3 June 2010
Alert
Access to information to get boost from declassification of dictatorship's files
(RSF/IFEX) - The Bolivian armed forces have finally agreed to declassify the military dictatorship's archives, defence minister Rubén Saavedra announced on 31 May 2010. The decision represents a major advance for the right of access to public information and the collective memory process.
In February 2010, the army high command refused to cooperate with Milton Mendoza, the head of a civilian commission that is investigating 156 disappearances and murders during Gen. Luis García Meza's 1980-81 military dictatorship, including the assassination of journalist and opposition member Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz. Its refusal was a flagrant violation of a judicial order.
The release of the archives is expected to help identify the military officers involved in serious human rights violations committed after the July 1980 coup.
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