[JURIST] Miguel Osvaldo Etchecolatz [Project Disappeared profile], former chief investigator of the Buenos Aires province police, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Tuesday for his role during the Dirty War [GlobalSecurity.org backgrounder] in Argentina [JURIST news archive]. With the conviction, Etchecolatz becomes the second person to be sentenced for crimes committed during the Dirty War since the Argentine Supreme Court [official website] in June 2005 struck down two amnesty laws [JURIST report], known as the Full Stop Law [text] and the Law of Due Obedience [text], blocking prosecution of crimes committed during the nation's 1976-83 dictatorship.

Etchecolatz's trial began on June 20 [JURIST report]. In August, Julio Simon was sentenced to 25 years [JURIST report] in prison for the disappearance of two people and the abduction of their daughter during the Dirty War, making him the first former official sentenced after the amnesty laws were lifted. AP has more.