61 aims and spirit of the Convention” and assuredly affect the rights enshrined therein. They “constitute per 323 se a violation of the Convention for which the State incurs international responsibility”. 318. For decades the Commission has been expressing its concern over amnesty laws that impede the prosecution of crimes against humanity, and are incompatible with the American Convention. 319. For example, with respect to Laws 23.492 and 23.521 and Decree No. 1002 (known as the “due obedience” and “deadline” rules) in Argentina, the Commission found that they sought to and effectively did obstruct the exercise of the petitioners’ right under article 8.1. With enactment and enforcement of the laws and the decree, Argentina had failed to comply with its duty to guarantee the 324 rights to which articles 8.1, 25.1 and 1.1 of the Convention refer . Similarly, examining the Uruguayan amnesty law (Ley de Caducidad de la Pretensión Punitiva del Estado), the Commission concluded that it obstructed access to justice and therefore constituted a violation of the rights enshrined in articles 8.1, 25.1 325 and 1.1 of the Convention . As well, with respect to Chile’s Decree Law 2191, known as the “self-amnesty” 326 law, the Commission found it incompatible with articles 8.1, 25.1, 1.1 and 2 of the American Convention . The Commission also concluded that the decisions of dismissal based on that law: not only aggravate the situation of impunity but also definitively violate the right to justice to which the members of the victims’ families are entitled: to identify the persons responsible and to establish the responsibilities borne and the penalties to be paid by those persons, and to obtain legal compensation 327 from the guilty parties. 320. In the specific case of El Salvador, the IACHR has expressed itself on the various amnesty laws approved in El Salvador in relation to the armed conflict. In its annual report for 1992-1993 the Commission had already declared its concern over possible approval of an amnesty law. In the Commission’s words: The Report of the Truth Commission will be decisive in consolidating the process presently underway in El Salvador, and implementation of its recommendations will help effect a true reconciliation among Salvadorans. The atrocities committed during the war will be made public to the people of El Salvador, who will have an opportunity to reflect upon them in peacetime and learn a lesson for the future about the sorts of things that must never again be allowed to happen in their country. The Truth Commission’s Report will also have an impact on the enforcement of the National Reconciliation Law (Legislative Decree No. 147). The IACHR is disturbed by reports it has received to the effect that the Amnesty Law will have an adverse effect on the outcome of the Truth Commission’s work (...). The Inter-American Commission cannot predict the outcome of the process now underway. Nevertheless, as a State Party to the American Convention on Human Rights and by its ratification of it, El Salvador has, as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights pointed out, “a legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent human rights violations and to use the means at its disposal to carry out a serious investigation of violations committed within its jurisdiction, to identify those responsible, to 328 impose the appropriate punishment and to assure the victim adequate compensation.” 323 I-A Court, Almonacid Arellano et al.. Judgment of 26 September 2006. Series C No. 154. Para. 119. Cfr. Barrios Altos. Judgment of 3 September 2001. Series C No. 83, Para. 18 324 IACHR. Report No. 28/92. Casos 10.147, 10.181, 10.240, 10.262, 10.309 and 10.311. Argentina. 2 October 1992. Paras. 37, 39 and 41. 325 IACHR. Report No. 29/92. Casos 10.029, 10.036, 10.145, 10.305, 10.372, 10.373, 10.374 and 10.375. Uruguay. 2 October 1992. Paras. 45, 46, 49 and 51 326 IACHR. Report No. 34/96. Casos. 11.228, 11.229, 11.231 and 11282. Chile. 15 October 1996. Paras. 104 and 107 327 Ibid., para 106. 328 IACHR. Report on the Situation of Human Rights in El Salvador, 199, February 11, 1994, Chapter II.4.