CNN - Legacy of 'Dirty War' leaves stigma on Argentine military

Army chief complains of 'state of permanent suspicion'

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (CNN) -- Argentina's so-called "Dirty War," during which military forces kidnapped and killed perhaps as many as 30,000 people thought to be enemies of the state, has been over for 15 years.

Its poisonous legacy, however, continues to live on and on.

Argentine Army Chief Gen. Martin Balza, speaking at a ceremony Thursday, lamented that because of deep-seated public mistrust from that era, members of the military "live in a state of permanent suspicion and blame."

"How long must we bear a stigma that censures even thousands of officers and enlisted men who had not even joined the army then?" he said.

But ghosts of the past continue to rise. On Friday, Buenos Aires newspapers quoted an Argentine judge as saying that four more Swiss bank accounts have been uncovered in the names of military officers connected to human rights abuses during the Dirty War. Two similar accounts were previously discovered.

One of those officers who allegedly had a Swiss account, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Alfredo Astiz, admitted in a recent magazine interview that he was involved in politically-motivated kidnappings and killings. He was subsequently stripped of his rank and retirement benefits.

A debate over blanket amnesties

Balza apologized Thursday for human rights violations committed by the Argentine armed forces during the Dirty War

Astiz's admissions have added fuel to a growing debate in Argentina's Congress over whether to lift blanket amnesties given to military personnel involved in human rights abuses during the Dirty War, which took place between 1976 and 1983 when a military junta governed Argentina.

Human rights groups say that during those years, as many as 30,000 people were killed or "disappeared" into torture centers, never to be seen again. About 15,000 cases have been officially documented.

In 1987, civilian President Raul Alfonsin gave amnesty to those who were deemed to have been "obeying orders" during the Dirty War. Current President Carlos Menem went further in 1989, pardoning top junta leaders who had been imprisoned for human rights abuses.

Balza, who had never been linked to human rights violations, was put in charge of the army in 1991. Four years later, he drew international praise when he apologized for "illegal means," including torture, that were used to extract information from prisoners who were later killed.

Humiliating budget cuts for once-mighty military

In his speech this week, at a ceremony commemorating the anniversary of a battle in Argentina's war of independence, Balza issued another mea culpa.

"We resorted to sinister procedures that deprived relatives of the possibility to bury their dead," Balza said. "The violation of human rights is always dreadful, but more so when it is condoned by the state."

But despite those apologies -- and promises from Balza that the army will never again interfere with the country's democratic processes as it has so often in this century -- the once-mighty military has suffered from humiliating budget cuts.

The military draft, too, has been scrapped, and some politicians have openly referred to the armed forces as "useless" for losing a battle with Britain over the Falkland Islands (which the Argentines refer to as the Islas Malvinas) in the early 1980s.

Balza complains that members of the armed forces are being treated poorly in comparison to civilian members of the junta government and leftist guerrillas from the 1970s, some of whom now hold seats in Congress.

"How can we educate and train an institution while being repudiated for the unworthy behavior of a very few?" Balza said.

Reuters contributed to this report.