The Hemisphere: The Police State

One of Argentina's major scandals last year was the disclosure by Judge Sadi Massue, a newcomer to the bench, that Buenos Aires police had tortured a university student nearly to death. Four older and more supple judges of the court of appeals speedily released the three cops held for investigation, but the Massue hearing had spilled the beans.

Last week, to make sure that such a naive mistake could not be repeated, and to consolidate police power, Perón's dutiful Congress enacted a new police code. Besides merging all Argentine police under a single command, the code made cops no longer answerable for their actions to the regular courts. They will now be subject to trial and punishment only by a special five-man panel of their uniformed peers. Said Juan Perón: "This . . . gives new meaning to police institutions and creates the police state."