Pinochet Stripped Of Immunity
Chile's Supreme Court stripped Gen. Augusto Pinochet's immunity, clearing the way for the former dictator to be tried on human rights charges, the court said Tuesday.
The court voted 14-6 to allow the 84-year-old Pinochet to be prosecuted on charges stemming from his 1973-1990 rule, Justice Jose Benquis said.
Human rights lawyers fought to have Pinochet's immunity removed because of his alleged involvement in a "Death Caravan" that slaughtered leftists after his forces ousted elected socialist president Salvador Allende in a bloody U.S.-backed 1973 coup.
"This is not a defeat. Our next step, if a trial actually takes place, is to prove the complete innocence of Gen. Pinochet," said lawyer Gustavo Collao, a member of Pinochet's legal team.
Eduardo Contreras, a communist anti-Pinochet lawyer, said "this is a very emotional moment. We dedicate it to the many victims of repression under Pinochet."
An official Chilean government report says 3,197 people died or disappeared at the hands of Pinochet's secret police after he toppled the country's elected Marxist president in a 1973 coup.
Despite the high court's decision, the former dictator's foes acknowledge that a quick trial is unlikely.
The former dictator's age, his medical problems and his other legal privileges could drag out attempts to try him.
"I do not see Pinochet going to jail," Hugo Gutierrez, attorney for several plaintiffs in the case, said Monday. And if the cases against Pinochet went to trail, several other delays would stretch the process over years.
Since Pinochet is older than 70, Guzman would have to have him examined by doctors to determine whether he is fit to stand trial. Pinochet suffers from diabetes, has a pacemaker and has sustained three mild strokes.
Pinochet's relatives and lawyers, however, say the former ruler will not submit to the procedure.
They say that while Pinochet is in poor health, he is not mentally incompetent, the only grounds in Chilean law to exempt people from criminal responsibility.
In addition, Pinochet's status as a retired general gives him the right to be questioned in writing rather than in person, which could also delay the process.
Still, human rights groups and world governments applauded the ruling.
"This verdict is a tribute to the tenacity of Chile's human rights movement," Human Rights Watch said in a statement issued in London.
"This decision—placing Augusto Pinochet on the same level as any other Chilean citizen before the law—is an important step in restoring confidence in the Chilean judiciary," Amnesty International said in a statement.
In Santiago, human rights activists praised both Britain and Spain in a rally at the presidential palace. At the request of a Spanish judge demanding Pinochet's extradition on torture charges, Britain arrested Pinochet in October 1998 and held him for 503 days before a judge denied extradition because of the geeral's failing health.
"We would not be here if Pinochet had not been arrested in London," said Patricia Silva, president of the group Families of Executed Political Activists.
In France, which also requested Pinochet's extradition, President Jacques Chirac said the ruling took "one step further the Chilean institutions' fight against impunity for crimes committed under the dictatorship."
U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a news briefing, "The decision affirms the fundamental principle that no one stands above the law. We certainly hope that it will contribute to the resolution of long-pending human rights issues and further advance the process of justice and reconciliation in Chile."
The U.S. supported Pinochet when he first came to power, and the CIA is due to report to Congress soon on what role, if any, it played in the 1973 coup and subsequent events in Chile.
Police said before the verdict was announced that they would step up security around the court building to keep expected pro- and anti-Pinochet demonstrators apart.
President Ricardo Lagos, a socialist who was briefly jailed under Pinochet, appealed Monday for calm and for all to respect the ruling.
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