MONTEVIDEO, (Reuters) – Uruguay’s Congress passed legislation yesterday that allows fresh investigations into human rights abuses committed by the military during a 1973-1985 dictatorship despite a controversial amnesty law.
The new law, which also says rights crimes cannot be subject to a statute of limitations, was drafted by the ruling coalition of President Jose Mujica, who spent years behind bars for his guerrilla activities in the 1960s and 1970s.
“This is a historic night,” ruling-party lawmaker Luis Puig told Reuters after the vote early on Thursday. “The culture of impunity imposed during 25 years must be dismantled and turned into a culture of human rights.”
Mujica’s leftist political bloc pushed for the new law after the Supreme Court ruled in May that state-sponsored killings committed during the dictatorship should be classed as murders rather than human rights crimes.
The ruling, issued in the case of two former military officers jailed for 28 killings, drew fierce criticism from human rights activists because murder prosecutions are subject to a statute of limitations.
The measure passed by Congress on Thursday, opposed by the opposition and retired military officers, means human rights crimes cannot lapse on Nov. 1, as the Supreme Court ruling implied.
Some legal analysts say the new legislation effectively scraps a long-standing amnesty law shielding former military officers from prosecution.
