Uruguay Government
Repeals Military
Immunity Measures
Uruguay's President
Tabare Vazquez has
signed a document
repealing the so-called
"secret of state"
measure that granted
military officials the
right to withhold
information, local media
reported Tuesday.
A dozen police and
military officers
charged with human
rights abuses during
Uruguay's 1973-1985
dictatorship had
resorted to the immunity
measures under the
"secret of state"
mechanism, which allowed
them to withhold
information to superior
officers and courts
during cases in 2006 and
in 2007.
Human rights
organizations have long
called for the repeal
and have been demanding
that soldiers should
reveal how nearly 200
opposition figures
disappeared during the
dictatorship.
The document signed
Monday also says that
soldiers should not
carry out orders that
are "manifestly
illegal," including
torturing captives.
Should they do so, they
will be held equally
responsible.
In the 1980s, Uruguay
took part in Plan
Condor, in which South
American nations with
military governments
kidnapped and then
swapped opposition
figures who were often
tortured and killed
thousands of kilometers
away from their home
nations.
Vazquez, a Socialist who
took power in March
2005, has pursued a
policy of seeking the
remains of those killed
during the plan since
his first days in
office.
The new policy aims to
heal wounds from the
dictatorship era,
according to the
president.
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