Friday, 25 March 2011

Uruguay: Amnesty law ruling

In an important ruling, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has said that Uruguay must remove obstacles to prosecuting human rights offenses committed during its "dirty war" in the 1970s.

The case related specifically to María Claudia García Iruretagoyena de Gelman, the daughter-in-law of Argentine poet Juan Gelman.

As the New York Times explains,
Ms. Gelman was abducted in Buenos Aires in 1976 at age 19 while seven months pregnant. She was later transferred to a clandestine detention center in Uruguay. Her daughter, María Macarena Gelman, was born in captivity and left in a basket at the door of a Uruguayan police officer; the couple adopted her, giving them their name. The child’s grandfather, the Argentine poet Juan Gelman, tracked her down more than 20 years later and she restored her identity.
The court has now ruled that Uruguay must ensure that the amnesty must never again become an obstacle for investigations into the events of the dictatorship.

Human Rights Court calls on Uruguay to remove ‘dirty war’ amnesty law (Mercopress)
Court Condemns Uruguay for a Disappearance (New York Times)
OAS court: Uruguay must drop 'dirty war' amnesty (AP)
Macarena Gelman "conmovida" por la sentencia de la CIDH (Pagina/12)

And the truly interested can read the full ruling (in Spanish) here.

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