This policy brief is based on a long-term study of accountability policies in this region. It also draws upon the discussion and knowledge exchange held during the workshop “Investigating Crimes against Humanity in South America: Present and Future Challenges,” organized by the University of Oxford and Argentina’s Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes against Humanity, held in Buenos Aires in May 2018. The brief summarizes the main challenges and difficulties associated with investigating crimes against humanity in South America.

This chapter first examines the key points of the reasoning behind the sentence of appeal of the Condor trial in Rome pronounced in July 2019. It particularly focuses on the analysis by the judges with respect to the responsibility of medium and low-ranking commands. Secondly, it reviews how the lawyers of the trial evaluated the reasoning before finally emphasising the importance of the said verdict in terms of the fight against impunity on a global level and in Uruguay.

This article analyzes the sentence of Rome’s Supreme Court of Cassation in July 2021, which brought a definitive end to the Italian Condor trial. This chapter studies the events that occurred in the court on this day as well as some of the initial reactions to the sentence. Finally, it lays out four fundamental contributions of this trial to the fight against impunity in the Southern Cone, especially in Uruguay.