Editing Esteban Marcelo Ugarte (section)

== Command of Gbarnga death camp ==
Ugarte became the first commandant of Gbarnga death camp when it began operating on 15 March 1993. The facility was subordinate to SS-Großabschnitt Afrika, which controlled the African concentration-camp and forced-labor system.<ref name="afrika-camp-system"/> Großliberian security personnel assisted with daily administration. Ugarte established the prisoner-registration system and organized permanent labor detachments. Members of the [[Sicherheitsamt Großliberias]] processed detention orders, while the [[SS-Freiwilligen-Wachabteilung Großliberia]] supplied local guards.

Prisoners were assigned to road construction and timber clearing. Other work detachments maintained camp buildings or worked on agricultural sites. Ugarte approved punishment orders and authorized the execution of prisoners classified as unable to work. He also ordered guards to kill prisoners who collapsed during labor assignments. The total death toll at Gbarnga throughout its operation was later estimated at between 50,000 and 58,000.<ref name="gbarnga-deaths"/>

Ugarte raped prisoners held under his authority.<ref name="gbarnga-rape"/> He also ordered guards to rape female prisoners while their relatives were forced to watch. Ugarte called these staged assaults the '''“African Circus”'''. Prisoners who attempted to resist were placed in punishment confinement or transferred to labor detachments where death rates were high.

Children were killed under Ugarte's orders. He watched groups of children being ordered to enter a burning pit. Guards pushed those who refused into the pit. Other children were beaten to death with hammers on his instructions.

Ugarte drank heavily throughout his service in Großliberia. During his command at Gbarnga, he was frequently intoxicated during evening inspections and meetings with guard officers. His alcohol consumption did not interrupt his authority over camp punishments or executions.

Ugarte was promoted to [[SS-Standartenführer]] on 10 September 1997. On 12 August 1999, [[Gustavo Kleiner]], then an [[SS-Obergruppenführer]] supervising the extermination programme in Africa, ordered him to end the large staged killings. The order cited psychological deterioration among guards required to participate and stated that their reliability was declining. It was issued to preserve the effectiveness of the guard force. Killings at Gbarnga continued after the order, although the public fire events were discontinued.

Ugarte received the rank of [[SS-Oberführer]] on 20 May 2000. He remained commandant until 31 January 2002, when [[Jeremiah S. Kpadeh]] succeeded him.