Interpol issues red notice for Argentine accused of 'Dirty War' crimes

The International Criminal Police Organization [or Interpol] has issued a red notice for Argentine man Daniel Cherutti who is accused of committing crimes against humanity during the South American country's civic-military dictatorship in 1976-1983.

Cherutti, 76, is accused in a range of "crimes against humanity" in 70s, including role in 19 homicides, over 100 cases of kidnapping, torture and theft of babies while operating as an agent for former State Intelligence Secretariat at two clandestine detention centres.

Cherutti, who is believed to have ties with Anibal Gordon, the former head of a paramilitary group in Argentina, is understood to be residing in Italy while the Interpol website lists him as a dual citizen of Argentina and Italy.

Federal judge Daniel Rafecas overseeing the investigation has called for Cherutti's international capture with the intervention of Interpol following the declassification of a CIA document according to Clarin news site.

Originally from Canuelas town in the capital Buenos Aires, Cherutti is the older brother of Argentine actor and comedian Miguel Angel Cherutti, who he has represented professionally in a bid to drive his early career.

READ MORE: Declassified documents reveal US role in Argentina's 'Dirty War'

'Dirty War' and push for justice

Human rights groups suggest some 30,000 people were kidnapped, tortured, murdered or disappeared by security forces during a period that became known in Argentina as the "Dirty War"  — a period of state terrorism carried against what authorities called left-wing "subversives."

Victims included Montonero guerrillas, labour union leaders, students, leftist sympathisers and in some instance, their relatives and friends.

Since Argentina returned to democracy in 1983, there has been a pressure from activists and rights groups to hold members of the military dictatorship accountable.

In 1985, Argentina held a prominent judicial trial against members of the de facto military government which to date in Latin America remains the largest-scale push to bring to justice former dictatorial government personnel.

Outside of Argentina, in February 2022, a jury in the US state of Florida found a former Argentine officer guilty in the 1972 killing of 16 unarmed political prisoners in southern Patagonia region.

Roberto Guillermo Bravo was ordered to pay in excess of $20 million to families of the four victims. US authorities, however, rejected requests from Argentina to extradite Bravo who left the country in 1973, becoming a US citizen more than a decade later.

In December 2022, an Argentine court sentenced a former police officer at a torture centre to 15 year jail-term.

Mario Sandoval, 69, was found guilty of kidnapping and torturing a left-wing student who disappeared in 1975.

Sandoval escaped to France, becoming an academic in Sorbonne University of Paris in late 90s.

In Argentina, Sandoval had been accused of participating in the disappearances and torture of a number of left-wing activists.

READ MORE: Former military officials convicted in Argentina's 'Dirty War' trial