In a letter addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Bustillo, the United Nations rapporteurs express that the initiative “would allow the automatic granting of the benefit of home detention to persons sentenced for crimes against humanity and other serious crimes committed during the dictatorship, which is contrary to international law ”.
They consider that the foundation of the bill on “humanitarian reasons” is not acceptable since the prevention measures adopted in the framework of the fight against Covid-19 must be compatible with international human rights standards and not promote impunity de facto.
“There are no public health arguments that justify total home confinement” for the military prisoners in the Domingo Arena jail.
They also state that it is not established that these benefits will be without effect once the health emergency has ended. On the contrary, it expressly establishes that the beneficiaries will continue with a domiciliary regime, presumably until the end of their sentence.
They indicate that international law “imposes limits on the use of figures such as amnesty, pardon, and commutation of sentences for crimes against humanity.”
In this framework, Article 18 of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance establishes that “the perpetrators or alleged perpetrators of acts of enforced disappearance shall not benefit from any special amnesty law or other similar measures that have in order to exonerate them from any criminal procedure or sanction ”.
The rapporteurs state that there is jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that established the prohibition of adopting measures that “prevent or suppress the effects of the penalty.”
“It is our responsibility, in accordance with the mandates that have been granted to us by the Human Rights Council, to try to clarify the concerns brought to our attention regarding the incompatibility of the bill with Uruguay’s international human rights obligations” , they point out.
The letter is signed by Fabian Salvioli, Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition; Luciano Hazan, President-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances; Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Tlaleng Mofokeng, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; and Nils Melzer, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
The letter
UN Rapporteurs by LARED21 on Scribd
