Human rights groups led an exposure protest Tuesday evening, November 28, in La Plata outside the home of Rodolfo Gonzales Conti, a former police chief who ran clandestine detention centers in the Buenos Aires province. Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas against protestors attempting to cross a police barricade surrounding the former police official’s residence. Protestors responded by throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails. No serious injuries were reported. Human rights groups have blamed Conti and Buenos Aires provincial police with ties to the military dictatorship for kidnapping Julio Lopez, a key witness whose gripping testimony of torture helped convict a former police officer of crimes committed during Argentina‘s military dictatorship. Organizations will lead a series of rallies this week to demand that the government continue with human rights trials and the safe return of Lopez. Conti was sentenced in 2001 to house arrest for the kidnapping of activists in Buenos Aires. Groups report that Conti systematically violates the house arrest order. Conti administered over 20 clandestine detention centers, including police precinct NUMBER 5 where missing witness Lopez was illegally detained and tortured during the military dictatorship.
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