Page 128 - Conflitti Militari e Popolazioni Civili - Tomo II

630 XXXIV Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

and not until I walked out of the building with the copies rolled inside a magazine did I relax
a little. Later, in the comparative safety of the house we typed the convention out and this was
then duplicated elsewhere. But the papers were not used as it was decided that the text of the
convention was far too complicated for people to understand”. 52
A Civil Affairs Special Order is issued on 5 May. The personnel involved take cognizance
of their missions and receive the list of kelper citizens that will assist them in complying with
it.
the Goose Green garrison had also been attacked on 1 May in a very precise opera-
53
tion, which forced the garrison to order the seizure of all radio electric, photo, audio, optical
and other equipment by Air Force members on duty there, as it was suspected that the exis-
tence of such equipment might have been an element that helped to guide the air attack. The
population was concentrated in the civic center for their own security.
In this connection, a few days later Governor Menéndez received a complaint about the
treatment given to local people from Goose Green and Darwin, who had been locked up in
a barrack and maintained there as prisoners (or hostages) by the Argentine forces, in what
some described as a “black hole”.
The situation originated in the language difficulties and the tension generated between
troops and islanders during the concentration of people at the civic center were reflected in
the remarks made by sub lieutenant Juan José Gómez Centurión, from Infantry Regiment 25:
“Very hard scenes took place there because as we took them to the center the kelpers thought
that we were going to kill them, and we had to convince them that it was just a security mea-
sure”. 54
Although Menéndez sent out an officer to verify the situation, on 5 May an act had been
issued signed by the chief of the local unit, two military doctors and two islanders as wit-
nesses, where it was clearly stated that the population would be concentrated at the commu-
nity center to avoid the risk involved in the frequent British air raids against the area, where
there was also an air base and a bomb had fallen near the town limits. The act also pointed out
that the population had been submitted to a medical and sanitary check-up, of whose results
detailed evidence was given, and that later on regular visits were made and medical attention
continued to be provided.
Lieutenant Juan Carlos Adjigogovich, a doctor with Infantry Regiment 12, took part in
the check-up: “We wrote down an act with the medical condition of all kelpers that were in
the area, which was signed by us, by the general manager of the FIC and by a Chilean wit-
ness who was employed in the farm”. Special attention was paid to the 30 children who
55
were part of the population and measures were taken in particular to keep them well fed and
facilitate their care by their own parents. Also at the request of some families some sectors of
the lodging installations were given a certain degree of privacy.
Mr. McMullen, on the other hand, evoked as follows the conditions they had to endure for

52 Strange, ian, op.cit, page 269
53 Farming Town and Establishment inhabited by some 120 persons on Isla Soledad, which had a grass air
field.
54 Speranza, Graciela & Cittadini, Fernando, “Partes de Guerra – Malvinas 1982”; page 75
55 Speranza, Graciela & Cittadini, Fernando, op.cit., page 38.