September 21, 2007

Former Argentinean military officer and human rights violator sentenced

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Ernesto Barreiro, 59, a former Argentinean military officer and alleged human rights violator from The Plains, Virginia, was sentenced today to six months in prison, followed by a three year term of supervised release conditioned upon his compliance with his removal to Argentina by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Barreiro pleaded guilty on September 7, 2007 to visa fraud and was sentenced today in the U.S. District for the Eastern District of Virginia.

According to court documents, in September 2003, the defendant applied for a non-immigrant visa to the United States through the U.S. Department of State in Buenos Aries, Argentina. On that application, the defendant falsely asserted that he had never been detained for a crime in Argentina. In fact the defendant was charged and detained in 1984 and 1987 for alleged acts of torture, kidnapping, and torture resulting in death. He is alleged to have engaged in these acts while a high ranking military officer in charge of interrogation at a clandestine detention facility, "La Perla". The defendant entered the United States in October 2004 using the fraudulent visa and has remained here since. The Government of Argentina issued an international arrest warrant for Barreiro in May 2005. Barreiro faces removal to Argentina and prosecution for his alleged war crimes upon his return.

"ICE will not allow the United States to be a safe haven for those who have come to our country in an effort to evade prosecution and punishment for crimes they have committed elsewhere," said Julie L. Myers, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for ICE. "We will not relent in our efforts to ensure that human rights violators are brought to justice and removed from our communities."

Identifying and removing persecutors and human rights violators from the United States is one of ICE's top enforcement programs. To achieve this goal, ICE created the Human Rights Violators Unit, with a specific mandate to deny safe haven to human rights violators by bringing to bear a full range of investigative techniques and legal authorities to identify, locate, investigate and remove them from the United States. To date, ICE has initiated over 800 human rights related investigations or removal cases nationwide, involving nationals from more than 85 countries.

The public is strongly encouraged to come forward with any information they may have regarding human rights abusers living in the United States. Anonymous tips may be reported at 1-866-DHS-2ICE (1-866-347-2423).

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

  Last Modified: