Amid the scandal over Lourdes Arrieta's visit to genocidaires , a legal case against the legislator's father, Tomás Arrieta , was placed on the public agenda in recent hours when it became known that the complaint had reached the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR).
Arrieta Sr. participated in the Malvinas War as a first corporal and commanded a group of soldiers from the 12th Infantry Regiment . One of his conscripts denounced him in 2007 and accused him of taking food from his subordinates and influencing the death of one of them.
The former soldier was charged 17 years ago with torture, infliction of torment and abandonment of a person resulting in death, the latter crime for the death of Corrientes soldier Secundino Riquelme who, according to his colleagues, "died of hunger."
While his daughter Lourdes has been in the eye of the storm since she visited genocidaires in the Ezeiza prison, her father's situation has gained space in the national media.
This Thursday on Radio Nihuil, Rubén Ponce de León, a former soldier who pointed to Arrieta as his harasser, and lawyer Pablo Vassel, who published a book about the torture of "colimbas" by their superiors during the Malvinas War, gave their testimony .
Arrieta himself had announced that he wanted to give his version and refute the allegations, but during the broadcast of the program "Días Distintos", hosted by Julián Imazio and Marcelo Sisso, he said he was not willing to participate in the report "for reasons of security and health."
The accusation of a former soldier against Lourdes Arrieta's father
Ponce de León remembered "First Corporal Tomás Arrieta as a big, dark-skinned, fat guy. He had no better idea, since we were all going through the same situation, than to find a reason to punish us."
And he described: " He found me lying in the same position where we slept. I had my boots unbuttoned and I fell asleep. Then he took away my breakfast and lunch. That was the last meal of the day and he punished me by taking away my only food."
The former combatant also said: "On May 25 (1982) they took us from the front line and we went to a village of 10 to 15 houses where the field hospital was. When we were taken prisoner I weighed 48 kilos."
Finally, he expressed his wish: "Just as he punished us in the Malvinas, he should also be punished and stop receiving the honorary pension that we war veterans receive."
What the lawyer said about the indictment of Tomás Arrieta
Lawyer Pablo Vassel , author of the book Malvinas and Human Rights . History of the Investigation into Torture of Argentine Soldiers in the Malvinas Islands, explained that "Arrieta has been accused and charged for 17 years in the Federal Court of Rio Grande."
"The then first corporal - the lawyer added - was accused of manipulating hunger, of choosing which soldier ate and which did not. He would also be responsible for the death of a Corrientes soldier who died of hunger."
Vassel said that the Supreme Court considered that "these were common crimes and not crimes against humanity (which do not have a statute of limitations) and that is why in 2015 we went to the national court, where the case is still pending. Faced with the delays, the victims decided to go to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) which, I understand, will issue a ruling at the beginning of 2025."
"So," he concluded, "regardless of the outcome of the case in the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, Argentina will have to investigate the facts for which there are already 250 testimonies."
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