Martina Jaureguy 
La Libertad Avanza (LLA) Deputy Lourdes Arrieta published two draft bills on Sunday that appeared to show a project to free dictatorship-era torturers from prison. The material has prompted outrage from Argentina’s human rights movement and raised questions about the nature of the government’s interest in denialism.
Arrieta published the documents on X a day after posting what she claimed were a series of screenshots from a WhatsApp group of LLA deputies. The chats appeared to show them making logistical arrangements to visit dictatorship criminals serving jail sentences for crimes against humanity. The July 11 visit to notorious torturers including Alfredo “Angel of Death” Astiz shocked society when it became public a week later.
The gradual leak of information and allegations about the visit is raising questions about how far up the ranks of President Javier Milei’s government knowledge of the visit went. Arrieta was one of the six LLA deputies who attended. She claimed she did not know the true purpose of the visit or the identity of the criminals. Some of the messages she revealed call her account into question.
The documents have not been submitted as bills to Congress. The bills do not seek to overturn existing convictions nor pardon those convicted of the dictatorship’s crimes. However, they do appear to seek for charges and convictions awaiting appeal to be dropped.
Milei has denied any involvement with the prison visit or meetings between deputies and lawyers to discuss the proposals, and said that freeing such criminals is not part of his agenda. Sources close to Vice President Victoria Villarruel and Lower House President Martín Menem likewise say they were not aware of these meetings, or of the bills. The Herald could not independently verify that the documents Arrieta posted were indeed sent to the group chat.
The Buenos Aires branch of H.I.J.O.S., an organization of dictatorship victims’ children, described the documents as an “impunity plan.”
The impunity bills
The first document is a proposal for a presidential decree requiring Argentina’s judiciary to reach a definitive verdict on criminal charges against an individual within 25 years, in order to end undue delays. This was established in Argentina in 1986, when the 1976 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was incorporated into the Argentine Constitution. The document specifically proposes that those charged with crimes against humanity should not be “discriminated against” in this regard.
Trials for crimes committed during the 1976-1983 dictatorship, over 40 years ago, are ongoing. The document apparently intends to force a halt to such trials and free those in pre-trial detention. However, under international human rights law, crimes against humanity are not subject to a statute of limitations.
The draft decree adds that a swift judicial process is part of respecting fundamental human rights and should be applied universally. It acknowledges that, under international human rights law, there is no statute of limitations for crimes against humanity. However, it goes on to note that this law, enshrined in the 1998 Rome Statute, also recognizes that those charged with those crimes “have the right to be tried without improper delays.”
“The seriousness of the crimes does not go against the acknowledgment of the right to be tried in a reasonable time frame,” the proposal says.
The second document is a bill to modify the Criminal Code so that criminal investigations would end “if 20 years have passed since the Argentine state became aware […] that a crime was committed, and there hasn’t been a consistent judicial sentence on it during that time.”
According to Arrieta’s Saturday posts, the bills were sent to LLA deputies in a group chat that was created by Father Javier Olivera Ravasi. The priest is known for defending dictatorship criminals and played a key role in organizing the prison visit. His father is a former military officer convicted of crimes against humanity.
The screenshots allegedly show that the bills were sent by Ricardo Saint Jean and Laura Olea, two lawyers who are known for advocating for dictatorship torturers to be freed.
In the chats, Olea appears to explain that the decree aims to explicitly mention crimes against humanity cases in the “reasonable timeframe” norm. According to Arrieta, priest Olivera Ravasi adds that it would “force judges to grant house arrest” for repressors and “grant many others their freedom.”
Crossfire
Arrieta’s explosive accusations have sparked bitter fighting in the ruling coalition, many of whose members do not endorse impunity for dictatorship criminals. According to an LLA source in Congress, neither Lower House President Martín Menem nor the executive branch were aware of these bills. The source pointed out that one of them appears to have been written in 2023, as can be seen in the header on the pages. Milei took office on December 10, 2023.
A passage of the proposed decree describes a 2008 Supreme Court decision as being “12 years ago,” suggesting the proposal may have been written as early as 2020.
On Friday, Milei said that freeing repressors is “absolutely” not part of his agenda.
“This was done intentionally,” Milei told Radio Rivadavia. “The priest who did this was kicked out [of his diocese] and insulted me on YouTube. We should look at what his ties are.”
The comment appears to point to the connections between Vice President Victoria Villarruel and Olivera Ravasi. Asked whether he thought Villarruel was involved with the meeting, Milei said: “I don’t know, we should look at the links there.”
A source close to Villarruel said she hasn’t spoken with the priest “in over three years” and, as head of the Senate, she hasn’t been in contact with any of the deputies, including Arrieta, “in seven months.”
Before going into politics, Villarruel was a vocal advocate of freeing convicted repressors, much like Olivera Ravasi, with whom she was friends.
Arrieta’s chats also stated that Security Minister Patricia Bullrich had authorized the visit. However, Bullrich has denied any knowledge of the matter. “I learned about it through the newspapers,” she said.
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