Falklands war general arrested for crimes against humanity

Telegraph

By Jonathan Gilbert-18 Oct 2012
Mario Benjamin Menendez speaks before troops in April 1982. He has long been accused of overseeing the maltreatment of Argentine conscripts during the conflict Photo: Eduardo Farre/EPA

Mario Menéndez, the army general who led and surrendered Argentine troops in the Falklands War, has been arrested for his alleged role in crimes against humanity perpetrated by the 1976-83 military dictat

Mr Menéndez, military governor of the Falklands during the conflict, was detained on Wednesday night at his home in Buenos Aires.

He will be transferred from a jail in the capital to the northern province of Tucumán, where the crimes took place, the Ministry of Security said.

Mr Menéndez, 82, was arrested together with 15 other people for their suspected participation in 'Operation Independence', one of the first operations of the dictatorship's 'Dirty War' against left-wing subversion.

An estimated 30,000 people were 'disappeared' – kidnapped and murdered – by the regime.

Mr Menéndez is expected to be put on the stand in a trial next month that will seek to bring to justice those involved in 'Operation Independence'.

The operation, which began in 1975, crushed an insurgency of guerrillas, utilising detention centres and torture to kill an estimated 700 people.

Similar trials have taken place across Argentina during the presidencies of Cristina Kirchner and her late husband and predecessor Néstor, who overturned impunity laws introduced by previous governments.

In July, former dictators Jorge Videla and Reynaldo Bignone, already serving lifetime sentences for human rights abuses, were found guilty ofoverseeing the systematic kidnapping of babies from activists.

Mr Menéndez surrendered Argentine troops in the Falklands in June 1982, despite having received contradictory orders from Leopoldo Galtieri, head of the military junta.

He has long been accused of overseeing the maltreatment of Argentine conscripts during the 74-day conflict, though no case has ever been brought against him.

Many soldiers have told of how they were beaten, starved and humiliated by their superiors.

Mr Menéndez's cousin, former army Colonel José María Menéndez, was also arrested.