justicia for the desaparecidos?

30,000 people disappeared during Argentina's 1976-83 military rule in a crackdown on students, intellectuals, leftist dissidents, and innocent bystanders.

The country hasn't healed, because the perpetrators of the crimes have not been brought to justice and most of the victim’s families have never recovered the bodies of their loved ones.

But today, the Argentine court struck down amnesty laws, a bold first step toward justice:

Argentina's Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that laws granting amnesty for atrocities committed during the so-called Dirty War are unconstitutional, opening the possibility that hundreds of people could be brought back to court.

In a 7-1 vote, with one abstention, the Supreme Court struck down laws passed in 1986 forbidding charges involved in the disappearances, torture and other crimes, a court spokesman told The Associated Press.

Some 3,000 officers, about 300 of whom are still serving in the armed forces, could be called for questioning, according to human rights groups, which estimated that up to 400 of them could face new charges.

The ruling came in the case of Julio Simon, a former police officer accused in the disappearance of Jose Poblete and Gertrudis Hlaczik, and of his taking their daughter, Claudia Poblete, as his own.