Transitional Governments in the Breach: Why Punish State Criminals?

Like a number of other governments, the administration elected in Argentina in 1983 is confronting the issue of bringing military violators of human rights to trial. Throughout the 1980s, the shift to democratic administrations from dictatorial regimes in which basic liberties were regularly violated has been a pattern in Latin America. Human rights organizations and progressive political sectors urged the governments of Brazil and Uruguay to set up trials for officers charged with serious offenses (murder, torture, abduction, rape). Chile may be heading in the same direction, given the results of the 1988 referendum. The political campaign of former President Alfonsin of Argentina, however, can be singled out for its emphasis on respect for individual