Survivor of Argentina's "dirty war" finds justice

For justice to be effective it must hold the guilty to account. But pursuing the guilty is often a distant if not completely unimaginable idea for those whose immediate and most pressing concern is survival.

Perico Rodriguez was tortured for three years following the military coup in Argentina in 1976. In December last year - more than 30 years later - he was one of a handful of survivors to bear witness to the crimes of the military junta when he testified at the trial of eight perpetrators, including one of his tormentors.

While justice may have been a long time coming, Mr Rodriguez believes that the passage of time and the collective will of the people, supported by the political will of a now democratic Argentina, created a climate in which it would not otherwise have been possible.

Recalling the details of his past was a powerful act of vindication and international recognition for the suffering that he and so many others endured.

"When I came to England I knew that there was a very difficult time ahead, but I never dreamt at that time that these people would be brought to trial," says Mr Rodriguez, now 67.

Mr Rodriguez was a town clerk in Patagonia when the military seized power in Argentina. A committed socialist, he was arrested within days. Local police came to his home and took him away in front of his children. He spent the next three years in prison, experiencing repeated torture in the form of beatings, electric shocks and mock drownings.

He and several others were held in La Escuelita, the "little school". It was eight of the military officers who had been in charge of La Escualita who were found guilty of genocide and illegal association thanks to the witness testimonies provided by Perico and 14 other survivors and their relatives.

The military have otherwise maintained a pact of silence, refusing to disclose at any stage what happened to the thousands of people who were "disappeared". While NGOs and human rights activists had begun collecting evidence almost immediately after victims of the Dirty War began to emerge, it was only in the last few years that the trial came together.

"I was quite worried about my memory," says Mr Rodriguez of the process of giving his statement for the trial. "But when I started to recall things, it was quite fluid, I think that's because I knew it was important to remember. It was the first time in my life that I was in a court environment without feeling like the accused. My eldest son, who was very young at the time of my arrest, was also with me. I realised it was not just the process of the tribunal that was important, but that my memory had another purpose as well - to help others understand."

The judge credited Mr Rodriguez's methodical approach, something that he himself attributes in part to his experience as a caseworker-counsellor at the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, where every day he treats and documents the cases of men and women who have also survived torture and ill-treatment.

"I often remind my clients that sometimes it is unthinkable but it is not impossible to think about finding justice. Sometimes you can only see it in the distance, but it will be. The best thing to do is not to feel motivated by revenge, which of course I understand, but to consolidate a democratic system that makes life better for everybody and makes justice possible.

"This trial could not have taken place in Argentina 30 years ago, in a society that was divided and traumatised. The political will was needed, and a society able to absorb the consequences. What happened to my nation did not just happen to me. The outcome of this trial was that it created a safer world for the ordinary citizens, it was a vindication of the past for my country."

Mr Rodriguez could yet face his torturers in court - so far, the trial has only dealt with crimes relating to the 15 people held in La Escuelita. Many more survivors and witnesses have come forward, in whose cases his testimony will again become important.

Championing the collective cause is something that has always remained at the core of his beliefs. It was something he was reminded of when he first came to England and met the human rights campaigners from Amnesty International who had helped to secure his release from detention.

"When I was arrested I was 100 per cent convinced that what I was fighting for was right. When I saw and went through what I did in prison I realised that the people on the other side were not just wrong but evil; they wanted to destroy human beings. When I came to this country, I realised there were people who were fighting for my rights who had never known me. I felt I needed to do something to join that movement of ordinary human beings fighting for human rights."