Bulletins and News Discussion from March 18th to March 24th, 2024 - Ra Ra Rasputin - COTW: Russia

H.I.J.O.S. human rights activist and daughter of dictatorship disappeared brutally assaulted and sexually abused at home by assailants who threatened her and identified themselves by using slogan linked to President Javier Milei.

Argentina’s increasingly tense social climate and the dangers of President Javier Milei’s aggressive rhetoric have been thrust into the spotlight after it emerged that a human rights activist had been the victim of a brutal sexual assault.

The victim, the daughter of a disappeared abductee during the 1976-1983 dictatorship and a member of the H.I.J.O.S human rights group, was brutally assaulted at her home in La Plata, Buenos Aires Province, by assailants earlier this month who identified themselves by using the slogan of President Javier Milei, according to reports. The news emerged Thursday, on the eve of the annual march commemorating the coup that brought the military junta to power some 48 years ago.

Rights groups and politicians expressed horror at the news, which H.I.J.O.S described as a targeted “political attack.”

The activist – who is not ready to reveal her identity – "was tied up, beaten and sexually abused" by two armed men who forced their way into her home in a "political attack motivated by her human rights and feminist militancy," denounced the organisation that seeks to recover the identity of babies appropriated during the dictatorship.

The victim was attacked upon entry into her home after returning from work. The assailants were waiting for her and sexually abused and threatened her with death before leaving the message: "We did not come to rob you but to kill you, we’ve been paid to do that." Before leaving, they scrawled on a wall: “VLLC” – a reference to “Viva la libertad, carajo,” Milei’s trademark political slogan.

"We know you work in human rights and we want you to shut up, next time we're going to kill you," the attackers allegedly said, according to H.I.J.O.S. member Diego López Torres. Owing to the repercussions of this case, Presidential Spokesperson Manuel Adorni was asked on Thursday morning about the attack and the government’s reaction to it. “We expect the courts to advance with the clarification so that those responsible pay for their actions,” he said.

‘Legion of trolls’

President Milei had not commented on the incident at press time, though many of his supporters online sought to cast doubt over the attack and question its veracity. The ‘@TraductorTeAma’ account on the X social network, one of Milei’s most vocal supporters online, claimed the incident was a Kirchnerite invention, writing: “We don’t believe them at all.” The Unión Cívica Radical were among the political parties to condemn the attack, expressing solidarity with the victim in a statement on X and calling for “the punishment of those responsible.”

News of the incident comes just two days after the Marea Editorial publishing house, which specialises in human rights, denounced a digital campaign by “a legion of trolls” who defended the dictatorship in response to a publication about the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo. "The ideological tension that today characterises the political climate in Argentina escalates in all spheres and Marea's networks were no exception," the publishing house said in a statement.

The shocking attack comes amid a politically tense climate because of the government's position on the dictatorship, which human rights organisations and parties from the centre-left consider "denialist." Both Milei and his vice-president, Victoria Villarruel – who is close to the military and has relations with a number of jailed dictatorship-era criminals – question the number of disappeared agreed upon by human rights organisations (30,000) and claim that the real figure is far less (around 8,700).

Unconfirmed reports this week claimed that the government intends to announce a decree on Monday ordering that all military personnel convicted of crimes during the dictatorship and who are aged over 70 will be entitled to serve out the rest of their sentence under house arrest. Defence Minister Luis Petri denied those reports in a press conference on Thursday.

According to reports on Thursday, the government is making a video to mark March 24 that will outline the Milei administration's position. It is expected to include a call for a "complete memory" of the era – a remark linked to the two demons theory that downplays state terrorism and has been voiced regularly by Villarruel. Since 2020, 77 attacks related to dictatorship denialism have been registered, six of which occurred so far this year, according to the Registro de Ataques de Derechas Argentinas Radicalizadas (RA-DAR) (“Registry of Attacks by Radicalised Argentine Right-wingers”).