MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Uruguay: overturning amnesty law could cost ruling coalition ‘dearly’
Uruguayan Vice-president Danilo Astori acknowledged that overturning the “Expired Crimes” or amnesty bill for human rights violators during the military dictatorship (1973/1985) could cost the ruling coalition ‘dearly’ and said he voted following ‘party discipline’. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesThe 1986 Expired Crimes Bill declared an amnesty for all human rights violations committed by military and police forces under the dictatorship, and was a matching bill to the 1985 Amnesty for the guerrillas who were involved in killings, torture and kidnapping.
May 03rd, 2011 - 01:54 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The Expired Crimes bill which was supported by the Uruguayan people (by plebiscite) in 1989 and again in 2009.
Last year the Inter American Court of Human Rights ruled that the Expired Crimes bill:
(i) impedes the investigation and sanction of serious violations of human rights and
(ii) lacks judicial effects,
(iii) thus it cannot continue to represent an obstacle
to the investigation of abuses alleged to have been committed over a quarter of a century ago. The Uruguay lower House split the Government by voting to re-open investigations against one ‘side’ only.
A decree revoking ‘administrative acts from previous governments which determined that *certain specific cases* are not included in the amnesty’ will open up a mess of inconsistencies and biases that will themselves be human rights abuses and subject to IACHR declarations.
Not least, the serving of a writ on the President that he should be investigated and tried for his own crimes.
President Mujica has said he will not veto the bill, though he would, presumably, veto his own trial.
This same dilemma faces Dilma Rouseff, the Presidenta of Brasil, who is herself proposing a One-Sided removal of amnesties.
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