CLAUDIO PANDOLFI – Lawyer

On June 26, 2002, photographs were taken during disturbances in Avellaneda, Buenos Aires province. These photographs were published in the Argentine press and clearly show police involvement in the events leading to the killing of Dario Santillan and Maximiliano Costeki. The photographs are also being used by lawyer Claudio Pandolfi of Coordinadora Contra la Represion Policial e Institucional (CORREPI), the Association against Police and Institutional Repression, in a case against police officers believed to be involved in the deaths of the aforementioned two men. As a result of his use of these photographs, Mr. Pandolfi has received death threats. LRWC wrote to call effective protection for Mr. Pandolfi, for an immediate and thorough investigation into the death threats received by Mr. Pandolfi, for the results to be made public and those responsible to be brought to justice. Argentina has a responsibility to adopt such measures as are necessary to guarantee the life and physical safety of Mr. Pandolfi arising from Argentina’s membership in both the United Nations (UN) and the Organization of American States (OAS). The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has ruled, in the Digna Ochoa case, that the responsibility to protect the lives and safety of individuals dedicated to the defense and promotion of human rights includes the duty to promptly and effectively investigate threats and bring those responsible to trial. (G. Davidson)