Uruguay's Congress upholds military amnesty (AP)

By RAUL O. GARCES, Associated Press Raul O. Garces, Associated Press – 31 mins ago

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay – A proposal to overturn an amnesty for officials from Uruguay's former dictatorship fell one vote short in the country's Congress on Friday after a bitter debate that reopened divisions from the 1973-1985 military government.

The ruling center-left Broad Front party had pushed to overturn the amnesty for soldiers, but one of its congressmen abstained, leaving it one vote short of a majority in the 99-seat legislature.

Hundreds of leftist activists ringed the Congress building to demand an end to the amnesty which had protected soldiers from prosecution for kidnappings, killings and other abuses committed by the dictatorship.

Veterans groups, meanwhile, were rankled by the fact that the measure would have left intact a similar amnesty for Marxist guerrillas who fought both the dictatorship and the elected civilian governments that preceded it.

The amnesties were meant to help Uruguayans reconcile after a long period of conflict, and before the vote, Mujica, himself a former rebel, raised questions about how the military might respond. He warned that scrapping the amnesty would create "political dangers that may be impossible to overcome."

The Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that the amnesty was unconstitutional and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled this year that Uruguay must remove roadblocks to prosecuting crimes against humanity.

Human rights groups argue the official amnesty allows government crimes to go unpunished, and Broad Front members say that the government's "dirty war" continued long after the Tupamaro guerrillas had been defeated.

The issue has divided this small country of 3.5 million people almost down the middle.

Uruguay's Senate approved the measure to annul the amnesty by a single vote in April. Two popular plebiscites to overturn the amnesty failed to win majorities, but by thin margins. Forty-six percent voted to overturn the amnesty in 1989 and and 48 percent voted for the measure in 2009.

A peace commission found in 2003 that the dictatorship killed 175 leftist political activists, 26 of them in clandestine torture centers.

But the Tupamaros also committed killings, kidnappings, robberies and other attacks after taking up arms in 1963 against democratically elected governments. They were defeated a decade later.

Leftist activists on Friday commemorated those who died under the dictatorship. The day marks the anniversary of the 1976 murder of two Uruguayan congressmen who were killed while in exile in Argentina after a military government seized power there and cooperated with the soldiers running Uruguay in attacking leftists.

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Amnesty: More than 800 died in Egypt

NEW: Egyptian government officials decline to commentMore needs to be done for families of the people killed during protests, the report saysMany who were detained were tortured, the report saysA team spent more than two months in Egypt to get information for the report

(CNN) -- At least 840 people were killed and more than 6,000 injured during the Egyptian revolution earlier this year as then-President Hosni Mubarak clung to power through violence and intimidation, Amnesty International said in a report Thursday.

Though protesters ultimately ousted Mubarak, Egyptian leaders have a lot of work to do to compensate victims' families and restore citizens' faith in the government, the report said.

"The Egyptian authorities have much to do to rebuild trust in public institutions, which have been seen as tools of repression and obstacles to justice," the report said.

"They must start by overhauling laws that allowed violations to happen and take steps to guarantee that such abuses will not be repeated."

Egyptian government officials declined CNN's request for comment about the report.

Amnesty International said it sent a team to Egypt, which spent more than two months conducting interviews for the 120-page report.

Hundreds of people who suffered grievous abuses are still waiting to receive justice for what happened to them
--Amnesty International

Complaints about corruption, low wages and rigged elections sparked protesters to hit the streets of Cairo in late January.

In just 18 days, protesters were able to end Mubarak's 30-year rule.

But despite his ouster, many are still suffering, the report said.

"Many hundreds of people who suffered grievous abuses during this period are still waiting to receive justice for what happened to them," Amnesty International said.

The organization said it found "damning" evidence that Egyptian security forces used excessive force to disperse protesters.

Many died from gunshot wounds to the head and chest. One field hospital told Amnesty International that it documented 300 cases of people losing sight because of shotgun wounds to their eyes.

There were numerous cases of torture of protesters who were detained, according to the report. These cases included beatings with sticks or whips, electric shocks and threats of rape.

At least 189 prisoners died during the protests, the group said, calling for an investigation.

Egyptian authorities have detained Mubarak and his two sons in connection with the deaths of protesters.

Former Interior Minister Habib El Adly was handed a 12-year prison sentence for corruption and he will face a separate trial Saturday for his alleged role in the killings. And prosecutors are continuing to investigate other high-ranking members of the deposed government.

But Amnesty said more should be done.

"Authorities' response to victims must go much further than this," the group said. "That means giving them the truth about what happened, providing them with appropriate reparation and making sure that all those responsible are brought to justice."

Mohamed Lofty, an Egypt researcher with Amnesty International, said the organization was trying to get the truth out.

"We have found that abuses and violations of human rights has continued in a very bad manner even after Mubarak left," Lofty said Thursday. "It is very important to reveal the truth about what happened."

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