Military

DATE=8/21/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ARGENTINA / AMNESTY VOTE (L-O) (CQ)

NUMBER=2-306711

BYLINE=BRIAN BYRNES

DATELINE=BUENOS AIRES

CONTENT=

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INTRO: Argentina's Senate has voted to abolish laws giving amnesty to members of the former military regime accused of human rights abuses. The measure was approved early today (Thursday) after several hours of debate. Brian Byrnes reports the action is another step toward possible trials for former military leaders.

TEXT: A week after the lower house of the

Argentine Congress approved the bill, the upper house

followed suit early Thursday morning. It overwhelmingly

approved a decree that would wipe out the amnesty

laws that have protected former military men since

democracy returned to Argentina in the 1980s.

Senator Cristina Kirchner, the wife of President

Nestor Kirchner, urged fellow lawmakers to follow her

lead and repeal the acts.

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"I want to remind you all that the Due Obedience Laws are in themselves a violation," Senator Kirchner said minutes before the vote.

Up to 30 thousand people disappeared during the country's so-called Dirty War from 1976 to 1983. Laws put into place in the mid-1980s by then-president Raul Alfonsin essentially ended the trials of the men accused of murder, rape and torture during the seven-year dictatorship.

In 1990 President Carlos Menem pardoned all the officers, a controversial move that he said was done for national reconciliation.

Current President Nestor Kirchner has taken bold steps

in recent weeks to bring these military leaders to

trial. In July he scrapped a law that prevented the

military men from facing charges abroad. A judge in

Spain has requested the extradition of several dozen

former leaders to face charges there.

Now that both houses of the Argentine Congress have

approved the decree, the Supreme Court will address

the issue.

Human rights activists say that the Supreme Court judges are aligned with the military and having the amnesty laws completely overturned will prove difficult. If they are overturned, those officers currently facing extradition to Europe will likely stand trial in Argentina. (signed)

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