Peru's government Tuesday asked Congress to revoke a presidential decree that makes it difficult to prosecute crimes committed under Peru's dirty war, after an influential writer took a stand against it.

President Alan Garcia drew heavy fire for his September 1 decree that many believe lets military leaders under former president Alberto Fujimori off the hook for human rights abuses committed during his crackdown against the leftist Shining Path and Tupac Amaru rebel groups.

The presidential decree and three other measures stop prosecution of crimes against humanity if three years go by without a sentence, or if they took place before November 2003, when Peru signed and international treaty on the non-expiration of such crimes.

Peru's most celebrated author, Mario Vargas Llosa, on Tuesday announced he was resigning as director of the Museum of Memories -- dedicated to events during the dirty war of the 1980s and 1990s -- to protest against the decree.

In a letter to Garcia, Vargas Llosa, 74, called the decree "an amnesty in disguise" and said it was "incompatible" to honor the victims of Shining Path violence, and at the same time open "the jail doors for those who committed equally horrendous crimes."

It took only hours for the president's office to present lawmakers with a bill asking for the "urgent" annulment of the presidential decree, which had become law.

"For the safety of constitutional and democratic life in the country, and to avoid the decree being put to bad use, the executive office deems it appropriate that it be revoked," a tweet by the president's office said.

After the general outrage the decree had unleashed, Garcia on Sunday had already made it clear he would "not make it an issue if Congress should annul the decree."

The outcry grew even when Garcia said his decree would not let crimes against humanity go unpunished.
Around 70,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed during Peru's dirty war.

(Source: AFP)