A referendum on an amnesty law was held in
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
on 16 April 1989.
[Uruguay, 16 April 1989: Retain/repeal the law on the waiver of prosecution]
Direct Democracy The amnesty had prevented the prosecution of the military and police who had been responsible for murder, torture and disappearances during the
civic-military dictatorship between 1973 and 1985.
Human Rights Watch World Report 1989 - Uruguay
UNHCR The law was retained with 56% in favour of it.
Background
In 1986, the ruling Colorado Party passed the Law on the Expiration of the Punitive Claims of the State The Law on the Expiration of the Punitive Claims of the State ( es, Ley de Caducidad de la Pretensión Punitiva del Estado), called in short the Expiry Law ( es, Ley de Caducidad) granted an amnesty of sorts to the military who eventually committed ...
, guaranteeing amnesty for the former military junta by a vote of 59 to 37.[ In 1988 victims of the dictatorship asked the Supreme Court of Justice to declare the law invalid, but the request was rejected by three votes to two.
In 1987 efforts were made to get enough signatures to force a referendum on the issue. A total of 634,702 signatures were obtained, above the required quorum of 555,701. However, the Electoral Court recognised only 532,718 of the collected signatures. After public protests a further 24,000 signatures were accepted as valid, passing the threshold.
]
Results
References
{{Uruguayan elections
1989 referendums
1989 in Uruguay
Referendums in Uruguay
Amnesty laws
April 1989 events in South America