[JURIST] A group of Argentine veterans of the 1982 Falkland Islands conflict [UK MOD backgrounder] have filed a lawsuit alleging that the Argentine military tortured and killed its own troops during the brief war with Britain over possession of the South Atlantic islands. The former soldiers say they witnessed 20 soldiers being shot, starved or staked to the ground as punishment for alleged misdemeanours. Under-secretary of Human Rights in the north-eastern province of Corrientes Pablo Vassel told the IPS news agency that families were told the soldiers had been killed in combat and returning soldiers were threatened by superiors to discourage them from talking about the incidents.

The lawsuit was brought before a court in Tierra del Fuego, which technically includes the Falkland Islands - still under British control - within its jurisdiction. Since the end of the war, isolated reports have surfaced about military superiors abusing their troops, but this is the first time that Argentine authorities have taken up the case. Vassel accused the state of trying to ignore wartime military abuses. The Guardian has more. Prensa Latina has local coverage.