Amnesty

Business groups are pushing to scale back a new state law that imposes stiff penalties on taxpayers who do not pay all they owe. The law parallels an aggressive move by tax officials to collect back taxes from tens of thousands of delinquent California residents and businesses. Under its terms, tougher penalties than any the state has ever imposed will apply to tax dodgers who do not come clean during a two-month amnesty that ends March 31.

Argentina's Supreme Court overturned two amnesty laws Tuesday that had prevented the prosecution of hundreds of military officers, soldiers and police linked to this country's "dirty war," in which tens of thousands of people may have been slain. The ruling allows the reinstatement of hundreds of prosecutions and civil lawsuits that had been dropped nearly two decades ago, legal experts and government officials said.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez granted amnesty to many opponents accused of supporting a failed 2002 coup that briefly drove him from power. Chavez said he signed an amnesty decree that would also pardon many others accused of attempts to overthrow his government in recent years. It was not immediately clear how many accused opponents would be affected by the amnesty.

Carolina Gutierres, a native of Guatemala, was buying a fresh mango on a stick from a street vendor last week at the corner of Pico and Vermont in Los Angeles. Gutierres, who is pregnant, said she bought the fruit because it reminded her of home and she had a craving for mangoes. Down the street, at Adelita Food Co., customers filled the restaurant and bakery, seeking familiar tastes. The cafeteria-style restaurant features a wide variety of Latin meat and vegetable dishes eaten in countries ranging from Mexico to Honduras.

With the U.S. Senate's approval of a landmark immigration bill last week, setting up a showdown with the House, some policymakers say moving forward depends on looking back. Twenty years back, to be precise. In 1986, President Reagan signed a sweeping immigration reform bill featuring, among other things, widespread legalization of illegal immigrants, tougher border enforcement and measures aimed at eliminating the hiring of unauthorized workers.

The application process for legalization of undocumented farm workers began slowly Monday amid widespread anxiety, fear and confusion over the new immigration law and scattered reports of shortages in agricultural labor up and down the state of California. Like those illegal aliens eligible for general amnesty who have been applying for legalization in a slow and cautious stream since May 5, farm laborers appear to be in no rush for judgment.

Within the faded stucco walls of a church in Boyle Heights--a church so small that when 300 people show up for Mass it's "sardine-ville," its pastor says--is a little parish that picks big fights. In the space of one year, the faithful of Dolores Mission Catholic Church have voted to defy the federal government and declare their church a sanctuary for anyone uprooted by the new amnesty law. They took on Sears, the nation's biggest retailer, over aliens' job rights.

Argentina's Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a controversial law that exempts all but about four dozen military officers from prosecution for human rights crimes. After the high court's 4-1 ruling, authorities released from prison former police commissioner Miguel Etchecolatz, former police doctor Jorge Berges and former police corporal Norberto Cozzani. In the ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the convictions of retired Gen. Ramon J.

Choosing to put the past behind them, Uruguayans voted overwhelmingly Sunday to uphold a law granting amnesty to military officers for human rights abuses during a 12-year military dictatorship. By a resounding 58% to 42%, according to unofficial projections, voters turned back a citizens' initiative that would have repealed the law and prosecuted officers accused of killings, torture and wrongful detention. With more than 80% of the votes counted, 922,185 were in favor of amnesty and 678,087 favored repealing the law. The referendum brought to an end a two-year debate that engulfed this nation of 3.1 million people, whose century-old democratic tradition was interrupted in 1973 when the military seized power after years of urban guerrilla turmoil.

Vietnam is releasing 6,685 prisoners, including generals and senior officials of the South Vietnamese regime it toppled in 1975, the official Vietnam News Agency said Sunday. The agency said that the Council of Ministers ordered the amnesty and reduced the terms for 5,320 other prisoners to mark National Day, which was Sept. 2, and the 42nd anniversary of Vietnam's "August Revolution," when a Communist government was first proclaimed in Hanoi.

Afghan soldiers held the mullah at gunpoint outside his house while they stabbed at the walls and floors with bayonets, searching for hollow spots where he might have hidden explosives or weapons. The mullah pulled a government document from his pocket stating that he had forsaken the Taliban and had been granted amnesty. He showed it to an Afghan soldier, who shoved it back at him. "He said, 'That letter means nothing to us,' " said the mullah, recalling the encounter last fall at his Kabul home.

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down an amnesty that had shielded President Asif Ali Zardari from graft charges, a decision that could imperil the political future of a leader regarded by the U.S. as a key ally in the war on terrorism. Though not unexpected, the ruling deals Pakistan's 54-year-old president a serious blow at a time when his popularity with Pakistanis continues to sink and calls for his resignation mount. The decision also is likely to draw concern in Washington, where Zardari is seen as a reliable partner in the fight against Islamic extremists.

Iran has sentenced an accused member of an exiled opposition group to death, Amnesty International said in an appeal for Tehran to rescind the ruling. Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani is the first person to be sentenced to death in connection with the unrest triggered by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed June 12 re-election, the human rights group said. He was among about 100 people on trial since August who are accused of offenses ranging from rioting to spying and seeking to topple Iran's Islamic rulers.

Nigeria's last prominent militant leader agreed to halt fighting in the oil-producing Niger Delta and surrendered his weapons Sunday in return for an unconditional pardon. Government Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo, whose gunmen were behind many attacks on the oil industry in the western Niger Delta, handed over rocket launchers, machine guns and explosives to Defense Minister Godwin Abbe at his camp in Oporoza in Delta state. "It is an act of patriotism that Tompolo and his group surrendered their arms," Abbe said at the ceremony.

A top militant leader and 1,000 fighters surrendered to the Nigerian government Saturday, turning in their weapons in the biggest capitulation since an amnesty began two weeks ago. But other fighters said attacks in the oil-rich Niger River Delta will resume next month regardless. The unrest has cut Nigeria's oil production by a million barrels a day, allowing Angola to overtake it as the continent's top producer. Officials hope the amnesty will allow them to increase production. But commanders in two of the delta's three main states have not surrendered and government control of the thousands of waterways remains tenuous.

Lawmakers in the Democratic Republic of Congo approved an amnesty for nearly two dozen illegal armed groups as part of a peace deal to end fighting in the east. The law, which pardons acts of war and insurgency, applies to Congolese rebels and militias in North and South Kivu provinces, where about 1 million people have been displaced by fighting since late 2006. The amnesty is part of a deal that helped end months of fighting between Tutsi insurgents, government troops, and pro-government militia in North Kivu.

Re "A new tack on illegal workers," March 27 There's nothing new about an amnesty followed by strict enforcement of immigration laws. That's how the original "one-time only" amnesty was sold to the public in 1986. By now it should be obvious that amnesties don't discourage illegal immigration -- they roll out the welcome mat. If unemployment, border security and overpopulation were not such serious issues, it would be comical that politicians cannot comprehend this. Kenneth Pasternack Santa Barbara

Re "High court to consider tuition law," Jan. 5 While your coverage regarding California state law AB 540 has highlighted some important issues, I'd like to underscore that the law -- and good policy -- dictate that we not discriminate against undocumented students who reside in California when offering in-state tuition to California high school graduates. We must keep in mind that most, if not all, undocumented students who are eligible for admission to California's public institutions were not adults when their families brought them here.

Starting Jan. 20, Barack Obama should be the president of all Americans -- and should not enact policies for the good of only a particular racial or ethnic group. Granting amnesty to 12 million illegal immigrants could increase the U.S. population by far more than that in the next 20 years, if we consider the relatives who would follow those granted amnesty. Newcomers will need jobs, healthcare, education and many other social services, thus exacerbating existing problems of concern to Latino Americans, among others.

Hundreds of houses in ethnic Georgian villages in South Ossetia were torched in August after Russian troops took control of the area, according to an analysis of satellite images. The analysis, conducted by the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science on behalf of Amnesty International, did not show who was responsible but Amnesty said it may be evidence of war crimes. Human rights activists have criticized Russia for ignoring the looting of ethnic Georgian villages by South Ossetian militias during and after the war. Georgia says the looting amounted to "ethnic cleansing."