Five police officers in Argentina have been arrested in the province of Salta,
which borders Chile, following the release of a video that appears to
show the torture of two detainees at a police station inthe South American republic. The arrest of the officers came on July 18 after a complaint was filed by the chief of the provincial police with the Salta’s Ministry of Security.
The video, which has been widely circulated on the Internet, shows a
group of police officers as they interrogating two young men who were
nearly nude. The video shows that a bucket of water was thrown over one
of the men under interrogation, while another had a plastic bag tied
over his head. It is believed that the incident took place at the police
station at General Güemes, approxinmately
35 miles from the provincial capital. The alleged tortured is currently
being investigated by a local judge. Officers belonging to the
Dangerous Drugs Division in the town have refused to testify.
Eduardo Sylvester, Salta’s minister of security, s referred to the arrested officers as “criminals”, who are “not representative of Salta’s police force.” Said Sylvester, “We will not tolerate that members of the police force who commit these crimes.”
In 2011, a similar incident took place in Mendoza, a province located
to the south. A video there revealed the beatings meted out by prison
guards on men incarcerated there. Human rights activist María del Carmen Verdú said of the more recent horror, “What happened in Salta
is only notable because it came out and has become public knowledge. It
only appears to be a novel situation when in reality it is something
that is reported on a daily basis, that is systematic.”