(Washington, D.C., August 21, 2003) -- The Argentine Senate’s vote to
annul the country’s amnesty laws is a major victory for justice, Human
Rights Watch said today. The vote to strike down the laws, held on
Thursday morning, was 43 to 7 with one abstention.
“The feeling of Argentine society is overwhelming that the amnesty laws
should never be applied again,” said José Miguel Vivanco, executive
director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch. “For far too
long, they have barred the prosecution of terrible crimes, keeping
thousands of families in Argentina from seeing justice done.”
The “Full Stop” and “Due Obedience” laws were introduced in 1986 and
1987 to quell a military revolt against prosecutions for human rights
crimes committed during Argentina’s “dirty war.” Thousands of
Argentines “disappeared” when their country was under military rule from
1976 until 1983.
The Full Stop Law prevented the hearing of cases filed with the courts
after a deadline of 60 days. The Due Obedience Law granted automatic
immunity to all members of the military except those in positions of
command.
The Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Argentine legislature,
voted to annul the laws a week ago.
Federal courts declared the laws unconstitutional in 2001, in rulings
that were appealed to the Supreme Court. Although the Court has had
jurisdiction over the case for some time, it has yet to rule on the
laws’ constitutionality.