Ex-Argentine army chief ordered detained

Wednesday, September 14, 2005 · Last updated 5:45 p.m. PT

Ex-Argentine army chief ordered detained

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- A federal judge ordered the detention Wednesday of Argentina's former army chief as part of a probe into a student's violent death during the country's "Dirty War."

Rights groups say as many as 30,000 may have died during the 1976-83 military dictatorship's fight against mostly leftist dissidents.

Judge Cristina Garzo de Lascano ordered Luciano Benjamin Menendez to be held - as well as 15 other former officers - after probing the Sept. 3, 1976 abduction of student Diego Hunziker.

The judge said Hunziker, 18, was abducted in central Cordoba province by an armed group suspected of acting for the Third Army Corps, a unit commanded at the time by Menendez. Witnesses said Hunziker was tortured and then killed three weeks later.
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