Part I
The Repression

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

K. The coordination of repression in Latin America

The illegal repressive operations undertaken by the government and the activities of persecution linked to them were not confined by geographical boundaries. The security organizations of neighbouring states collaborated with these activities in reciprocal arrangements whereby people were arrested with no regard for legality, in blatant violation of the international treaties and conventions on political asylum and refuge to which our country subscribes. The agents of foreign repressive regimes operated in our country and arrested Uruguayans, Paraguayans, Bolivians and other nationals.

Foreigners were clandestinely abducted with impunity and handed over to the authorities of their respective countries.

Some of these people were refugees, some were legal residents and others were under the protection of the High Commission of the United Nations.

The violation ot their status as refugees represented clear breaches of internationally recognized conventions and constituted a blatant contempt for long-established precedents relating to political asylum.

The method used consisted basically of a linking-up of illegal, repressive groups, which acted together as a single force. This operation, because of its clandestine nature, constituted a clear violation of national sovereignty.

The events which occurred demonstrated the existence of a typically 'multi-national' repressive apparatus. Under its protection the foreign forces of repression were integrated into the task groups and became involved in kidnapping, interrogation under torture, assassination or the transfer of their nationals to secret detention centres in their own countries.

Although the largest number of foreigners involved were Uruguayans, there were significant numbers of Paraguayan, Bolivian and even Chilean citizens who had been given asylum. They all suffered the consequences of the close association between authoritarian political models imposed on this part of South America.

Let us look at some examples:

Testimony of Osiris Irineo Ayala - File N° 6364

On one of those occasions I was with a group of people, and a guard said in Guarani, 'There's one who isn't a Paraguayan, tell Captain Espada that we do not want to take people who are not Paraguayan.'

It should be stressed that Señor Ayala was the only one of fourteen people arrested who was left at the place he referred to earlier.