World

Document May Incriminate Pinochet

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

January 9, 2001 / 1:34 PM EST / CBS

A local electronic newspaper revealed on Wednesday a document that, if genuine, shows that Augusto Pinochet knew of human rights abuses in the landmark Death Caravan case for which a judge wants to try him.

The frequently news-breaking El Mostrador displayed a Nov. 24, 1973, letter in which the then-army prosecutor asked Pinochet to investigate the deaths of leftist Eugenio Ruiz Tagle and others who were allegedly tortured and killed Oct. 19, 1973, by a military squad called the Death Caravan.

A handwritten, signed note at the bottom of the letter, apparently added by Pinochet, reads: "Proposed reply — Mr. Eugenio Ruiz Tagle O. was executed because of the serious charges against him. He was not tortured, according to information."

But Ruiz Tagle's mother says her son's left eye was missing, his nose and lower jaw were broken, his throat was slashed, and his neck appeared to be broken.

"This seals the case against Augusto Pinochet," human rights lawyer Eduardo Contreras said of the letter. "This significantly helps to show that Pinochet not only knew of the crimes but that he directly participated in carrying them out as a mastermind, accomplice and concealer."

The Paper Trail

The National Security Archive, a nonprofit organization, has a complete index of documents released by the United States on its involvement in Chile.
Click here to read it.

The CIA has posted a report on its covert activities in Chile on its Web site. Click here to reach it.

Pinochet lawyer Pablo Rodriguez said he was not worried.

"I am certain that General Pinochet bears no responsibility for these acts and only learned of them when General (Joaquin) Lagos warned him about them," Rodriguez said, referring to a now retired army official who was in charge of one of the areas where the Death Caravan stopped.

El Mostrador did not say how it obtained the letter. The government said the courts must now decide what to do with it.

"Apparently it is new information. I imagine that it will be given to the courts and that the corresponding judge will determine its authenticity," Presidential Chief of Staff Alvaro Garcia said.

Contreras, the human rights lawyer, said he would ask for the letter to be included in Judge Juan Guzman's order to try Pinochet, who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990.

Guzman, the first Chilean judge to investigate Pinochet for alleged atrocities, last week ordered the trial of the retired general, who was put under house arrest last Wednesday on suspicion of having organized the deaths or "disappearances" of 75 leftists who fell victim to the Death Caravan. The squad flew to key cities in Chile in the weeks following Pinochet's coup Sept. 11, 1973.

Guzman held Pinochet responsible for the caravan because its commander, Gen. Sergio Arellano, was acting as his personal envoy.

A Santiago court is expected to hear an appeal against the arrest and trial order Monday. Lawyers for Pinochet argue that age and ill health prevent him from properly defending himself and Guzman's order for a trial was unfounded.

Whatever the outcome of the appeal, the ruling can be taken to the Supreme Court.

Since his 1973 coup, Pinochet has been revered by the right as a leader who saved Chile from Marxism, but human rights groups point to the more than 3,000 people who disappeared or died in political violence while he ran the country.