Argentina's Santa Fe Court Sentences Four Former Police for Child Abandonment Crimes During Dictatorship

The Federal Oral Court (TOF) of Santa Fe delivered its verdict in the Laguna Paiva II case, convicting four former police officers—Victor Hermes Brusa, Eduardo Enrique Riuli, Oscar Alberto Cayetano Valdez and Antonio Parvellotti—for crimes against humanity committed during Argentina’s 1976‑1983 military dictatorship.

The court recognized, for the first time in Argentine jurisprudence, the systematic abandonment of children and adolescents as a distinct crime against humanity. Sentences ranged from nine years to life imprisonment; Parvellotti received 18 years, Riuli 18 years (including a prior term), Valdez was sentenced to a perpetual ban and imprisonment, and Brusa also received a lengthy term. The ruling expands the scope of the country’s memory, truth and justice policies and marks a historic precedent for accountability for abuses against minors.