Corporal punishment, torture and restraints.
This was what 87 patients suffered, including 10 minors, in an
illegal addiction rehabilitation center
located in the Buenos Aires town of La Reja, Moreno district.
The inmates were in subhuman conditions: overcrowding, confinement and deprivation of liberty.
They had them locked up with barred doors, with sewage in the playgrounds, covered bathrooms, and damp walls.
There was no doctor or psychologist to monitor the treatments.
"A gruesome place"
.
This is how the Argentine Federal Police (PFA) described it, which carried out a raid this weekend and arrested three men on suspicion of keeping victims receiving special treatment for drug addictions deprived of their liberty.
These arrests occurred within the framework of the raid carried out last Saturday afternoon at the
"Los Valientes"
addiction center under the orders of the Functional Unit for Instruction and Trial No. 8 of the Judicial Department of Moreno, in charge of Gabriel López. .
Previously, personnel from the Ministry of Health had carried out an inspection at the site, which
did not have authorization
.
In a statement, the PFA detailed that a minor victim was found
"tied inside a chicken coop
. "
"Given this chilling scenario, they made a report for the Intervening Prosecutor's Office," they added.
Together with the PFA personnel, professionals from the National Program for the Rescue and Accompaniment of Persons Victims of the Crime of Trafficking, of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of the Nation, entered the place.
The minors were interviewed separately, and the older ones randomly, who expressed the desire to leave the place.
In several of the interviews, the rescued people indicated that they were subjected to
corporal punishment
"such as beatings, cuts and ties."
They suffered from hunger, thirst, and even torture, since some reported that "they were tied up and
submerged in a pool of water
as a corrective punishment."
The rescued youths indicated that
the relatives could only see them every 21 days
, and that when they did they had to be accompanied by one of the coordinators of the place, who controlled their conversations.
The prosecutor ordered the staff of the Anti-trafficking Department to transfer several victims to the judicial headquarters, where testimonial statements were received at dawn on Monday.
Based on the evidence collected, actions compatible with torture as punishment were determined, being subjected to tying, submersion and humiliation, with a hierarchy of commands for their executors, the PFA report specified.
During the operation, several cell phones of those responsible for the place were seized, a computer, medical records, elements that must be examined in search of information for the cause.
The minors were returned to their relatives, and the older ones left the place, in the company of their loved ones.
The place was closed, while the investigation continues to dismantle the responsibility structure of the clandestine rehabilitation center.
Gustavo Gauna - commissioner of the PFA Human Trafficking Division - stated that the door of the place did not have any sign indicating that it is a habilitation center.
"There was no identification plate or authorization in sight," he told
TN
.
In addition, he said that the families of the victims "of their own free will pay a monthly payment so that their relatives have a dignified treatment and come out of addictions."
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