Hundreds of people could be charged with torture, disappearances and kidnapping during Argentina's "Dirty War" against dissidents after the country's Supreme Court yesterday struck down amnesties passed in the 1980s.
Officially, 12,000 people are listed as dead or missing from the 1976-83 military junta crackdown on opponents, although human rights groups say the toll was closer to 30,000. The missing, known as the "disappeared," are presumed to have been murdered by government forces.
Some 3,000 army officers, including about 300 still serving in the armed forces, could be called for questioning, according to human rights groups, which estimated up to 400 of them could face new charges.
In a 7-1 vote, with one abstention, the Supreme Court voided laws passed in 1986 and 1987 to forbid charges involved in disappearances, torture and other crimes during the dictatorship. The court said the bans were contrary to today's international norms requiring the state to protect human rights and punish abuses.
The ruling came in the case of Julio Simon, a former policeman accused of being involved in the disappearance of Jose Poblete and Gertrudis Hlaczik and of taking their daughter, Claudia Poblete, as his own. Under Argentine law, the decision can be taken as precedent in other cases.
President Nestor Kirchner called it a major step toward healing the wounds of one of the country's most turbulent eras.
"The court's decisions has restored our faith in justice," Kirchner said jubilantly. "This is a blast of fresh air that signifies the end of impunity."
In August 2003, the House and Senate voted to repeal the amnesty laws. But activists had waited for the Supreme Court to make a final decision on the constitutionality of the laws, which effectively ended trials for officers accused of human rights abuses.
Many of the junta's top leaders and other officers are now under house arrest on charges of kidnapping children belonging to mothers who vanished during military rule - facing prosecution under a loophole in the amnesty laws that allowed prosecution in ongoing crimes.
Legal experts said they expected yesterday's ruling to open the floodgates to prosecutions for crimes beyond kidnapping.
AP