Posted on Sat, Jul. 14, 2007
General accused of torture loses presidential pardon
The Supreme Court ruled that a 1989 presidential pardon of a general accused of crimes during the country's Dirty War was unconstitutional.
BY MAYRA PERTOSSI
Associated Press
BUENOS AIRES -- The Supreme Court threw out a 1989 presidential pardon Friday that absolved a former army general of alleged human rights abuses during Argentina's dictatorship.
The ruling that the pardon of Gen. Santiago Omar Riveros was unconstitutional opens the door for lower courts to reconsider dozens of other pardons granted after the end of the 1976-83 military regime.
The court's seven members voted 4-2, with one abstention, that Riveros can be tried for illegal abductions, torture and killings of dissidents during a crackdown known as the Dirty War.
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Last year, former police investigator Miguel Etchecolatz was convicted of genocide and sentenced to life imprisonment. That trial was marred by the disappearance of the chief prosecution witness, torture survivor Jorge Julio López, who remains missing.
More:
http://www.miamiherald.com/579/story/170409.html