Angel of Death gets life -- in prison

Justice has been a long time in coming for several men found guilty of crimes against humanity in Argentina. However, after 28 years, a former spy nicknamed "the Angel of Death" and 11 other former government officials have been sentenced to life in prison for crimes committed during the country's dictatorship.

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (Catholic Online) - The men were all convicted of kidnapping, torturing, and killing leftist dissidents at a specialized torture center known then as the Navy Mechanics School. 

The "Angel of Death" known officially as Alfredo Astiz, age 59, was a former Navy spy. He was convicted of participating in the kidnap, torture and murder of two French nuns, a journalist, and three founders of a human rights group on which he was spying for the dictatorship.

The verdicts were televised and have met with wide applause in Argentina and much of the world. Several surviving family members of victims compared the trials to the NĂĽrnberg trials were prominent Nazis were prosecuted for their crimes.

The gravity of the atrocities committed by these men cannot be understated. Approximately 5,000 human beings passed through the specialized torture facility known as the Navy Mechanics School. Of those 5,000 souls, half perished within.

The facility also housed a maternity ward where pregnant women were kept until they gave birth, and were then murdered. The babies were stolen and it is unclear what happened to all of the children.

The defendants have accused the Argentinean government of pursuing what they say are unjust illegitimate fusions for their own political gain. Several claimed that they had been granted amnesty from the previous government and that their current detention and trial violated those agreements.
Astiz in delivering his own remarks said, "this government doesn't hesitate in its revenge against the people who combated terrorism." 

Fortunately, whatever promises of amnesty were made they were nullified by the Argentine Supreme Court -- a wise decision considering the depravity of the crimes that these men perpetrated.

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