Spanish Court Convicts Argentine under Universal Jurisdiction

Adolfo Scilingo, a former Argentine Naval officer, was convicted by a Spanish court for crimes against humanity. This is the first such conviction under universal jurisdicition is Spain (that is, at issue here is not any croime against Spansih citizens or against the laws of Spain, per se, but rather acts that any country should be able to prosecute under international law). A CNN report about the case is here. For more on universal jurisdiction, see this post.

Scilingo had taken part in activities conducted by the military junta that ruled Argentina in the 1970’s and early 1980’s; in particular, Scilingo admitted to taking about 30 opponents of the regime and tossing them to their deaths from airplanes. He had come to Spain willingly to testify and was subsequently held on the basis of his testimony. He has been sentenced to 640 years although, under Spansih law, he will serve no more than 30.

The investigating judge in this case is Baltazar Garzon, the same judge who investigated Chilean ex-President Augusto Pinochet. Garzon has indicted approximately 40 other memebers of the Argentine military; one, Ricardo Miguel Cavallo, is in Spansih custody.