Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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291. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the case of a person (details supplied) who went missing after the Argentine security forces evicted a group of the indigenous Mapuche community from their lands in Patagonia due to a dispute with an Italian clothing company (detail supplied); if his attention has been further drawn to the fact that the United Nations committee reported that their disappearance required urgent action by the Administration of Argentina’s president, Mauricio Macri; and if he will raise this case with his Argentine counterpart. [39799/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I am aware of the case to which the Deputy refers, that of Mr. Santiago Maldonado who reportedly disappeared on 1 August in Chubut province.

I understand that the case was raised with the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances by the Centre for Legal and Social Studies of Buenos Aires, and that the Committee has urged the Argentine government to take swift action to locate Mr. Maldonado.

Government officials in Argentina have stated that there is no record of Mr. Maldonado being detained, but that an investigation is ongoing.

I have asked officials at our Embassy in Buenos Aires to monitor the case and to keep me informed of developments.