Uruguay's Supreme Court on Oct. 19 declared unconstitutional a law that has provided amnesty to military officials accused of murders, disappearances and other human rights violations during the country's dictatorship.

Ruling in the case of a young communist detained and slain by the military in 1974, the justices said the amnesty law violates Uruguay's separation of powers and failed to pass by a required supermajority — arguments sure to be made in other dirty war prosecutions.

The law remains on the books, but the ruling could swing voters in favor of overturning it altogether in a plebiscite being held Oct. 25 along with presidential elections. Until now, polls have shown the plebiscite failing.

Constitutional scholar and former Vice President Gonzalo Aguirre said that the ruling "supports the conviction that ... the law should be annulled by popular vote and that this will lead to the reopening of dozens of cases that could not be prosecuted because of the amnesty."