By IPS Correspondents
LONDON, Dec 9 1998 (IPS)

The British government ruled Wednesday that extradition proceedings against former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet could go ahead in British courts, spurring spontaneous street celebrations and threatening a new diplomatic row.

“I signed an authority to proceed in respect of Senator Pinochet today,” Home Secretary Jack Straw said in a written statement to Parliament. “The Spanish request for his extradition will now be considered by the courts.”

Straw’s decision delighted human rights groups and Chileans in London who to support Pinochet’s extradition to Spain on charges of genocide, kidnapping and torture during his 17-year rule.

Within hours of the ruling, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported that Chile would recall its ambassador to London and former British Premier Margaret Thatcher called Straw’s decision “a grave mistake” which represented a “failure of political leadership.”

Pro-democracy campaigners, however, celebrated wildly. “This is wonderful news,” said Carlos Reyes of the London-based group, Chile Democratico. “We knew there was no other way and we want to congratulate Jack Straw and the British government for understanding our suffering, especially the families of people who have disappeared.”

Reyes and other campaigners gathered to outside Parliament and at the official resiudence of Prime Minister Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street to wait for the news.

“We are all very happy,” Reyes said. “But the champagne will come when we put Pinochet on the plane to Spain.”

Straw’s decision did not mean Pinochet automatically would be extradicted and court proceedings were expected to be long and complicated. With the government’s so-called “Authority to Proceed”, a magistrate’s court will now consider the case on its own merits – they are not obliged to rubber-stamp the Home Secretary’s decision.

“The courts are expected to follow the European Union’s convention on extradition which sets out that the Spanish authorities must provide an appropriate warrant,” said lawyer Robert Rascoe, a specialist in extradition matters.

“The court must be confident that the offences are extradition offences; details of the relevant Spanish law must be provided, as well as a summary from the Spanish judge about the allegations, and they must show they have the right to try the offences in Spain although they were committed elsewhere,” Rasco added.

Urmi Shah of Human Rights Watch agreed that “Pinochet’s team can appeal all along the way.”

Rights groups were jubilant that the ruling came on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Amnesty International declared the decision signalled “the birth of a new era” for human rights.

“On the eve of the anniversary, victims of human rights violations could not have wished for a better reaffirmation of the principles contained in the declaration,” said Amnesty, which gave evidence on international legal issues arising out of the earlier hearing on the Pinochet case in the House of Lords.

“Given the appalling number of human rights violations still taking place all over the world, this week’s anniversary is a day of shame for many governments. So it is profoundly uplifting to witness such a major step against impunity particularly after quarter of a century of struggle by victims oand their relatives in Chile,” an Amnesty statement said.

The Pinochet case has followed a tumultous course ever since the former dictator was arrested on Oct 16 after British authorities received an extradition request from Spain on charges of gross violation of human rights during his 1973-1990 rule.

Pinochet supporters challenged his detention in London in the High Court which ruled on Oct. 28 that his arrest was unlawful on the grounds that, as a former head of state, he was immune from prosecution.

The court ruling was then challenged in the House of Lords, Briutains highest court, where Law Lords ruled 3-2 that Pinochet could be prosecuted.

Legal observers expected lawyers for the 83-year-old former dictator, who is living in a mansion at Wentworth, about 20 miles from London, to lodge an appeal against Straw’s decision.

In his ruling, Straw said he considers Pinochet is accused in Spain of offences equivalent to British offences of “attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, torture, conspiracy to torture, hostage taking and conspiracy to take hostages.”

Some pro-extradition groups were cautious about what would happen next.

“Until the accused is brought physically to court to face the charges against him to hear the testimonies of his accusers and to answer their and the State’s charges, justice has not and cannot be done,” said Helen Bamber, director of the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victioms of Torture.

The foundation includes among its clients 25 Chileans, who it says still suffered nightmares, flashbacks and in some cases physical ailments “from the ferocious treatment they received” during the Pinochet years.

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