The National Court has approved the extradition to Uruguay of retired doctor Carlos Américo Suzacq Fiser, 72, who eight victims of the Uruguayan dictatorship have described as the doctor who advised the military “when to stop or continue the torture perpetrated between 1972 “. and in 1975 in a barracks in Montevideo during the Uruguayan dictatorship (1973-1985). The doctor had opposed the handover to the Uruguayan authorities, claiming that he was a Spanish national and had roots in Spain, where he has lived since 1977 and has been a medical practitioner for 29 years.
Suzacq is accused of taking part in this torture “by advising interrogators at the Anti-Subversive Operations Coordinating Body (OCOA) to use physical force to obtain testimonies from detainees.” These facts may constitute abuse of office against the detainees, serious injuries and unlawful deprivation of liberty, which “are classified as crimes against humanity,” according to the court itself.
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The crimes, extradition of which is requested by the 27th Criminal Court of First Instance in Montevideo (Uruguay), are based on complaints by eight alleged victims of the dictatorial regime’s military who were tortured in one of the internment camps, the Mechanized Cavalry Regiment No. 6 between 1972 and 1975
In their reports, the victims denounced that the doctor advised the soldiers who conducted the brutal interrogations of the detainees when to stop or continue the torture. One of them, ENR, detailed how “Dr. expressly authorized Suzacq to continue torturing”. JMPE, another victim, said he was tortured with a cattle prod (electric shocks all over his body) while the doctor advised the attackers.
The doctor has always refused to be extradited, claiming his Spanish nationality (acquired through marriage in 1978) and his roots in the country, where he has not only lived for 46 years but also practiced medicine for 29 years. He also argued that the facts were prescribed.
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The Third Section of the Criminal Chamber denies the statute of limitations as crimes against humanity that are not subject to a statute of limitations and underlines the seriousness of the allegations: “The facts reported and now the subject of the complaint are the nature and seriousness of the same and the avoidance that they go unpunished prompts this court, grant the request for extradition”.
Two years ago, seventy-year-old ex-Colonel Eduardo Augusto Ferro Bizzozero was handed over to Uruguay by seven Latin American dictatorships in a coordinated fashion to end political dissent. The soldier was arrested in 2021 and was hiding in Peñíscola (Castellón).