Together for Change sent a letter to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rightsthe Austrian Volker Turkin which he denied the accusations against justice which, on Monday, was carried out by the Secretary of Human Rights of the Nation, Horace Pietragallaat a session of the Universal Periodic Review held in Geneva.
“The Argentine representation, through the report and its presentation, has made statements that we are forced to categorically deny”, is indicated in the note. The opposition alliance affirmed that the official’s presentation has “the purpose of Seek impunity for multimillion-dollar corruption crimes of the Kirchner governmentwhich were corroborated by Justice not only with the conviction of the current vice president of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchnerfor acts of corruption, but also several high-ranking officials of his government.”
“We would like to express that It is absolutely false that those accused and convicted of corruption have not had the right to defense, since all the corresponding judicial instances intervened in the processes, two for trial, two for appeal and in several cases, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation”, Raised Together for Change in his letter. “These are the main reasons why the national government is trying to impeach the members of the Supreme Court of Justice and carry out a structural reform of the Justice to achieve their impunity,” the letter warned.
To respond to the criticisms that Pietragalla raised on the arrest of Milagro Salawhich they described as “arbitrary”, the parties that make up the opposition coalition indicated that “the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation on December 15, left firm its 13-year sentence for a proven illicit association and defrauding the State of more than 60 million dollars”.
For Together for Change, the report presented by Pietragalla is “unpublished and painful”: “It is unprecedented and painful that, in an event where the countries under global scrutiny strive to demonstrate compliance with human rights in front of the international community, the representatives of our government take charge of targeting the political opposition, the Justice, the economic sectors and the pressaccusing them collectively of violating human rights on the basis of an alleged lawfare used as an excuse to avoid submitting to the dictates of the Argentine Justice in the face of flagrant acts of corruption”.
“We repudiate that the national government lies to the United Nations regarding what it calls a ‘criminal indebtedness of the previous government,'” added the opponents in the letter sent to Türk (appointed in September last year as a replacement for the former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet at the head of the Office of the High Commissioner). They argued that “said indebtedness was approved by a large majority of the two Chambers of the Argentine Congress, it was taken with a multilateral credit organization such as the IMF and two-thirds of it was used to pay the debt of the previous Kirchner government and to cover their own deficits.” prosecutors”.
Regarding the mention of “hate speech”, the letter indicated that it is a category with which the ruling party “intends to silence the press and limit the right to free expression, to prevent these acts of corruption from becoming public.” ”.
In the letter, they also pointed out against the appeals to the “concentrated economic groups”. As they pointed out, “the economic measures of the Government make it increasingly difficult to achieve the progress and development of Argentine companies.” And they concluded: “It is only enough to mention that this past year we have reached close to 100% annual inflation.”
“We are addressing the High Commissioner with the purpose that, through him, the true reasons that drive the national authorities can be known,” concludes the letter from Together for Change.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
We are pleased to address you regarding the recent report and official statements made by the Argentine Delegation during the 42nd Session of the “Universal Periodic Review” held on January 23 of this year, in the field of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
As you are aware, unfortunately the Argentine Representation, through the report and its presentation, has made statements that we are forced to categorically deny.
Given these unusual criticisms of the Argentine Justice, the economic sectors, the democratic opposition, the media, the existence of a supposed “lawfare”, the taking of Argentine foreign debt and the mention of an “arbitrary detention” of the condemned Mrs. Milagro Sala, we inform you of the following:
This report and statements made by the Secretary of Human Rights of our country, Horacio Pietragalla, have the purpose of seeking impunity for the crimes of multimillion-dollar corruption of the Kirchner government that was corroborated by the justice system, not only with the conviction of the current Vice President of Argentina, Cristina Ferrnández de Kirchner for acts of corruption, but also several high-ranking officials of her government who still remain in prison with firm sentences.
In this sense, we would like to express that it is absolutely false that those accused and convicted of corruption have not had the right to defense, since all the corresponding judicial instances intervened in the processes, two for trial, two for appeal and in several cases, the Court Supreme Court of the Nation.
These are the main reasons why the national government is trying to impeach the members of the Supreme Court of Justice and carry out a structural reform of justice to achieve their impunity.
On the other hand, we repudiate that the national government lies to the United Nations regarding what it calls a “criminal indebtedness of the previous government” in reference to the current opposition, when said indebtedness was approved by a large majority of both Chambers of the Argentine Congress, It was borrowed from a multilateral credit organization such as the IMF and two-thirds of it was used to pay off the debt of the previous Kirchner government and to cover its own fiscal deficits.
It is unprecedented and painful that in an event where the countries under global scrutiny strive to demonstrate compliance with human rights in front of the international community, the representatives of our government take charge of targeting the political opposition, justice, the economic sectors and the press, accusing them collectively of violating human rights on the basis of an alleged “lawfare” used as an excuse to avoid submitting to the ruling of the Argentine Justice in the face of the flagrant acts of corruption that they committed in their previous administration of government. .
The purpose pursued through this maneuver is to justify before the international community the attack that the national government is carrying out against independent justice to cover itself under a cloak of impunity against well-founded and proven acts of corruption.
Likewise, faced with the supposed condemnation of hate speech, it intends to silence the press and limit the right to free expression to prevent these acts of corruption from becoming public, accusing journalists of spreading false news that only reproduces reality.
On the other hand, they insult with harsh rhetoric what they call “concentrated economic groups” when the government’s economic measures make it increasingly difficult for Argentine companies to achieve progress and development. Suffice it to mention that this past year we have reached close to 100% annual inflation.
In addition, in the presentation of Secretary Pietragalla, mention is made that “the federal State must also answer internationally for the arbitrary detention suffered by the social and indigenous leader Milagro Sala, protected by a provisional measure issued in 2017 by the Inter-American Court of Rights In this regard, it should be noted that the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation on December 15, upheld his 13-year sentence for a proven illicit association and defrauding the State of more than 60 million dollars. prejudice to other judicial cases for other crimes that continue in their due process.
For these reasons and for the purposes of presenting the truth of the facts, it is that we address ourselves to the High Commissioner with the purpose that, through him, the true reasons that impel the national authorities, not only to insult the opposition and other sectors in the domestic sphere, but has now decided to do so, without measuring the scope of the damage to our image in the world, before the international community as a whole.
Without another particular, we propitiate the opportunity to reiterate to the High Commissioner, the expressions of our most distinguished consideration.
THE NATION