Information on a nine-man unit of the Air Force called "Rastillo", allegedly committing torture, kidnapping and other acts, Argentina 1982-83 [ARG0738]

No information regarding the abovementioned or any other Argentine Air Force group committing human rights' violations during the given timeframe could be found in the sources available to the IRBDC, Ottawa, at present. Reference has been made, however, to a "task force" (Grupo de Tareas) controlled by the Air Force which operated during the late seventies, and had one of its main bases in Palomar Air Base, in the west region of Greater Buenos Aires.
[ Testimony on secret detention camps in Argentina, (London: Amnesty International, 1980), p. 3.]

According to the IRBDC Information Package on Argentina, p. 14, repression eased in 1978, after all armed opposition was eliminated. An Amnesty International Publication of 1985 indicates that the Argentine Court prosecuting military commanders for atrocities committed during the "dirty war" stated that "not a single offence had been confirmed as being attributable to the Air Force after May 1978". [ Argentina: the military juntas and human rights, (London: Amnesty International, 1985), p. 62.] However, it acknowledged that the Air Force operated a detention centre known as "Atila" or Mansion Sere", which was destroyed in May 1978. [Ibid.]

For the year 1982, the Amnesty Report 1983 indicates that seven individuals were abducted; two bodies were later found, and at least one case was linked to a denunciation of the Navy's participation in the abduction of the Ambassador to Venezuela in 1977, while one case of torture was linked to the police. [Amnesty Report 1983, (London: Amnesty International, 1983), pp. 107-111.] For 1983, Amnesty International reported two abductions, which were believed to have ended in extra-judicial killings. Three police officers were charged in this regard, but were later released because of insufficient evidence. [Amnesty Report 1984, (London: Amnesty International 1984), pp. 127-129.]
Attached is a copy of Argentina: the military juntas and human rights (Amnesty International, 1985), pp. 62-63, and a copy of chapter III of the Americas Watch document Truth and Partial Justice in Argentina (Americas Watch, 1987), pp. 9-13, which deals with events during the abovementioned time frame.