History Goes on Trial

Suriname dictator Désiré Bouterse is going to stand trial for the "December murders," in which 13 opponents to his regime were marched into a dungeon and machine gunned to death. This is a monumental decision by the country to put him on trial because they are essentially throwing out the "self amnesty" granted by his regime during the time period. Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, and Chile are all taking similar action by punishing human rights abusers regardless of the amnesty in place. Chile stated the reason for this action: "Amnesty cannot supersede international obligations that CHile signed which obligated the country to prosecute the gravest war crimes." This is an interesting trend in Latin America as the countries are beginning to take action against past oppressors. Here is the story: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB119179783178551634-lMyQjAxMDE3OTAxOTcwOTk3Wj.html