f028160446f86f380e679221_dr2193c.jpg Dean Rohrer

Justice Delayed, but Not Denied

The former dictator Jorge Videla was recently convicted and sentenced to life in prison by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for his role in Argentina’s “dirty war,” including the torture and execution of unarmed prisoners. But what can such a verdict mean so many years after the restoration of democracy in Argentina?

LONDON – Last week, the former dictator General Jorge Videla was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for his role in Argentina’s “dirty war” of the 1970’s, including the torture and execution of unarmed prisoners. These offenses were perpetrated decades ago. What can such a verdict mean so many years after the restoration of democracy in Argentina?

Prosecuting Videla and other perpetrators was made possible by path-breaking case law undertaken by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The Court has required that amnesties granted to political and military leaders in Argentina and other countries in the region as part of a transition to democracy be set aside. It has held that accountability for the crimes of the dictators is a human right – and thus trumps the impunity gained by many Latin American dictators as a condition of allowing democratic transitions.

The most recent decision of the regional tribunal, in mid-December, overturned a 1979 Brazilian amnesty law protecting military officials from prosecution for abuses committed during the country’s 21-year military dictatorship. “[T]he provisions of the Brazilian Amnesty Law that prevent the investigation and sanctioning of severe human rights violations,” the tribunal ruled, are “incompatible with the American Convention.”    The effect is to require that those who were in charge answer for the forced disappearances in Araguaia of 70 peasants in an anti-guerrilla campaign.

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