Captors release rights activist
An Argentine human rights activist whose disappearance prompted an intense government manhunt said in Buenos Aires that he was released by two gunmen after being tied up and beaten.
Juan Evaristo Puthod, a survivor of clandestine prisons where thousands of political dissidents were tortured and killed during Argentina’s 1976-83 military dictatorship, said, “It brought back all my memory. . . . My only fear was that they would kill me.”
Puthod, who lost vision in one eye while being tortured years ago, has been an important witness in several human rights cases as the current government tries to hold former police and military figures accountable for their roles in the “dirty war.”
He offered no details that might suggest a link between the two gunmen who kidnapped him Tuesday and people who could be affected by his testimony.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
