Argentine soliders frisking man at 1977 traffic stop (Source: AFP)

While Los Kirchner and Madres de Plaza de Mayo head Hebe de Bonafini have been complaining of the glacial slowness with which the crimes-against-humanity trials of accused torturers from the last military dictatorship have been making their way through the courts, the backlog has been shrinking for another, morbid, reason. On Monday, an ex-soldier and ex-policeman, both set to stand torture trials, killed themselves rather than face the courts. When added to the February 2008 suicide of Lt-Col Paul Alberto Ravone and the December 2007 apparent assisted-suicide of Hector Febres (his family was accused of sneaking in poison when, during his trial, he was found dead of cyanide poisoning in a prison cell), this constitutes a trend. And while some may take solace that these accused torturers are no longer around, justice thwarted is justice denied.