{"id":692,"date":"2012-10-28T15:08:35","date_gmt":"2012-10-28T20:08:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/library.brown.edu\/modernlatinamerica\/?page_id=692"},"modified":"2012-10-28T15:08:35","modified_gmt":"2012-10-28T20:08:35","slug":"the-challenge-of-burying-the-ley-de-caducidad-in-uruguay","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/modernlatinamerica\/chapters\/chapter-9-argentina\/moments-in-argentine-history\/the-challenge-of-burying-the-ley-de-caducidad-in-uruguay\/","title":{"rendered":"The Challenge of Burying the Ley de Caducidad in Uruguay"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A woman displays a sign in Montevideo demanding that the Supreme Court revoke the Ley de Caducidad<\/p><\/div>\n

By Pierre-Louis Le Goff<\/p>\n

Uruguay has recently taken several important steps towards dealing with the human rights violations perpetrated throughout the civic-military dictatorship in the 1970s and early 80s.\u00a0 Of most symbolic importance, last October the left-wing Frente Amplio<\/em> government, headed by the former-guerrilla Jos\u00e9 Mujica, successfully revoked<\/span><\/a> the country\u2019s 25-year-old amnesty law.[i]<\/a><\/p>\n

The Ley de Caducidad de la Prevenci\u00f3n Punitiva del Estado <\/em>(Law on the Expiry of the Punitive Claims of the State \u2013 hereafter Ley de Caducidad)<\/em>, adopted by the Sanguinetti administration in 1986, exonerated military and security personnel from prosecution for the crimes \u2013\u00a0including forced disappearances, torture, and murder \u2013\u00a0committed between 1973 and March 1985.[ii]<\/a><\/p>\n

Furthermore, the law stipulated that any lawsuit filed against military personnel had to meet the approval of the Executive in order to determine if it was covered by the law, thus undermining the separation of powers between the branches of government, and violating the independence of the Judiciary.<\/p>\n

For many, the Ley de Caducidad<\/em> came to embody what Lessa calls the politics of \u2018silence and oblivion\u2019 regarding the crimes of the dictatorship,[iii]<\/a> and it became the cornerstone of the culture of impunity that was installed and maintained by successive governments following the return to democracy.<\/p>\n

Overturning the law means that the Judiciary is now free to judge and that those responsible for abuses carried out a generation ago can finally be held to account.<\/p>\n

Despite this significant advance, the political and media assault<\/span><\/a> unleashed against Judge Mariana Mota \u2013 responsible for investigating the crimes of the dictatorship[iv]<\/a> \u2013 towards the end of March 2012 reveals that while the Ley de Caducidad <\/em>may be dead, it is not yet buried.[v]<\/a><\/p>\n

The attack on Mota was the result of comments made during an interview<\/span><\/a>\u00a0with the Argentine newspaper P\u00e1gina\/12<\/em>,[vi]<\/a> in which she criticized the Uruguayan government\u2019s efforts in shedding light on the crimes of the past.<\/p>\n

\u2018There is no promotion of human rights so that the situation, which is national and affected everyone, can be elucidated\u2019 she stated, \u2018[President] Mujica and the Defence Minister [Eleutorio Fern\u00e1ndez Huidobro, both former Tupamaros] were imprisoned by the dictatorship, and it is perhaps for this reason that they cannot view the situation objectively.\u2019[vii]<\/a><\/p>\n

Her declarations provided the ammunition for an all-out assault aimed at removing her from her role as a judge in human rights trials, events which could increase dramatically following the repeal of the amnesty law.<\/p>\n

She found herself the subject of disparaging personal attacks by several figures within the political system. The\u00a0radio program En Perspectiva<\/em>\u00a0provided a platform to launch the assault: Carlos Maggi, representing the Partido Colorado<\/em>, described Mota as a \u2018loudmouth\u2019 and \u2018unbalanced,\u2019 adding that \u2018it would be better if she went and practiced civil law where she could inflict less damage the honor and liberty of people\u2019; Matilde Rodr\u00edguez<\/span><\/a>, of the Partido Blanco<\/em>, said she suffered from \u2018verbal diarrhoea\u2019; the show\u2019s host, Emiliano Cotelo, added his insight declaring that when Mota took the testimonies of female victims of torture under the dictatorship, she did so \u2018wanting them to have been raped so she can judge more people in a more vicious way.\u2019[viii]<\/a><\/p>\n

More worrying, however, was the reaction of President Mujica who was quoted by B\u00fasqueda <\/em>as saying, \u2018I wanted to wait to see what happened, to see if there would be protests against these declarations that arose on their own, but there still haven\u2019t been any [\u2026] I realised that there hadn\u2019t been any protests whatsoever, not even from the Supreme Court or anything else\u2026\u2019[ix]<\/a><\/p>\n

The following day President Mujica demanded the intervention of the Supreme Court, which duly requested that the Judge present a report explaining her declarations.<\/p>\n

As Mota explained in the P\u00e1gina\/12 <\/em>interview, there had been previous attacks aimed at removing her from her role.\u00a0 But what is most troubling about this episode is that it came following the revocation of the Ley de Caducidad<\/em> and the Executive remained complicit in the violation of Mota\u2019s judicial independence.<\/p>\n

The attack highlights the deep roots of the culture of impunity established under the amnesty law; just as there continues to be impunity for many human rights violators, President Mujica still enjoys the impunity to violate the separation of powers.<\/p>\n

An important step towards burying the Ley de Caducidad<\/em>, therefore, means establishing the political will backed by the institutional capacity to ensure that justice and accountability are achieved, and that Uruguay makes the transition from a culture of impunity to a culture of human rights.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
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[i]<\/a> \u2018Uruguay overturns amnesty for military-era crimes,\u2019 BBC News<\/em>, 27 October 2011, accessed 25 May 2012, http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-latin-america-15473619<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[ii]<\/a> For a detailed analysis of the Ley de Caducidad<\/em> and the process involved in its derogation see: Francesca Lessa, \u2018Barriers to Justice: The Ley de Caducidad<\/em> and Impunity in Uruguay\u2019 in Francesca Lessa and Leigh A. Payne (eds.) Amnesty in the Age of Human Rights Accountability: comparative and international perspectives<\/em> (Cambridge: CUP, 2012)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[iii]<\/a> Francesca Lessa, \u2018The Many Faces of Impunity: a brief history of Uruguay\u2019s Expiry Law,\u2019 LSE Ideas<\/em>, 7 September 2010, accessed 22 May 2012, http:\/\/blogs.lse.ac.uk\/ideas\/2010\/09\/the-many-faces-of-impunity-a-brief-history-of-uruguays-expiry-law\/<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[iv]<\/a> Judge Mota\u2019s past work has included handing down a 30-year prison sentence to the ex-dictator Juan Mar\u00eda Bordaberry in 2010.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[v]<\/a> This sentiment was originally expressed by Senator Felipe Michelini, cited by Roger Rodr\u00edguez, \u2018Es la impunidad, idiota,\u2019 in Gabriela Fried and Francesca Lessa (eds.) Luchas Contra la Impunidad: Uruguay 1985-2011<\/em> (Montevido: Trilce, 2011), 121.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[vi]<\/a> Adri\u00e1n P\u00e9rez, \u2018\u201dEl procesco penal uruguayo es lento,\u201d\u2019 P\u00e1gina\/12<\/em>, 19 March 2012, accessed 11 May 2012, http:\/\/www.pagina12.com.ar\/diario\/elmundo\/4-189930-2012-03-19.html<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[vii]<\/a> All translations are my own.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[viii]<\/a> The attack against Mota was documented by Roger Rodr\u00edguez, \u2018Desparan sobre Mota,\u2019 El Socialismo es posible<\/em>, 16 April 2012, accessed 11 May 2012, http:\/\/elsocialismoesposible.org\/node\/378<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[ix]<\/a> Idem.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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