Uruguayan government accepts accountability in dictatorship repression cases

Complying with a judgment from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), the Uruguayan Government today acknowledged its culpability in the death of three young women and the forced disappearance of two individuals, atrocities committed by the repressive military dictatorship regime (1973-1985).

The IACHR judgment related to the State’s responsibility in the “April Girls” case, which involved the death of three young women in 1974 and the forced disappearances of Luis Eduardo González in the same year and Óscar Tassino in 1977.

“We acknowledge that the State is culpable for violating the rights to judicial guarantees and protection, as recognized in articles 8.1 and 25.1 of the American Convention on Human Rights,” stated the Vice President of the Republic, Beatriz Argimón.

“Moreover, the State violated the right to truth, to the detriment of the victims above’ families,” added Argimón, who also presides over the General Assembly of Parliament, during a ceremony held this afternoon at the legislative headquarters.

Argimón also affirmed “the State’s commitment to locate the disappeared victims, as well as to investigate, punish, and adequately redress the human rights abuses committed in this case.”

In 2021, the IACHR determined that Uruguay “displayed a lack of investigative diligence” in these cases and mandated the need to “conduct a public act of acknowledgment of international responsibility.”

Argimón’s event was attended by representatives from the three branches of government and representatives of the victims, as per the IACHR’s ruling.

Karina Tassino, representing the victims’ families, expressed regret over the absence of President Luis Lacalle Pou.

The “April Girls” case pertains to the deaths of Silvia Reyes, Laura Raggio, and Diana Maidanik, aged 19 to 21, who were shot during an operation at a house in Montevideo under fire from the Joint Forces, resulting in several military members being prosecuted.

According to the Secretariat of Human Rights for the Recent Past, under the Presidency, the dictatorship resulted in 197 disappearances by the hands of repression, but only five bodies have been identified to date.

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