Senate Endorses Amnesty Law in the Middle of COVID-19 Crisis

With 63 votes in favor, 12 against and three abstentions, yesterday the plenary session of the Senate approved the Amnesty Law, which grants pardon to people prosecuted or sentenced before federal courts and passed it to the federal executive for its promulgation and publication.

In Congress, Morena legislators and allied parties defended the law by saying that it is an act of humanity and an urgent call to the UN. The law establishes that the president must form a commission to review each case. The crimes considered in the law are abortion and kinship aggravated homicide, production and transportation of drugs without distribution purposes and simple robbery without violence.

The law will also grant forgiveness to people from indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities who have not had an interpreter or advocate who knew their language and culture during their criminal proceedings. However, people who have been accused of sexual abuse or violence against minors, organized crime, intentional homicide, femicide, rape, kidnapping, human trafficking, theft of a house, use of social programs for electoral purposes and corruption will not benefit from this law.

Other issues on the legislative agenda, such as the economic emergency plan to overcome the COVID-19 outbreak, were not included in the session by majority vote.