Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo: 'Jail Human Rights Offender'

Argentina's Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo are asking the courts to revoke the privilege of house arrest granted to Carlos del Señor Hidalgo Garzon, convicted of supporting hundreds of human-rights violations during the military dictatorship of the 1970s.

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According to the organization, Garzon violated his house arrest within two days. The Assistance Program for People Under Electronic Surveillance has confirmed their complaints, registering two unauthorized departures on January 12 and 15.

On February 2, Garzon reported a burglary, claiming the theft of US$10,000 (200,000 pesos), a shotgun and a pistol.

President of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo Estela de Carlotto asked how he could be robbed of such items when owning firearms is prohibited for anyone under house arrest.

Though the report was filed by Hidalgo to both the Oral Court and the Federal Court 1 of Plata, "nothing was said of the existence of the weapons," Carlotta said.

Garzon, a former intelligence officer, was convicted in connection with dozens of crimes against humanity committed between 1976 and 1978, during the military dictatorship. He led his men in acts of torture, along with the kidnapping of opposition forces and young children.

He has since been accused of harassing one of his former victims, Catalina de Sanctis Ovando, and her husband in a series of alarming letters prior to his 2015 conviction.

Ovando, who was born in captivity and allegedly raised as a "war trophy," was finally reunited with her family in 2008.

Garzon, 72, was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes, but the verdict was amended after a medical report was delivered to the courts citing numerous health concerns.

"It was an exemplary sentence, which imposed on Hidalgo Garzon one of the highest penalties on the perpetrator – 15 years in prison – and the highest for his wife – 12 years – but it's no use if the sentence is not met," the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo wrote in a statement.

"Ten years after the restitution of Catalina's identity and five years since sentencing of her appropriators, it is laughable that they have not yet served a single day in jail for these acts."