With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Argentine ex-general sentenced to life for dictatorship-era killings

An Argentine Dirty War-era general has been sentenced to life in prison for the killing of five people during the dictatorship.

Luciano Benjamin Menendez, former head of the Third Army Corps, was already serving a life sentence for violating the human rights of four others.

A panel of judges on the Argentine court handed down the sentence Wednesday.

Sentenced along with Menendez was former policeman Roberto Heriberto Albornoz, who was also sent to prison for life.

Up to 30,000 students, labor leaders, intellectuals and leftists who ran afoul of the dictatorship because of their political views disappeared or were held in secret jails and torture centers during the nation's eight-year Dirty War.

Menendez's most recent trial stems from an army and police assault on a home in Tucuman province on May 20, 1976, according to Argentina's Center for Judicial Information....

Read entire article at CNN