Nearly 35 legislators buried the bill that emerged as a result of the murder of activist Jairo Mora and that sought to toughen sentences against those who kill these people. This Tuesday, through a motion led by the Citizen Action Party (PAC), they intended to extend the four-year term to the initiative that reformed articles 112 and 192 of the Penal Code.
Despite the insistence of Paola Vega from PAC and José María Villalta from Frente Amplio to convince legislators to save the initiative and make the respective corrections, they were not successful. Even Ivonne Acuña, from the block of independents, and Eduardo Cruickshank, head of the National Restoration Party (PRN), revealed the vote against their fractions.
Cruickshank indicated that there is ambiguity because of the term “defender or activist person”, which makes it imprecise, while the independent argued that already within the Penal Code there are penalties on homicides no matter the reason.
Vega recalled that the bill was not being voted, but rather the possibility of extending its discussion in the Legislative Assembly.
The initiative only had the support of 12 legislators and had been analyzed in the Human Rights Commission. The proposal had been presented by former legislators of the Broad Front two years after the death of activist Jairo Mora.
The project sought a prison sentence of between 20 to 35 years for causing the death of a person defending or activist in protection and promotion of human rights. In as much, it looks for prison of 4 to 10 years to those who imprison a defender or activist of human rights.