In the first oral trial of a case for crimes against humanity in Uruguay, the retired military Alejandro Ariel Ferreira was sentenced this Monday for his participation in the case of torture in the clandestine detention center “Los Vagones” in the city of Canelones during the years 1975 and 1976.
The Office of the Prosecutor for Lesa Humanity, led by prosecutor Ricardo Perciballerequested a sentence of 9 years and four months against Ferreira for the crimes of abuse of authority against detainees, serious injuries and deprivation of liberty. However, the judge in the case went further and also sentenced him for the crime of torture.
The director of Communication of the Prosecutor’s Office, Javier Benech, indicated that the Victims and Witnesses Unit of the Attorney General’s Office. The case was denounced in 2019 and, that same year, the Canelones judge, Luis Sobot, ordered the preventive detention of Hugo Orestes Guillén, Wisthon Mario Vítale and Alejandro Ariel Ferreira for 120 days. Guillén and Vítale died, while Ferreira has been in house arrest since March 2020.
Clandestine confinement and torture in Los Vagones
For prosecutor Perciballe, a systematic persecution plan was demonstrated in Canelones, similar to the one that took place in various parts of the country, as well as the existence of a clandestine detention and torture center. The lawyer for the victims, Pablo Chargoñia, affirmed during the trial that “there is full proof that torture was carried out in Canelones as part of a systematic plan that did not have Canelones as an island outside the repression.”
This sentence represents another step in the search for truth and justice for the victims of the Uruguayan dictatorship, which lasted from 1973 to 1985 and left thousands of people disappeared, tortured and murdered.. Memory, truth and justice are fundamental to building a democratic society that respects human rights.