Several cases of human rights violations committed during Argentina’s military dictatorship (1976-1983) were reopened in 2003 after Congress annulled existing amnesty laws. Subsequently, the Supreme Court ruled that the amnesty laws were unconstitutional, and federal judges struck down pardons favoring former officials convicted of, or facing trial for, human rights violations.
As of August 2014, 121 trials had been conducted for crimes against humanity originating from the dictatorship, resulting in 503 convictions. The Center of Legal and Social Studies (CELS) has reported that 42 people have been acquitted during the trials, and another 1,611 suspects are under investigation.
Given the large number of victims, suspects, and cases, prosecutors and judges face challenges in bringing those responsible to justice while also respecting due process rights of the accused. Other concerns include significant trial delays, the failure to capture two convicted military officers who escaped in July 2013, and the unresolved fate of Jorge Julio López, a former torture victim who disappeared in 2006 a day before he was due to attend the trial of one of his torturers.
Argentina has made significant progress in identifying children of the disappeared who were illegally appropriated during the dictatorship, and connecting them to their biological families. In July 2014, the National Bank of Genetic Data identified the grandson of Estela de Carlotto, the founder of Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo. As of August, 115 grandchildren had been found. At time of writing, a legal challenge to a 2009 law that would limit collection of DNA samples to cases of the dictatorship was pending before the Supreme Court.
In December 2013, César Milani, head of the armed forces, was promoted to army chief of staff, despite being under criminal investigation for the 1976 disappearance of a soldier in Tucumán province, and the torture of a civilian in La Rioja province in 1977.