Part I
The Repression

Nunca Más (Never Again) - Report of Conadep  - 1984
 

Secret Detention Centres in Santa Fe

From the depositions submitted to the Commission, it has been possible to establish the existence of four secret detention centres functioning as a circuit within this clandestine system of repression. All of them - under the jurisdiction of the 2nd Army Corps - corresponded to Security Area 212, whose head in 1976 was Colonel Rolon (file No. 7503), while Colonel José Maria González (file No. 7503) of the 12th Artillery Group occupied the position of Chief of Police in Santa Fe province during this and the following year. And it was precisely that Detective Squad, situated at the junction of Calles Obispo Gelabert and San Martín, which was the reception-place for the prisoners both from the provincial capital and the outlying areas, After a short period of 'softening up', they were taken to Police Station No. 4, the information gathering centre for the region. When the number of prisoners there necessitated it, some were dispersed to a location belonging to the Union of Argentine Teachers (the UDA), that was not utilized for union activities but was converted into a sort of holing-up place for the unofficial prisoners.

The final stop in the circuit was the Infantry Guards' Headquarters, from where the prisoners were generally made official and put into a recognized prison, or else released. It is worth noting that a characteristic trait of this region was undoubtedly the number of people who reappeared in one way or another, after suffering every form of agony on the secret circuit. The rest of their techniques, including robbery and pillage, do not show any differences from the reports logged in other parts of the country.

Mónica Martínez (file No. 7509) was seized in Reconquista (Santa Fe) on 19 October 1976. Twelve hours after her abduction she was transferred to Santa Fe city, to police premises offices housed at the Obispo Gelabert and San Martín intersection. She was beaten and tortured with an electric prod for several days. At the end of November she was taken 'to a derelict house, (together with five other people) on Calle San Martin opposite the Franciscan monastery. On the walls she could see posters belonging to the UDA.' She remained there for ten days and was then taken to Police Station No. 4, where she spent two months. On 1 February 1977 she was taken to the Guards' Headquarters, staying there until 2 May 1977, when she was made official and taken to Devoto Prison.

Detective Squad Headquarters
Infantry Guards Headquarters
Police Station No. 4
Secret detention centres in Rosario
Domingo Matheu Light Arms Factory