An Argentine judge has ordered the arrest of 45 military officials, including ex-junta leaders, at the request of a Spanish judge who has charged them with genocide in the "Dirty War" against suspected leftists.
The order allows Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon to request the extradition of officers in connection with rights crimes during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship. It was the latest sign of courts closing in on officials shielded by extradition and amnesty laws.
The officers include 1976 coup leader Jorge Videla and Emilio Massera, the head of the Navy School of Mechanics, which acted as a torture center.
"Once they've been arrested, the judge (Garzon) will have 30 days to formally request their extradition," Argentine judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral told Reuters. An arrest order also went out for one civilian.
Up to 30,000 government opponents were killed during the dictatorship, but officials allegedly involved have largely been protected from prosecution over the past two decades by amnesty laws.
Left-leaning President Nestor Kirchner, who took office in May and who was briefly detained under the dictatorship, has promised to end a "culture of impunity" he says has stained 20 years of democracy. He has indicated he would annul a decree blocking extraditions.
Videla is already under house arrest amid probes into baby thefts by military officers. Massera is in a coma after a stroke.
The accusations stemmed from Garzon's investigation into the deaths or disappearance of several hundred Spaniards during military rule in Argentina. Garzon is famous for his legal crusade against former Chilean military ruler Augusto Pinochet,
Victims' representatives have said they believed signs of a change of position by Kirchner's government led Garzon to reaffirm his arrest warrant. A previous attempt by Garzon was blocked in Argentina a few years ago.
In recent months, lower courts have declared laws that shield officers from prosecution as unconstitutional -- and the Supreme Court is expected to take up the issue.
A former Argentine naval officer was extradited from Mexico last month to be charged in a Spanish court with acts of terrorism and genocide.