According to an official statement, the trials cover crimes committed in the jurisdiction of the 7th Infantry Brigade, which was stationed in the city of Corrientes and was responsible for the territories of Chaco, Formosa, and Misiones.

Several clandestine detention centers operated in the region during the last civil-military dictatorship (1976-1983); one of them was located in the place where the 9th Infantry Regiment was quartered.

Among the defendants are Eduardo Antonio Cardoso, Alfredo Carlos Farmache and José Emilio Mechulán, command officers of the 7th Brigade; and Abelardo Carlos de la Vega and Horacio Losito, members of the Infantry Regiment General Staff, who are facing charges of illicit association, unlawful deprivation of liberty, torture, and homicide.

This is the tenth trial for crimes against humanity held in the province, and the one with the largest number of victims and defendants. Nearly four years have passed between the upgrade to trial and the beginning of the debates due to judicial delays.

During that period, two defendants died and another two were removed due to health problems, the Secretariat explained.

Some 1,179 people have been sentenced for genocide in Argentina since the end of the dictatorship 40 years ago. jg/llp/oda/gas