Luciano Benjamin Menendez, 81, was commander of the regional Third Army Corps in the northern city of Cordoba during Argentina's 1976-83 military dictatorship. He was in charge of La Parla, one of the country's most notorious and brutal 'torture centers,' for five years.
The killings took place during Argentina's so-called Dirty War period, when thousands of left-wing activists disappeared, the majority of them thought to have been abducted and subsequently executed by death squads.
The four victims, Humberto Brandalisis, Raul Cardozo, Carlos Lajas, and Hilda Palacios, belonged to the Revolutionary Workers Party. Their bodies were dumped in the street to give the impression that they had died in a street battle. The bodies were then picked up by the authorities.
The body of Palacios was found in a graveyard in 2004. The whereabouts of the other corpses is still unknown.
Argentina's Dirty War began when a military junta led by Gen. Jorge Videla took control of the South American state on March 24, 1976. The military coup came after a period of political instability following the death of President Juan Peron.
Between 10,000 and 30,000 people were either killed or 'disappeared' during the military's campaign against left wing groups.
The junta remained in power until October 1983, when Argentina returned to civilian rule with the election of President Raul Alfonsin.
An amnesty was granted to those involved in the Dirty War as the junta prepared to hand over power. However, in August 2003, Congress voted to do away with the amnesty laws.
Menendez was already under house arrest for other Dirty War crimes before the trial, but judges ruled that he should now be sent to prison.
The former general was unrepentant, saying before sentence was read that, "We had to take appropriate measures. Argentine society was involved in a war provoked by international Marxists."
Apart from Menendez, seven other people, six former officers and one civilian, were also convicted in connection with the murders of the activists. They received sentences ranging from 18 years to life.
