The two speakers of the evening complemented each other well, as Christopher Hall provided a general and substantive background on statutes of limitation and Dr. Francesca Lessa illustrated the specific struggle to overcome amnesty legislation and to stop crimes of the 1973-85 dictatorship falling under statutes of limitation preventing their prosecution. Dr. Lessa was hereby able to draw upon her extensive knowledge in the field as well on her recent book, Luchas contra la Impunidad: Uruguay 1985-2011, that was launched in Montevideo on November 15, 2011, and has been received very positively.
After tracing the intellectual debate about statutes of limitation back to the 18th century, a debate that was between others driven by the British philosopher Jeremy Bentham, Christopher Hall took a very critical stance towards the justification of statutes that limit the capacity for prosecution of crimes. Differentiating between procedural and substantive arguments commonly forwarded in favor such as legislation, the speaker questioned their validity. For Hall neither procedural justification such as the decreased ability of witnesses to remember facts after time has passed, the increasing age of perpetrator nor do substantive reasons, such as the rehabilitation of offenders or the reconciliation of society validate the implementation of statutes of limitation. Locating their role in the realm of international law, the speaker showed that the international community has increasingly rejected such legislation by means of conventions and treaties.
Before referring to the most recent and surprising developments in regard to the 1986 amnesty law in Uruguay, Dr. Lessa illustrated the totalitarian nature of the Uruguayan civic-military regime. The Uruguay dictatorship has received little attention compared to the more brutal dictatorships in Argentina, Chile, and Guatemala; thus, it is often forgotten that the regime drove about ten percent of the small population into exile. The speaker explained how during the transition military pressure and a reluctant executive silenced initial investigatory efforts and disempowered the judiciary in the context of human rights violations by means of the 1986 amnesty law. Dr. Lessa illustrated how despite some advances in regard to accountability action after the change of the millennium, the derogation of the amnesty law on 27th of October 2011 happened in the aftermath of previously failed attempts to do so; the new law pre-empted many crimes from becoming statute barred only by a couple days. Despite her pleasure with recent developments, the speaker warned that the derogation could still be challenged on constitutional grounds or be circumvented by courts, and that many issues remain pending in the fight against impunity, including access to archives, the recuperation of former sites of detention for memory, and the identification of the burial sites of the disappeared.
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OTJR member Jan Beyer comments on Francesca Lessa & Christopher Hall’s presentations on Uruguay
Posted by oxfordtransitionaljustice in Comment on November 28, 2011
The two speakers of the evening complemented each other well, as Christopher Hall provided a general and substantive background on statutes of limitation and Dr. Francesca Lessa illustrated the specific struggle to overcome amnesty legislation and to stop crimes of the 1973-85 dictatorship falling under statutes of limitation preventing their prosecution. Dr. Lessa was hereby able to draw upon her extensive knowledge in the field as well on her recent book, Luchas contra la Impunidad: Uruguay 1985-2011, that was launched in Montevideo on November 15, 2011, and has been received very positively.
After tracing the intellectual debate about statutes of limitation back to the 18th century, a debate that was between others driven by the British philosopher Jeremy Bentham, Christopher Hall took a very critical stance towards the justification of statutes that limit the capacity for prosecution of crimes. Differentiating between procedural and substantive arguments commonly forwarded in favor such as legislation, the speaker questioned their validity. For Hall neither procedural justification such as the decreased ability of witnesses to remember facts after time has passed, the increasing age of perpetrator nor do substantive reasons, such as the rehabilitation of offenders or the reconciliation of society validate the implementation of statutes of limitation. Locating their role in the realm of international law, the speaker showed that the international community has increasingly rejected such legislation by means of conventions and treaties.
Before referring to the most recent and surprising developments in regard to the 1986 amnesty law in Uruguay, Dr. Lessa illustrated the totalitarian nature of the Uruguayan civic-military regime. The Uruguay dictatorship has received little attention compared to the more brutal dictatorships in Argentina, Chile, and Guatemala; thus, it is often forgotten that the regime drove about ten percent of the small population into exile. The speaker explained how during the transition military pressure and a reluctant executive silenced initial investigatory efforts and disempowered the judiciary in the context of human rights violations by means of the 1986 amnesty law. Dr. Lessa illustrated how despite some advances in regard to accountability action after the change of the millennium, the derogation of the amnesty law on 27th of October 2011 happened in the aftermath of previously failed attempts to do so; the new law pre-empted many crimes from becoming statute barred only by a couple days. Despite her pleasure with recent developments, the speaker warned that the derogation could still be challenged on constitutional grounds or be circumvented by courts, and that many issues remain pending in the fight against impunity, including access to archives, the recuperation of former sites of detention for memory, and the identification of the burial sites of the disappeared.
Read the rest of this entry »
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