Argentine Court Begins Joint Process of 322 'Dirty War' Cases

A judicial marathon began in Argentina Tuesday, bringing together 322 crimes against humanity committed during the Dirty War dictatorship (1976-1983),including disappearances of pregnant women and ex-workers of the multinational Mercedes Benz.

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"This is a megacause, a big trial where many cases are integrated due to the very long delay in the trials, especially because there were difficulties to integrate the court," said Pablo Lachener, lawyer representing the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo.

"We represent around 40 victims, including a good number of pregnant women illegally deprived of their freedom and who have been disappeared," Lachener said in reference to the case which was first opened in 2007.

The case includes complaints lodged by 322 victims of the Campo de Mayo military barracks, where clandestine centers of the Dirty War operated by 22 accused or convicted military and police.

Ex-Mercedes Benz employees have fought for recognition of the company’s alleged involvement in the disappearances or detentions of 14 workers.

Julio D'Alessandro, former worker of the 73-year-old carmaker, said, "We are going to continue asking for justice because we have an obligation that justice be done so that the new boys do not suffer economic power in that way.”

Lorena Battistiol, who lost her parents during the deadly dictatorship, told El Espectador, "We hope for justice and also that data will appear that will allow us to know where our missing relatives are and who took our brother or sister.”

Earlier this month, the U.S. presented Argentina its fourth and final installment of the Declassification Process over a 50,000 page-government file on human rights abuses conducted during the military dictatorship and Plan Condor, an operation dedicated to eliminating anyone perceived to threaten military power and neoliberal policies.