human rights violations remained in power, where state institutions remained weak, and where those primarily responsible for the violations retained significant power." 19 As mentioned above, this "significant power" of ARENA and its allies would be quickly translated into the legalization of impunity. The 1993 Amnesty Law: The Legalization of Impunity The Amnesty Law was passed by the National Assembly on March 20, 1993 by ARENA and other right wing parties in a 47 to 8 vote (with 13 abstentions) and signed into law by President Cristiani just five days after the Truth Commission on El Salvador issued its report. In effect, the passage of this law was a self-amnesty, not a popular act of forgiveness, because it was passed by the same governing party under which the abuses took place. It met with the immediate opposition of the UCA, some Salvadoran human rights organizations, and the international human rights community. In a country where more than 75,000 non-combatants were killed, largely by the security forces and their allied death squads, the amnesty law continues to deprive survivors of closure and the dead of justice and retribution. Source: Yale Law School By the late 90's, international pressure with regard to resolving the Jesuit case began to intensify. In 1999, the Inter-American Commission ruled that El Salvador's amnesty law violated international law by foreclosing further investigation of the 1989 murder of six Jesuit priests and two women. 20 This law is still hotly controversial; Amnesty International strongly encouraged the repeal of