Uruguay Overturns Amnesty Law

By SONJA DECHIAN | Published: OCTOBER 28, 2011

Uruguay’s Congress has voted to pass new legislation effectively revoking an amnesty law that protected officers from prosecution for crimes committed during the 1973 – 1985 dictatorship.
As reported by Reuters, the new law will allow fresh investigations into human rights abuses committed by the military during that period.

Uruguay’s Supreme Court will now decide whether lifting the amnesty is constitutional, since it was upheld in two public referendums.

In May, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights urged Uruguay to lift restrictions limiting probes into past abuses.