RIGHTS-SPAIN: Gov’t Minister Charged with Blocking Pinochet Case

By Tito Drago Reprint | | Print |

Tito Drago

MADRID, Jan 28 2000 (IPS) - A criminal complaint filed Friday against Spain’s Foreign Minister, Abel Matutes, could open the way for appeals against the British Home Secretary’s eventual order to release former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Spanish jurist Joan Gracés, who leads the prosecution team for the individuals who accuse Pinochet of human rights violations, brought the charges against Matutes before Spain’s Supreme Court of Justice.

The Foreign Minister is accused of refusing to assist judicial authorities and of maintaining “a conscious attitude of impeding the success of (Pinochet’s) potential extradition.”

Since Oct 16, 1998, proceedings have been underway in London for Pinochet’s extradition to Spain, based on an arrest warrant issued by Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón.

Garcés emphasises in the complaint that a writ dated Dec 10, 1998 initiated the legal process in Spain against Pinochet “for the crimes of genocide, terrorism and torture.”

In Chile, the courts have officially recorded more than 3,000 cases of assassinations and disappearances that occurred during the Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990). Several of the victims were Europeans or held dual European-Chilean citizenship, which has led legal authorities in Spain, France, Belgium and Switzerland to charge the former general with human rights violations.

The Spanish jurist also stresses that the judicial proceedings carried out in London to date have upheld the extradition request. The High Court of England and Wales has not yet ruled on the latest appeal filed by Pinochet’s defence.

However, Matutes has not met his obligation to forward judge Garzón’s most recent legal challenges, which were intended for the British legal authorites, who represent the Kingdom of Spain in the extradition case, writes Garcés.

Matutes’s attitude and his order that the British legal authorities not appeal Home Secretary Jack Straw’s eventual decision releasing Pinochet have created “conditions intended to frustrate the exercise of ‘ius puniendi’ (the right to punish) that the Spanish courts are pursuing based on applicable national and international laws,” Garcés affirms.

The ministerial order against appealing any decision by Straw to release Pinochet “assumes, in fact, a waiving of the extradition request, an action that is absolutely forbidden to the Spanish Ministry,” he explained.

The actions taken by Matutes not only obstruct or delay the exercise of justice, they also “radically impede the exercise of the constitutional rights of the victims of the crimes for which the extradition was requested,” points out Garcés, adding that the Foreign Minister’s stance is “illicit.”

Lastly, and beyond the results of the lawsuit that gave rise to the charges against the minister, Garcés asks the Supreme Court to decree an emergency, precautionary measure that would guarantee the victims’ right to effective legal protections.

The jurist also requests that the Supreme Court order Matutes “to execute the judicial orders contained in this complaint, especially lifting the veto of… an eventual appeal in defence of the extradition request.”

IPS asked Matutes if he would feel obligated to comply with a cautionary measure decreed by the Supreme Court, if it were to accept Garcés’s request.

The minister, who was meeting Friday with his Cuban counterpart, Felipe Pérez Roque, responded that he had not yet had an opportunity to read the complaint.

The Spanish government has assured since the Pinochet case began in October 1998 that it would respect all legal decisions, but it interprets Straw’s upcoming decision about the former dictator’s release to be a political issue, and that, as such, it falls to Spain’s Executive to provide a political response.

The prosecution and human rights organisations respond by citing Home Secretary Straw, who said his ruling would be “quasi- judicial”, and they maintain that it could therefore be challenged through legal channels.

Garcés emphasised in his complaint against Matutes that Straw’s ruling is imminent and could be made at any time beginning Monday.

Sources from the Supreme Court refused to respond whether the tribunal would rule before Monday on the request for a precautionary measure.