Post-transitional Justice: Human Rights Trials in Chile and El Salvador

Appendix A: Transitional Justice in Selected Latin American Countries

aPPendix­a:­transitional­Justice­in­selected­­ latin­american­countries ARGENTINA Transition via government collapse in 1983 after military dictatorship (1976–83) Comisión Nacional sobre la Desaparici ón de Personas (CONADEP) Established by presidential decree, 15 Dec 1983 Dates of work: Dec 1983–Sep 1984 Report: “Nunca más,” Nov 1984 Names of perpetrators were supposedly confidential. Passed all information to courts Named approximately 9,000 victims of death or disappearance A higher figure of 30,000, which later gained wide currency, is an estimate by relatives’ associations and human rights groups Investigate 1976–83 HRVs; document disappearance and kidnapping in that period Could require information, documents, and access to buildings from any public servant or member of the security forces Legal framework not specified Many of 1,300 written requests to the security forces went unanswered Televised trial of nine junta members in 1985 1986 and 1987 amnesty measures: Prosecutions suspended and presidential pardons given Some financial reparations for forced exile and to relatives of the disappeared Military self-amnesty annulled by Law 23.040, Dec 1983 Subsequently introduced: Ley de Punto Final, 23 Dec 1986, and Ley de Obediencia Debida, 5 June 1987 Status: Annulled by legislature Aug 2003, with retroactive effect Country Truth Commission Mandate and Powers Other Measures Amnesty Law URUGUAY Transition via elections in 1984 after military dictatorship from 1973 (effective self-coup: civilian government handed power to military) (1) Comisión Investigadora sobre la Situación de Personas Desaparecidas y Hechos que la Motivaron (official) Dates of work: 1985 (seven-month duration) Restricted to disappearance , relatively rare Around transition, none Pre-transition amnesty for opposition Tupamaro guerrillas. Impunity Report: “Informe final de la comisi ón investigadora sobre la situación de personas desaparecidas y hechos que la motivaron,” 1985 Reported execution or disappearance of 164 Uruguayan citizens, 80 percent while in exile in Argentina (2) Servicio de Paz y Justicia (SERPAJ)* (unofficial) (*NGO also active in other countries of the region) Report: “Uruguay nunca más: Informe sobre la violación a los derechos humanos, 1972–1985,” 1989 Excluded much more widespread practices of torture and prolonged detention Later: Comisión para la Paz created by presidential decree in 2000 to investigate the fate of the remaining disappeared Final report in 2003 suggested 26 of 28 disappeared Uruguayans, and 5 of 6 Argentinians disappeared in Uruguay, should be considered dead. Recommended reparations, but made no reference to the 1986 amnesty law (Ley de Caducidad) Prosecution of two former presidents and a small number of former officers, 2009 Financial reparations law passed, 2009 policy agreed between Colorado party and military in “Club Naval” discussions preceding 1984 elections Ley de Caducidad de las Pretensiones Punitivas del Estado, Law No. 15.848, Dec 1986 Excludes civilians and high command, but allows executive discretion over prosecution Uniquely, reaffirmed by plebiscite on 16 Apr 1989 Article 4 (never applied) requires investigations Status: Still in force New plebiscite in October 2009 did not reach the required majority for repeal Declared unconstitutional in one case by the Supreme Court in Oct 2009 (continued) 1978 military selfamnesty , Decreto Ley 2.191 Status: Still in force Reinterpreted from 1998 to allow full investigation 2008: “Interpretive” secondary legislation promised in response to an Inter-American Court finding that the statute contravened international obligations (Almonacid case) Reparations (pensions ) for relatives of disappeared, financial assistance for returning exiles, medical program for survivors of torture Later: Sep 1998 onward: Renewed trials 1999–2000: Mesa de Diálogo: Military, church representatives, and lawyers met government authorities to recover information about the remaining disappeared 2004: Financial reparations extended to previously excluded relatives of fatal victims (a pension of approx US$170/month) Valech commission reparations (a pension) for named survivors Document gravest HRVs between 11 Sep 1973 and 11 March 1990 Identify and locate victims ; recommend reparations and “other measures considered necessary for the purposes of justice and prevention” Legal framework: International human rights law, international humanitarian law, and “other norms relating to the use of force” Could request but not oblige information from private individuals and the armed forces (1) Comisión Nacional de Verdad y Reconciliación (“Comisión Rettig”) Established by presidential Supreme Decree no. 355, 25 Apr 1990 Dates of work: May 1990–Feb 1991 Report: “Rettig Report,” Feb 1991 Documented and named victims of disappearance and fatal political violence. Dealt with torture only in general terms Could not name perpetrators. Passed information...