Brazil's Truth Commission says human rights abuses could be brought to trial
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A Truth Commission investigating human rights abuses under the nation's military dictatorship says that those it finds guilty of torture could be brought to trial.
A 1979 amnesty law protects civilians and military personnel from liability for politically motivated crimes committed during the 1964-1985 military regime. But commission's coordinator Rosa Cardoso says they could be tried by the Costa Rica-based Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
She notes that "there are no statutes of limitations for crimes committed against humanity." And adds, "Amnesties are not valid under international law."
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Unlike Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, Brazil has never punished military officials accused of human rights abuses.