Convictions against former military repressors could mean justice for several thousand people disappeared by the military coup juntas of the Southern Cone. | Photo: Twitter: @qudulibre

Rome, July 8 (RHC)-- In Rome, the verdict by which the Italian Supreme Court ratifies the sentences against 18 former military repressors from Latin America and the Caribbean -- participants in Operation Condor -- a repressive counterinsurgency plan at the time of the military tyrannies of the Southern Cone, is expected to be made public on Friday.

The sentence, considered historic, will only be possible in Italy, as the victims were 43 Latin American citizens of Italian origin.  It covers kidnappings, torture and disappearances that occurred in the 19970s and 80s in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Paraguay and Brazil.

The trial is against 18 Latin American military personnel (two of whom have already died) of the so-called Condor Plan, and the conviction has already been ratified by the Court of Appeals, the second instance of the Italian procedural process, in 2019.

During the Condor Plan, and by means of an agreement between the military juntas of Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru, among others, those kidnapped or detained were transferred from one country to another, tortured, murdered and made to disappear without the country where they were from being held responsible.

Initially, 106 Latin American military personnel were charged following investigations begun before 1999 by the Italian prosecutor Giancarlo Capaldo, with the collaboration of the relatives of the disappeared and, years later, of the non-governmental organization "24Marzo.it." 

About 50 were Argentineans, but this nation was doing the processes against the military on its own, unlike the other Latin American countries, so it preferred not to participate in the Italian case.

In January 2017, the first part of the trial concluded and of the 33 military personnel accused, 19 were acquitted, eight convicted and six died in the meantime.   Last week, the sentence was ratified.

The only accused residing in Italy is Jorge Néstor Troccoli, from Uruguay, who would have to go to prison if the sentence is ratified.