Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/mac/TEXT/HUMANrts/ARGENTIN.TXT

Text File | 1996-01-04 | 28KB | 575 lines

TITLE:  ARGENTINA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995



                           ARGENTINA


Argentina is a federal constitutional democracy with an
executive branch headed by an elected president, a bicameral
legislature, and a separate judiciary.  The President, Carlos
Saul Menem, was elected in 1989, under an electoral college
system, for a single 6-year term.  In August a Constituent
Assembly of popularly elected delegates revised the
Constitution, changing the presidential term to 4 years,
abolishing the electoral college system, and permitting one
successive term in office.

The President is the commander in chief, and a civilian Defense
Minister oversees the armed forces.  The Government abolished
military conscription in September, partly as a result of the
public backlash generated by the beating death of a young army
recruit earlier in the year.  The Federal Police, which report
to the Interior Minister; the Border Police and Coast Guard
which report to the Defense Minister; and the provincial police
share responsibility for law and order.  The police continued
to be responsible for human rights abuses.

Argentina has a mixed agricultural, industrial, and service
economy that continued its dramatic turnaround after decades of
mismanagement and decline.  An economic reform structural
adjustment program, begun in 1989, led to 3 years of high
growth, sharply reduced inflation, and spurred competitiveness.
An extensive privatization program has been largely completed
at the federal level and is now under way in the provinces.
However, while employment grew rapidly during the first years
of the program, national unemployment rose to a record high of
12.2 percent in 1994, and the cost of living rose sharply.  The
high cost of living has most severely affected those with fixed
incomes, although the entire country benefited from the end of
hyperinflation.

The newly revised Constitution incorporates nine international
human rights conventions and also provides for a wide range of
freedoms and rights which the Government generally protected.
There continue to be instances of extrajudicial killings and
physical mistreatment of detainees by the police and military.
However, the central and provincial governments tried and
convicted a number of police officials for such abuses.  The
judicial system is subject to inordinate delays, resulting in
lengthy pretrial detention.  The Government-sponsored National
Commission on the Right to Identity has worked closely with
human rights groups to locate children of parents who
disappeared during the military dictatorship and reunite them
with their biological families.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1  Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
           Freedom from:

     a.  Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing

There were no credible reports of politically motivated
killings by government forces.

However, police and military personnel were responsible for a
number of extrajudicial killings.  The most publicized case of
an extrajudicial killing was the beating death of a young army
recruit, Omar Carrasco, whose body was found on April 6 in the
province of Neuquen.  At the end of the year, three soldiers
were being held pending trial for murder.  Two other soldiers
were awaiting trial (but not in prison) for covering up the
crime.  Because of a slipshod investigation at the time of
Carrasco's disappearance (nearly 1 month passed before his body
was found), the federal Attorney General ordered the case
reopened in August to determine whether senior military
officers had engaged in a coverup of the original investigation.

Police officers committed several other extrajudicial killings.
In July a police inspector allegedly killed a 15-year-old,
Miguel Rodriguez, for having stolen a ball from his son.  The
inspector was held for trial on murder charges.  Cordoba
Governor Eduardo Angeloz fired the province's Police Chief,
Deputy Chief, and Director for Internal Security after a
serious altercation between police and residents in the town of
San Jorge.  In another instance, a court in the province of
Buenos Aires convicted two police officers convicted and
sentenced them to life in prison for having brutalized
57-year-old Ramon Buchon until he died of a heart attack.  The
case of Diego Rodriguez Laguens, who police allegedly beat to
death while in their custody in San Pedro in February,
continued under investigation at year's end.

Provincial and federal authorities made a greater effort to
arrest and try the offenders in 1994 than they did in previous
years.  A federal judge sentenced four policemen to life
imprisonment for the kidnaping and murder of three businessmen,
Eduardo Oxenford, Benjamin Neuman, and Osvaldo Sivak in 1978,
1982, and 1985, respectively.  A court sentenced three
policemen, accused of killing three teenagers in 1987 in a
Buenos Aires suburb, to 11 years in prison but released them
pending appeal.  In the town of Wilde, Buenos Aires province, a
court tried and convicted seven policemen for killing four
people in a shootout.  A court in San Nicholas, Buenos Aires
province, sentenced two policemen to life in prison for killing
a 57-year-old carpenter in 1993.

     b.  Disappearance

There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances
in 1994.  Current cases stem from unresolved disappearances in
previous years, especially the 1976-83 military rule.

A La Plata court began the trial of 7 of 11 Buenos Aires
provincial police officers implicated in the disappearance of a
La Plata youth, Andres Nunez.  Three witnesses testified they
heard him being beaten in a nearby room at the time of his
captivity 3 years ago.  In April the authorities detained  six
additional police officers and continued to seek four others,
who are fugitives.  The case of Pablo Guardati, whom Mendoza
police reportedly abducted in 1992, remains unresolved.
The authorities released three of the four police officers
charged in this case in late 1993, and freed the fourth in
March, all for lack of sufficient evidence.

The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, the National Commission
on the Right to Identity, and the Interior Ministry's
Secretariat for Human Rights are continuing the search for
children of couples who disappeared during the military
regime.  Using modern genetic testing techniques to prove
genetic relationships where blood samples are available, they
have located 55 children out of 218 pending cases since the
restoration of democratic government in 1983.  They have
reunited 30 of these children with their biological families
and allowed 13 to remain with their adoptive parents who were
determined to have adopted the children legally.  An additional
case moved slowly toward resolution in 1994, which will bring
the total number of children reunited with their families to 31.

     c.  Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
         Treatment or Punishment

The Constitution prohibits torture, and the Criminal Code
provides penalties for torture which are similar to those for
homicide, from 8 to 15 years in prison.  Nevertheless, police
maltreatment of detainees and lack of accountability remain
problems.  In February Juan Carbajal entered a Buenos Aires
provincial police station seeking information and became
involved in an argument with several officers.  Police beat him
and then detained him in a local hospital, telling his wife he
was being held because he was mentally deranged.  Doctors in
the hospital, however, said he was normal and that his bruises
were deliberately inflicted.  The provincial Director of
Security opened an investigation; Carbajal was released after 2
weeks in the hospital, and two police officers were arrested.

In August a judge convicted four policemen in Entre Rios
Province for physically abusing a suspect.  However, he imposed
a 2 1/2-year suspended sentence to be implemented only if they
did not pass a written examination on constitutional rights and
guarantees.

In October the Menem administration recommended the promotion
of two navy commanders, Antonio Pernias and Juan Carlos Rolon,
to captain.  During their confirmation hearings, they admitted
to having tortured detainees during the 1976-83 period of
military rule.  A storm of controversy arose, and a Senate
committee, dominated by the President's own Justicialist Party,
rejected the nominations.

     d.  Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile

The Penal Code places limits on the arrest and investigatory
power of the police and the judiciary, but the provincial
police often ignored these restrictions, as indicated in the
cases cited above.  Human rights groups find it difficult to
document such incidents, because victims are reluctant to file
complaints.

Police will detain young persons (teenagers and young adults
are most vulnerable to this practice) sometimes overnight,
sometimes for an entire weekend, without formal charges.  They
do not always provide such detainees the opportunity to call
their family or an attorney and release them only upon a
complaint from relatives or legal counsel.  Human rights groups
were also concerned about a proposed antiterrorism bill which
would extend the number of hours the police can hold a person
without a formal charge from 6 to 12 hours in a police station
and from 48 to 72 hours in judicial headquarters.

Prison conditions are poor in a number of overcrowded jails
where the facilities are old and dilapidated.  In Buenos Aires
province no new prisons have been built for 25 years.  A
circuit judge in Quilmes (Buenos Aires province) denounced
lamentable treatment of prisoners who are crowded four or five
into a cell no larger than three meters square.  A study in
late 1993 indicated that 60 percent of those incarcerated
nationwide are awaiting trial; some have been detained for
2 years or more.  Human rights groups say this problem remains
a serious one and that prisons are virtual powder kegs of
discontent.  A large-scale prison riot occurred in Buenos Aires
Province in August 1994.

The law provides for the right to bail, and it is utilized in
practice.  Nonetheless, law allows pretrial detention, and the
slow pace of criminal trials results in lengthy pretrial
detention periods.  Many untried prisoners are serving more
time in prison than they would have served if they had been
convicted and had received the maximum sentence for the crime
for which they were arrested.  In recognition of this problem,
the Senate passed a measure in October which would set a
maximum 2-year limit on unsentenced prisoners and, after 2
years, grant them 2 days of credit toward their sentences for
every 1 day of the served before sentencing.

The Interior Ministry conducted courses for public officials
designed to heighten awareness about human rights issues, and
the Justice Ministry attempted to educate the public about the
legal rights of detainees.  The Government created the position
of Ombudsman to oversee the observance of individual rights in
the prison system.  To improve police practices, the Interior
Ministry's Secretariat for Human Rights signed an agreement in
1994 with the United National Center for Human Rights to
provide training for federal and provincial law enforcement
officials.

The law does not permit involuntary exile, and it is not
practiced.

     e.  Denial of Fair Public Trial

The judicial system is nominally independent and impartial, but
its processes are inefficient, complicated, and allegedly
subject to political influence.  The judicial system is
hampered by inordinate delays, procedural logjams, changes of
judges, and widely reported allegations of corruption.

Trials are public, and defendants have the right to legal
counsel.  A panel of judges decides guilt or innocence.  In
1992, some federal and provincial courts began deciding cases
using oral trials in lieu of the practice of written
submissions.  Although such trials are less time-consuming,
lawyers and judges are still struggling to adjust to the new
procedures, and substantial elements of the old system remain.
For example, before the oral part of a trial begins, judges
receive written documentation regarding the case which,
according to prominent legal experts, can bias a judge before
oral testimony is heard.

Reform of the judiciary is a high priority for the Government.
The new Constitution provides for changes in the selection of
judges and oversight of the legal system.

     f.  Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
         Correspondence

The Constitution prohibits the Government from interfering in
the private lives of its citizens, and the Government rarely
does so.

Section 2  Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

     a.  Freedom of Speech and Press

The Constitution provides for the right to publish ideas
without prior censorship.  The media fully exercise this right,
disseminating the full spectrum of political, social, cultural,
and economic opinion in the country.

The number of reports of attacks or threats against journalists
decreased in 1994.  A newspaper editor in Jujuy Province
received an anonymous threat, and the wife of a reporter for
the Argentine news agency in Buenos Aires was mugged and
threatened.  A correspondent for a La Pampa province paper also
received death threats.  In Mendoza, intelligence operatives of
the provincial police are alleged to have illegally entered a
hotel room and intimidated three visiting Chilean journalists
in October.  National and provincial government authorities
condemned the incident and launched an investigation.  There
was little progress in the apprehension and punishment of those
responsible for these and prior attacks.

     b.  Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

The Constitution and laws provide for the right of groups and
political parties to assemble and demonstrate.  Many groups
from all sectors of society exercised this right with little or
no government interference.

The Government generally respected academic freedom.

     c.  Freedom of Religion

Freedom of worship is a constitutional right.  The new
Constitution dropped its previous requirement that the
President be a Roman Catholic.  In practice, all religious
denominations are able to exercise their faith freely.

     d.  Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
         Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation

Documented travel and emigration remained unrestricted in 1994.

Section 3  Respect for Political Rights:  The Right of Citizens
           to Change Their Government

Since its return to democratic government in 1983, Argentina
has held free and fair elections to choose federal, provincial,
and municipal office holders.  Universal adult suffrage is
obligatory in national elections.  Political parties of varying
ideologies operate freely and openly.  The Constitution
provides that all adult citizens shall enjoy full participation
in the political process.  In 1994 a Constituent Assembly,
freely chosen by the electorate, revised and ratified changes
to the Constitution of 1853 that permit the President to run
for a second term.  The changes reduce the President's term
from 6 to 4 years.  The new Constitution also provides for
popular elections of the mayor of the Federal Capital District
of Buenos Aires (previously appointed by the President), and
mandates Senate confirmation of Supreme Court justices by a
two-thirds vote.

The Constitution stipulates that the internal regulations of
political parties and party nominations for elections be
subject to affirmative action requirements to assure that women
are represented in elective office.  A 1993 decree required
that a minimum of 30 percent of all candidates on political
party lists be women.  Voters elected 20 new female members to
the Chamber of Deputies in the October 1993 elections; 1 female
deputy was reelected, and 7 served the balance of terms to
which they were elected in 1991.  In 1994 women occupied 13
percent of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 4 percent
of the Senate.  There were few ranking women officials in the
executive branch; they are, however, assuming positions of
greater authority in provincial and local governments.

Section 4  Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
           Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
           of Human Rights

Local human rights groups continue to be active, particularly
in cases of judicial and police abuse of authority.  The
Ministry of Interior's Secretariat for Human Rights works with
the federal and state governments to promote greater respect
for basic human rights among local authorities.  There are no
restrictions on visits or activities by international
humanitarian groups or organizations.

The Ministry of Interior created in 1994 an Institute Against
Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism, located in Bariloche.
Institute personnel will, among other things, have free access
to files on persons or groups involved in crimes committed
during the Second World War.

Section 5  Discrimination Based on Sex, Race, Religion,
           Disability, Language, or Social Status

The Constitution and federal law guarantee equality for all
citizens.  The 1988 Antidiscrimination Law establishes a series
of penalties from 1 month to 3 years' imprisonment for anyone
who arbitrarily restricts, obstructs, or restrains a person
based on "race, religion, nationality, ideology, political
opinion, sex, economic position, social class, or physical
characteristics."  There is no evidence of any systematic
effort by government or private groups to abridge these rights.

     Women

Provisions in the new Constitution have greatly enhanced
women's participation in politics.  However, women encounter
economic discrimination and sexual harassment, a situation
which has become more serious with the entry of large numbers
of women into the workplace in the last 10 years.  According to
a government report, women occupy a disproportionately large
number of lower paying jobs.  Within each job category, women
are concentrated in the lower ranks and receive the lowest
salaries.  Often they receive less pay for equal work done by
men even though this is explicitly prohibited by law.  Female
labor leaders pressured their male counterparts for affirmative
action programs within the trade union movement to counteract
this discrimination.  Women also make up a  disproportionately
large share of the informal sector, which effectively denies
them work-related economic and social benefits enjoyed by those
in the formal sector.

The National Women's Council and the Presidential Women's
Advisory Cabinet, created in 1992 and 1993 respectively, are
currently working on a 3-year government action plan to promote
equal opportunity and greater participation by women in
society.  In November 1993, President Menem signed a decree
against sexual harassment in the Federal Government.

Violence against women is a national problem; insensitivity
among police and judges sometimes discourages women from
reporting assaults, especially in domestic violence cases.  In
response, the National Women's Council has been working with
law enforcement authorities to include in their police training
curriculum material on handling cases of violence against women.

     Children

The new Constitution incorporates the U.N. Convention on the
Rights of the Child.  The Ministry of Interior's Human Rights
Secretariat works with United Nations Children's Fund and other
international agencies to promote children's rights and
well-being.  After detecting several cases of trafficking in
babies, the provincial authorities in Cordoba and Buenos Aires
began programs to improve registration and identification of
newborn infants.  The Chamber of Deputies approved a new
adoption law which will greatly restrict adoption of children
by those not resident in Argentina.  It offers more protection
to the children and the biological parents.

Historically, Argentina has had numerous programs to provide
public education, health protection, and recreational services
for all children, regardless of class or economic status.  It
recognizes there are problems of child abuse and prostitution,
and that those affected tend to be younger than previously.
The Government's National Council of the Child and the Family
works with federal and local agencies to improve child
protection programs.  Sixteen out of 24 provinces, as well as
the Federal Government have adopted child protection laws, the
most recent being the province of Buenos Aires which approved
new legislation in 1994.

     Indigenous People

The revised Constitution provides the right of minorities to be
represented in Government and incorporates international
agreements intended to promote their economic, social, and
cultural rights.  Estimates of the size of the indigenous
population vary from 60,000 to 150,000, but the National
Statistical Institute put the figure at below 100,000 as of
1992.  Most live in the northern and northwestern provinces and
in the far south.  Their standard of living is considerably
below the average, and they have higher rates of illiteracy,
chronic diseases, and unemployment.  Indigenous people and
groups are sometimes involved in disputes over tribal lands
which tend to be prolonged due to the inefficient court system.

     Religious Minorities

Two major events heightened the Jewish community's concerns
about anti-Semitism in Argentina:  The terrorist bombing of the
Argentine Jewish Mutual Association and the arrest and
extradition proceedings against ex-Nazi official Erich
Priebke.  Senior government officials, including the President,
expressed solidarity with the Jewish community after the
bombing and stated their commitment to find the perpetrators.
Even before the bombing, anti-Semitic incidents (threats,
assaults, graffiti) increased during the first 6 months of
1994.  The Government actively investigates these crimes.

     People with Disabilities

Congress approved a law aimed at eliminating physical barriers
to handicapped persons in 1994.  The law regulates standards
regarding access to public buildings, parks, plazas, stairs and
ramps, and pedestrian areas.  However, few buildings and public
areas in Buenos Aires or other cities currently offer easy
access to persons with disabilities.  Federal law also
prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in
employment.

Section 6  Worker Rights

     a.  The Right of Association

With the exception of military personnel, all workers are free
to form unions.  Estimates regarding union membership vary
widely.  Most union leaders believe it to be about 40 percent
of the work force; government figures indicate union membership
at 30 percent.

Unions have the right to strike and the law protects members
who participate in strikes.  In 1994 major strikes occurred
without government interference against the privatized Greater
Buenos Aires Electric Power Utility and the aluminum smelting
plant in the southern province of Chubut.  However, in response
to a call for a general strike by trade union opponents of the
Government's economic policies, the Government declared the
strike illegal on the grounds that the constitutional right to
strike is intended to protect workers' economic interests but
not to be used as a political weapon.  However, the Government
did nothing to interfere with the 1-day work stoppage.

Argentine unions are members of international labor
associations and secretariats and participate actively in their
programs.

     b.  The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

The law prohibits antiunion practices and the Government
enforces it.  Argentine labor, the private sector, and the
Government reaffirmed these rights in a framework agreement
signed in July aimed at reforming labor-management relations in
the context of economic restructuring and increasing global
competitiveness.  The trend towards bargaining on a company
level, in contrast to negotiating at the national level, on a
sectoral basis continues, but the adjustment is not an easy one
for either side.  For this reason, the agreement proposes to
create a national mediation service to promote more effective
collective bargaining.

The Committee of Experts (COE) on the Application of
Conventions and Recommendations of the International Labor
Organization (ILO) took note of a Teachers' Union complaint
regarding restrictions on collective bargaining in certain
specified sectors and asked the Government to inform the ILO of
measures it may take or has taken to encourage voluntary
negotiations without impediments.  Workers may not be fired for
participating in legal union activities.  Those who prove they
have been discriminated against have the right to be reinstated.

There are no officially designated export processing zones.

     c.  Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

The law prohibits forced labor, and there were no reports that
it was practiced.

     d.  Minimum Age for Employment of Children

The law prohibits employment of children under 14 years of age,
except within the family.  Minors aged 14 to 18 may work in a
limited number of job categories, but not more than 6 hours a
day or 35 hours a week.  Notwithstanding these regulations, a
Ministry of Labor report estimated that 200,000 children
between 10 and 14 years of age are employed, primarily as
street vendors or household workers.  Federal and provincial
labor authorities were not well equipped to cope with this
situation due to budgetary and personnel limitations.

     e.  Acceptable Conditions of Work

The national monthly minimum wage is $200 but is insufficient
to sustain an average family of four.

Federal labor law mandates acceptable working conditions in the
areas of health, safety, and hours.  The maximum workday is 8
hours and workweek 48 hours.  The framework agreement aims at
producing legislation to modernize the accident compensation
process and occupational health and safety norms.  In
responding to a complaint from the Congress of Argentine
Workers that work-related illnesses were not covered under the
existing workers compensation system, the ILO's COE urged the
Government to outline the measures it plans to take to fulfill
its obligations under ILO Convention 42 on worker compensation
(occupational diseases) which Argentina ratified in 1950.

Occupational health and safety standards are well developed,
but federal and provincial governments lack sufficient
resources to fully enforce them.  In spite of union vigilance,
the most egregious cases of inhumane working conditions
generally involve illegal immigrants who have little
opportunity or knowledge to seek legal redress.  In October and
November, authorities in Buenos Aires uncovered several
"sweatshops" employing illegal immigrants working under
deplorable conditions for minimal pay.  The Government closed
one sweatshop immediately; the closure of the others awaited a
court decision.

Workers have the right to remove themselves from dangerous or
unhealthful work situations, after having gone through a claim
procedure, without jeopardy to continued employment.
Nevertheless, workers who leave the workplace before it has
been proven unsafe run the risk of being fired; in such cases,
the worker has the right to judicial appeal, but this process
can be very lengthy.