Luciano Arruga
The body of Luciano Arruga, the teenager missing since 2009 and believed to have been killed by the police, was identified today.
In a press conference held by CELS (Centre for Legal and Social Studies) and Arruga’s family, they revealed that the body had been buried in an unmarked grave at the Chacarita cemetery since 2009. The teenager was run over by a car while crossing the corner of Av. Gral. Paz and Emilio Castro, in the Buenos Aires neighbourhood of Mataderos, three hours after disappearing, at around 3am on 31st January 2009.
After the accident he was taken by an ambulance to the Santojanni hospital, where he died at 8am that morning. Horacio Verbitsky, head of CELS, said at the press conference that the family looked for him at the hospital that same night, but did not receive any information regarding his whereabouts.
The Federal Police took Arruga’s fingerprints at the morgue on 3rd February and he was then taken to Chacarita. Arruga’s sister, Vanesa Orieta, confirmed that according to the experts’ reports her brother had been in the Lomas del Mirador police station and in a police car that evening, close to where he was run over.
For the family, however, “the case is not closed”. “This doesn’t end with a kid crossing the highway and that’s it. We need to know the truth,” said Orieta.
Verbitsky added that “there are still reasons to be suspicious about the behaviour of the Buenos Aires police. There are questions that remain unanswered which in no way modify the fact of [Arrugas's] detention, the torture, that his sister heard him scream.”
Verbitsky explained that they still need to study the case involving the traffic accident, for which the driver, a 21-year-old man, was acquitted. According to the head of CELS, the crossing where Arruga was hit “is not a normal pedestrian crossing” and the incident “requires an explanation.” “We found out [today] at about 10am. There is still much to analyse. We need to have a look at the case,” said Verbitsky.
Both the family and CELS denounced the mishandling of the case by the institutions involved, saying it was a case of institutional violence and discrimination. “Luciano Arruga’s family was mistreated in every way possible by the state,” said Verbitsky, who added that “three months would have been enough for this investigation. The state has the resources — it doesn’t have the will.”
Pointing out at the discrimination suffered by the family for being poor, Verbitsky said: “This wouldn’t have happened in Palermo with a middle class kid. We all know that.”
Orieta stated that “the largest share of the responsibility belongs to the Buenos Aires police, the judicial officers, and the [Buenos Aires] City institutions for not investigating.” After her mother fainted during the press conference, she said: “My mother hoped to find her son alive. Today, she confirmed he was killed.”
The body was identified by matching his fingerprints with police records. Now a DNA test will be carried out to confirm the identity of the body.
Luciano Arruga was last seen by his family around midnight on 31st January 2009. Since then his family have campaigned tirelessly to find him, and for the arrest of eight police officers active in the neighbourhood who they suspect were directly involved in his disappearance. Last year, the case changed status from “whereabouts inquiry” to “forced disappearance” and the investigation was took over by the federal justice.
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