Hell to Pay

So run, you cur... RUN! Tell all the other curs the law's comin'!
You tell 'em I'M coming... and hell's coming with me, you hear?
--Wyatt Earp, Tombstone (1993)

Master of puppets I'm pulling your strings
Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams
--Master of Puppets, Metallica
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The legal system of Argentina is finally getting around to prosecuting "alleged" torture committed 24-31 years ago. It is news that doesn't raise much of a blip on the American radar screens, but it is instructive and hopeful.

Closing arguments were presented last week in the first trial involving torture at a notorious military prison during Argentina's Dirty War (1976-83):

"Federal prosecutor Mirna Goransky made her final presentation at the trial against former Coast Guard [Officer] Héctor Febrés, who is charged with 'crimes against humanity' committed at the ESMA Navy Mechanics School Detention Centre during Argentina’s military dictatorship (Prosecutor's Final Plea in Febres Case.)"

From an earlier New York Times mention:

The former officer, Héctor Febres, 66, is accused of kidnapping and torture in the case of four people who were seized by government agents and taken to the feared Navy Mechanics' School during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship. Mr. Febres, 66 years old, appeared in court and denied the charges.

The Navy Mechanics School was the largest clandestine torture center of the era. An estimated 4,500 prisoners passed through its cells, and many were never seen again."

George W. Bush and flunkies can play with words and parse the definition of torture to suit their needs, but eventually reality will catch up with them. Some day the American justice system may decide to follow the Argentine example and address the shame of the U.S.'s own impositions of torture.

If not the American system, then perhaps the world court. It may become unsafe for certain government officials to travel abroad in the not-too-distant future.

Even if it takes 24 to 31 years, it will be a well-earned stain upon the Bush legacy.