HUMAN RIGHTS HIGHLIGHTS - ARGENTINA: TIMERMAN RELEASED - 1979/09/26

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Keywords: ARGENTINA
• Keywords: ARGENTINE
• Keywords: HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE
• Keywords: SOUTH AMERICA
• Collection: Argentina Declassification Project - The "Dirty War" (1976-83)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 00639292
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: April 3, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 12, 2019
• Publication Date: September 26, 1979

�
HUMAN RIGHTS HIGHLIGHTS
Approved for Release: 2018/10/08 C0063929213526 3.3(b)(1)>25Yrs �
to 13526 3.5(c)
SECRET/NOFORN/NOCONTRACT/ORCON
/c7-69/7?
STATE DEPT DECLASSTICAT1ON REVIEW f)
0 Retain class'n 0 Change/ciassify to
0(-Declassify with concurrence of C._/1#
4
ARGENTINA: TIMERMAN RELEASED
0 after
SOURCES:
Press; Buenos Aires_3838;
.L4
WAT-05:72gr3 i2?
iv/44,4
3.3(b)(1) -
Withdrawal No.
(U)
prisoner,
Jacobo Timerman, Argentina's best known political
was stripped of his citizenship and expelled from
the country on the evening of September 25. He is expected
to joiritc his family in Israel.
(C) Rumors concerning Timerman's impeding release
gained currency following a reported Supreme Court decision
of September 17 that declared his detention illegal. The
Court's decision has not been made public, but Embassy Buenos
Aires sources have indicated that the Court acted independently
of executive pressure.
(U) Kidnapped in April 1977 by security agents, Timerman
has been held despite a military tribunal's finding that he
was not guilty of subversive actions and a July 1978 Supreme
Court ruling that his detention under state-of-siege powers
was unjustified.
3.3(b)(1)
source, President Videla had promised the head of the visiting
Inter-American Human Rights Commission (September 6-20) that
the government would respect the Supreme Court's decision
favoring Timerman.
(C) INR Comment: Timerman's release is a significant
accomplishment for Videla and his moderate military supporters.
SECRET/NOPORN/NOCONTRACT/ORCON
Approved for Release: 2018/10/08 C00639292
L.tfr ejcbcAiy..
�
eib)e- /177
1
� 1
Approved for Release: 2018/10/08 C00639292
SECRET/NOFORN/NOCONTRACT/ORCON
- 2 -
(C) No evidence was ever published to substantiate
charges that Timerman was involved in political or economic
subversion. Furthermore, his continued detention seriously'
compromised the government at a time �when the frequency of
category one human rights violations was declining significantly.
Timerman was held in spite of these facts because he
symbolized for military hardliners and counter-terrorist
fanatics what they hold responsible for the nation's ills.
Even though he was not a terrorist per se, Timerman's
detractors believe that he encouraged and justified subversion
through his journalism, associated with those who financed
terrorism (Graiver, et. al.), and participated in a variety
of corrupt business deals. That he is a Jew compounded his
problem with anti-Semitic military officers, as did his
tendency to be arrogant.
(C) That so much was suspected and so little was proven
seemed only to be taken as evidence that Timerman is very clever
and, therefore, all the more dangerous. The irrationality of
those like Brig. Gen. Camps, who conducted the original
investigation into Timerman's affairs, made it difficult for
those aware of the political-diplomatic implications of the
case to secure Timerman's release. That he has now been expelled
can probably be attributed to a Videla decision to push the
matter at a propitious moment, i.e., in the context of the IAHRC
visit and the Supreme Court decision.
3.5(c)
SECRET/NOFORN/NOCONTRACT/ORCON
Approved for Release: 2018/10/08 C00639292