Von Wernich, Christian Federico

(1938– )

   Catholic priest and former chaplain of the Buenos Aires police. Born in the province of Entre Ríos, Argentina, Father Von Wernich was the first clergy member tried for complicity in the kidnapping, torture, and execution of political prisoners during Argentina’s “dirty war.” As police chaplain, Von Wernich worked under the direction of Chief Inspector Miguel Etchecolatz, who in turn reported to General Ramón Camps. In 1996 his superiors relocated Von Wernich to Chile at his own request. In Chile the journalist Hernán Brienza discovered Von Wernich serving in a parish in the seaside town of El Quisco under the alias Christian González. Brienza detailed the search for Von Wernich in his book Maldito tú eres: El caso Von Wernich: Iglesia y represión ilegal. Soon after, on 25 September 2003, Federal Judge Arnaldo Corazza, of La Plata, ordered Von Wernich’s arrest. Judge Corazza’s investigation resulted in the testimony of over 30 witnesses who placed Von Wernich at three illegal detention centers: Puesto Vasco, COTI Martínez, and Pozo de Quilmes. The trial began on 5 July 2007, under extreme security measures, in the city of La Plata, the capital of the province of Buenos Aires.

   As the trial began, over 120 witnesses were expected to testify. Von Wernich was charged with collaborating with state security agents in cases of illegal detention, torture, and murder. Héctor Mariano Ballent, a torture survivor, testified that Von Wernich would urge prisoners to collaborate by saying, “Come on, son. Confess everything so they stop torturing you.” Héctor Timerman, the Argentine consul in New York, linked Von Wernich to one of the best-known cases during Argentina’s “dirty war,” the detention and torture of his father, Jacobo Timerman, the former editor of La Opinión. His father once confided to him that while he was being tortured with electric prods, his blindfold fell off, and he saw Von Wernich standing by the side of Camps.

   Von Wernich was also charged with extorting money from the families of desaparecidos (missing), particularly in the case known as “El grupo de los siete,” a group of seven militants detained by police under Etchecolatz’s direction. According to testimony, Von Wernich told the families that the militants, while under “rehabilitation,” had agreed to collaborate with the police and would, in return, be exiled to neighboring countries. At least two families testified they had handed over between $1,500 and $3,000 to Von Wernich for the “upkeep” and travel plans of the young militants, who never reached their destinations. According to the report Nunca más (Never Again), published in 1985 by the Comisión Nacional de Investigación de Desaparición de Personas (CONADEP, National Commission on the Disappeared), Julio Alberto Emmed, one of the officers involved in the case, said that Von Wernich was present the night three members of the group were executed. The priest’s shirt was profusely stained with blood as Emmed struggled with one of the victims in an automobile. When Emmed expressed qualms to Von Wernich about the violent deaths, Von Wernich assured him that the execution “was necessary, it was a patriotic act and God knew it was for the good of the country.” Emmed later recanted, claiming that CONADEP had offered him money and immunity. In 1987 he was murdered under “mysterious circumstances.” Emmed’s original testimony remains the only direct link to the likely fate of the seven militants, who remain among the missing.

   On 9 October 2007 the judges Carlos Rozanski, Norberto Lorenzo, and Horacio Isaurralde—the panel that had presided over the trial of Etchecoltaz—found Von Wernich guilty of complicity in seven homicides, 42 kidnappings, and 32 instances of torture. During the trial, Von Wernich refused to testify. He is currently serving a life sentence.