“Valuable information” on dictatorship reaches Uruguayan Prosecutor’s Office

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Uruguay’s president Luis Lacalle Pou and the National Defense Minister Javier García, on Tuesday handed over to the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the National Human Rights Institution (INDDHH) documentation with “valuable information” related to the repression before and after the 1973 coup d’état.

Six books and two binders with 1,650 pages that include military operations with requests for the capture of people, prosecutions, information on infiltrators and statements of detainees, among other material, were provided to both agencies in digital format after the original papers were found in a military office.

Although the first information on the subject suggested that the documentation had surfaced last weekend, García explained that it had been found last April 23rd, by chance, while maintenance work was being carried out in Artillery Group 5, in the northern area of Montevideo.

The Defense Minister stressed the Executive’s “desire for transparency and access to information” and, after delivering the documentation to the Prosecutor’s Office and to the INDDHH, it would be forwarded to the Mothers and Relatives of the Detained-Disappeared organization later this afternoon.

The military operations referred to in the documents found cover the period ranging from 1972, a year before the beginning of the civil-military dictatorship, to 1986, a year after the reestablishment of democracy, said García.

After the meeting held at the Executive Tower in Montevideo, Court Prosecutor Jorge Diaz told the press that the documents include “valuable information” on military operations “inside the country and even abroad” and that they will be “a substantial contribution” for further investigations.

“In the little that I was able to see, I can assure that this is valuable information. I was provided with a digital copy of a very important set of documents. I barely had a chance to glance at it but I can assure you that, for three or four things I saw, the information is very valuable,” he said.

The Prosecutor’s Office will review the information within the next 48 hours to decide if the documents should be sent only to the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes against Humanity or if they should be referred to another agency.

Uruguay’s civil-military dictatorship (1973-1985) caused the disappearance of some 200 people and the death of a hundred political prisoners in jails.