Uruguay split over ending of amnesty for rights violations under dictatorship

[Judi Lynn]

Uruguay split over ending of amnesty for rights violations under dictatorship
Decision opens rift in centre-left government of José Mujica, a former guerilla leader who was himself imprisoned and tortured
Christine Legrand
Guardian Weekly, Tuesday 26 April 2011 14.04 BST

Twenty-five years after democracy was restored in Uruguay the wounds are still not healed. The latest controversy centres on a bill to annul the amnesty that prevents prosecution of members of the military and police for alleged human rights violations under the dictatorship of 1973-85.

It has opened a rift in the centre-left government of President José Mujica, a former leader of the 1970s Tupamaros urban guerrillas, who was himself tortured and imprisoned for 14 years. About 200 people disappeared under the dictatorship.

The senate passed the bill in April and it will soon return to the lower house. What should have been a formality – parliament having voted to annul the amnesty law last October – has prompted lively debate. The opposition and even members of the Broad Front (FA), the ruling coalition, are claiming the vote would be unconstitutional, because it would overrule voters who approved the amnesty in two referendums in 1989 and 2009. A majority of public opinion is also against ending the amnesty.

To emphasise his disagreement, one of the former leaders of the Tupamaros, Eleuterio Fernández Huidobro, has given up his senate seat. The chief of staff, General Jorge Rosales, has said "there is nervousness" among the military. A group of reserve officers have condemned "political persecution". Cancelling the amnesty "may destabilise the country", according to their spokesman, Colonel José Araujo.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/26/uruguay-human-rights-amnesty-legrand