxi. Three men entered the taxi. Mr. Cuya was beaten and searched for information. The men took documents from Mr. Cuya's briefcase that were part of his investigation into the disappearance of German citizens from 1976 to 1983. The taxi stopped in a darkened alley and Mr. Cuya was thrown out with his empty briefcase, passport and bank card.
Mr. Cuya's work is part of an investigation into human rights abuses committed by more than 40 members of the Argentine police and armed forces. Suspects in the disappearances of German citizens include former Argentine military dictator Jorge Rafael Videla, former Navy admiral Emilio Eduardo Massera, and former Army general Carlos Suarez Mason.
The attack on Mr. Cuya is similar to other threats and assaults against those involved in exposing and investigating abuses by the Argentine police and armed forces. Photographer Luis Cabezas was murdered while he was investigation allegations of corruption in the Argentine police and former Navy captain Adolfo Scilingo was assaulted after confessing to participating in Navy flights in which live prisoners were thrown into the ocean. The offices of Families of the Disappeared for Political Reasons, where documents concerning human rights abuses are stored, have also been repeatedly broken into.
Contact: Michael Katz-Lacabe
510-528-7794
press@derechos.org
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German Coalition Against Impunity
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