Santiago Maldonado

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Demonstration for Santiago Maldonado in the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires

Santiago Andrés Maldonado (born July 25, 1989 - August 1, 2017 ) was an Argentine human rights activist. He stood up for the rights of the indigenous population of the Mapuche in their struggle against the textile group Benetton one. On November 24, 2017, a commission of 55 experts found that Santiago Maldonado drowned in the Chubut River after hypothermia . The unclear circumstances of his death sparked a political crisis in Argentina. On November 29, 2018, the responsible judge Gustavo Lleral closed the case. He established drowning as the cause of death; kidnapping with deprivation of liberty was ruled out.

life and death

Resistance to land appropriation by the Benetton Group in the Mapuche area

Santiago Maldonado came from Buenos Aires and campaigned for the rights of the Mapuche in the long-standing conflict over land rights in southern Argentina . The indigenous group accuses the Compañía de Tierras del Sud Argentino , which has belonged to the Benetton group since 1991 , of illegally buying their land. In the province of Chubut, the indigenous people are demanding that the Italian textile company return land that is traditionally considered sacred. Benetton uses the approximately one million hectare area for sheep breeding .

On August 1, 2017, the Argentinian police violently broke up a Mapuche demonstration. Santiago Maldonado had taken part in a demonstration against an eviction by the police. Several eyewitnesses reported that Maldonado was locked in a vehicle by police officers and then taken away. Since then, Maldonado had disappeared.

On October 17, 2017, the body of Santiago Maldonado was found in the Rio Chubut River in Patagonia . Maldonado's ID card and jacket were also found with the body. "At a point where it has now been searched for the fourth time," the lawyer told the victim's family. "Obviously something has happened to make this body appear in this place now." She thus put the suspicion in the room that manipulation was taking place in this case. The river had previously been searched several times by divers. The Santiago Maldonado case has been brought to the prosecutor's office. She also requested a forensic investigation. Authorities said Maldonado had drowned and that there was no evidence of violence.

On October 21, 2017, after a twelve-hour autopsy with 55 experts, judge Gustavo Lleral announced that Maldonado's body had no injuries. The final report of the expert commission on November 24, 2017 determined that the cause of death was "drowning and hypothermia" without external violence. After a final evaluation of the evidence, Judge Lleral closed the case on November 29, 2018. He determined drowning as the cause of death.

Political background

Where is Santiago Maldonado? Solidarity demonstration in Uruguay

After Maldonado disappeared in early August 2017, a nationwide debate about police violence arose in Argentina. The possibility that state authorities could have arbitrarily abducted the activist Maldonado or helped the murderers reminded many Argentines of the gruesome crimes during the Argentine dictatorship from 1976 to 1983 . During that time , between 9,000 and 30,000 people disappeared in Argentina.

The NGO "Coordinator Against Police and Institutional Repression" announced that there has been no trace of 210 people in Argentina since the end of the dictatorship. All over the country in hospitals, at bus stations, in football stadiums and other places there were signs reading: "Where is Santiago Maldonado? The state is responsible." on.

Parliamentary elections were held in Argentina on October 22, 2017. The murder case occurred during the ongoing presidential election campaign in Argentina in 2017. After the body was found, all parties canceled their last campaign appearances.

Protests

The unexplained death of Santiago Maldonado put the government of President Mauricio Macri under pressure. The family and human rights organizations blamed the border police for the activist's disappearance. In September and October 2017, numerous solidarity rallies were organized across the country for Maldonado and against the violence of the security authorities. In mid-August 2017, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires against Maldonado's disappearance, blaming the government of Mauricio Macri for this. The approximately 10,000 demonstrators also demanded the resignation of Minister Patricia Bullrich. She is responsible for the police in Argentina. The protesters shouted "Santiago was killed by the police."

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.infobae.com/noticias/2018/11/29/la-justicia-determino-que-santiago-maldonado-murio-ahogado-en-el-rio-y-no-fue-victima-de -una-desaparicion-forzada /
  2. ↑ http://www.lanacion.com.ar/2085380-caso-maldonado-termino-la-junta-medica-conformada-para-establecer-como-y-por-que-murio-el-artesano
  3. ↑ https://www.infobae.com/noticias/2018/11/29/la-justicia-determino-que-santiago-maldonado-murio-ahogado-en-el-rio-y-no-fue-victima-de -una-desaparicion-forzada /
  4. ↑ Ramiro Barreiro (January 13, 2017). La histórica disputa de Benetton y los mapuches en Patagonia se agrava con 14 heridos. El País (accessed October 22, 2017)
  5. ^ A b c Jürgen Vogt: Opposition in Argentina: No trace of Santiago Maldonado . In: The daily newspaper: taz . August 29, 2017, ISSN  0931-9085 ( taz.de [accessed October 22, 2017]).
  6. ^ Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com): Apparently the corpse of the Argentine activist Santiago Maldonado found | Currently America | DW | October 19, 2017. Retrieved October 21, 2017 .
  7. ↑ a b tagesschau.de: Corpse discovery shakes Argentina's election campaign. Retrieved October 21, 2017 .
  8. ^ Argentine activist's body identified . In: BBC News . October 21, 2017 ( bbc.com [accessed October 22, 2017]).
  9. ↑ https://www.diariopopular.com.ar/general/como-murio-santiago-maldonado-n330764
  10. ↑ Clarin.com: Caso Maldonado: "No hubo lesiones en el cuerpo", dijo el juez tras la autopsia. Retrieved October 22, 2017 (Spanish).
  11. ↑ https://www.infobae.com/noticias/2018/11/29/la-justicia-determino-que-santiago-maldonado-murio-ahogado-en-el-rio-y-no-fue-victima-de -una-desaparicion-forzada /
  12. ^ Daniel Politi, Ernesto Londoño: Police and Protesters Clash Over Disappearance of Argentine Activist . In: The New York Times . September 2, 2017, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed October 21, 2017]).
  13. ↑ a b tagesschau.de: Corpse discovery shakes Argentina's election campaign. Retrieved October 21, 2017 .
  14. ↑ a b Argentina: "Santiago was killed by the police" . In: The time . October 22, 2017, ISSN  0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed October 22, 2017]).
  15. ↑ http://www.derechoshumanos.net/lesahumanidad/informes/argentina/informe-de-la-CONADEP-Nunca-mas-Indice.htm
  16. ^ Argentine protester's disappearance reminiscent of the country's years of dictatorship . In: Public Radio International . ( pri.org [accessed October 22, 2017]).
  17. ↑ Argentina: Apparently the body of a human rights activist found . In: Spiegel Online . October 20, 2017 ( spiegel.de [accessed October 21, 2017]).
personal data
SURNAME Maldonado, Santiago
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Maldonado, Santiago Andrés (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Argentine human rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH July 25, 1989
DATE OF DEATH August 1, 2017