Argentina's highest court Tuesday struck down an amnesty for human rights violations under the country's 1976-83 military dictatorship, clearing the way for prosecutions to resume, dpa reported. In a long-awaited decision, the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional two 1980s amnesty laws that protected most members of the armed forces and police against charges such as murder, torture and kidnapping, dpa reported. The ruling was a crucial step in the growing effort by Argentine politicians and judges to seek justice for victims of the "dirty war" against political opponents under military rule. Human rights groups believe up to 30,000 people were killed in the campaign. The amnesty laws, passed in 1986 and 1987 in the face of protests by the military against "dirty war" prosecutions, were struck down by both houses of parliament in 2003, but the Supreme Court had the final say. The military's resistance against prosecutions has waned in recent years because most suspects are now retired. --SP 2333 Local Time 2033 GMT
