Argentine Judge Rejects Laws That Shield Military
An Argentine judge struck down two immunity laws Tuesday in a ruling that could clear the way for the trials of hundreds of military personnel accused of human rights crimes during the 1976-83 dictatorship.
Ruling in a 1978 murder-kidnapping case, federal Judge Gabriel Cavallo declared unconstitutional two laws from the 1980s that shield all but the highest-ranking officers from prosecution for crimes committed during Argentina’s “dirty war.”
The ruling applied only to the one case involving 11 military men. But human rights groups said it set a precedent that could open the door for the trial of hundreds of officers and troops who have escaped prosecution for years. Top brass were imprisoned after a 1984 trial but were later pardoned.
The decision comes weeks before the 25th anniversary of the coup that plunged Argentina into a military government under which an estimated 30,000 people were killed or “disappeared” in the military’s war against leftists and their supporters.
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