Basilio Arturo Ignacio Lami Dozo (1 February 1929 – 1 February 2017) was a member of the Argentine Air Force. He participated in the

military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the ...

known as the National Reorganisation Process (1976–1983) and, along with Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri and

Jorge Isaac Anaya Admiral Jorge Isaac Anaya (27 September 1926 – 9 January 2008) was a Commander-in-Chief of the Argentine Navy. He was born in Bahía Blanca, in the province of Buenos Aires. He participated in the right-wing military dictatorship known as t ...

, was a member of the Third Military Junta that ruled

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

between 1981 and 1982. Alongside

Reynaldo Bignone Reynaldo Benito Antonio Bignone (21 January 1928 – 7 March 2018) was an Argentine general who served as President of Argentina from 1 July 1982, to 10 December 1983. In 2010, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the kidnappi ...

and Omar Graffigna he was one of the last surviving members of the dictatorship. In the 1985

Trial of the Juntas The Trial of the Juntas ( es, Juicio a las Juntas) was the judicial trial of the members of the ''de facto'' military government that ruled Argentina during the dictatorship of the Proceso de Reorganización Nacional (''el proceso''), which last ...

, he was charged with, and acquitted of, acts of

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts ...

, making false declarations, and

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

s. In 1989, he was sentenced to an eight-year prison term in the criminal proceedings that arose from the 1982

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial ...

, in which he had served as commander-in-chief of the Air Force. In 1990 he received a presidential pardon from

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and supported economically liberal policies. He ...

and was allowed to keep his military rank. In 2003, the Spanish justice system sought his extradition in order to stand trial in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

for

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

committed during the dictatorship. Initially the government of Spanish Prime Minister

José María Aznar José María Alfredo Aznar López (; born 25 February 1953) is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spain. A member of the Fre ...

ruled the extradition inadmissible but, in 2005, the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

overturned that decision and ordered extradition proceedings to go ahead.

Personal life

Basilio Lami Dozo Arturo Ignacio was born into a traditional family in the province of

Santiago del Estero Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a surf ...

who are descendants of immigrants from

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

and

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...

who came to the Republic of

before the disappearance of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

after the

World War A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...

. He died on 1 February 2017, on his 88th birthday.

References

External links

"La Corte, contra un pedido de Graffigna y Lami Dozo"
'' Clarín'', 13 April 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lami Dozo, Basilio 1929 births 2017 deaths Argentine Air Force brigadiers Argentine people of Lebanese descent Argentine people of Syrian descent Argentine military personnel of the Falklands War Recipients of Argentine presidential pardons