Mario Sandoval

Mario Sandoval was an Argentinian police officer and academic who is considered to be one of the most brutal torturers during the Argentine dictatorship of 1976-1983. and also lectured at the University of Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée.

On July 21, 2001, he took part in a secret gathering near the town of Santa Fe de Ralito. On that day, four paramilitary chiefs and some sixty political leaders gathered with the aim of "building a new Colombia" and, above all, transforming the AUC into a political player. According to Salvatore Mancuso, Mario Sandoval was even involved in drafting the document signed by the elected representatives and the paramilitaries. According to The New York Times, "Mr. Abriata was one of about 5,000 people who disappeared at the Higher School of Mechanics of the Navy, or ESMA".

The news of his extradition from France to Argentina was welcomed by Argentine human rights activists and relatives of victims of the dictatorship.

Sandoval was nicknamed Churrasco (Barbecue), due to his preferred method of torture being to electrocute people on metal bed frames.