RIGHTS-CHILE: Pinochet Case Sees ‘One Insufficient Step Forward’

By Tito Drago Reprint | | Print |

Tito Drago

MADRID, Dec 4 2000 (IPS) - The orders for former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet’s arrest and trial, issued last Friday, are another step towards justice, but not enough to ensure that the legal proceedings will continue through to the end, says jurist Joan Garcés, head of the legal team that filed criminal charges against Pinochet in Spain.

In Santiago, judge Juan Guzmán charged the 85-year-old retired general with masterminding the “qualified kidnapping” of 19 political prisoners, committed shortly after he led the bloody coup d’etat against constitutionally elected president Salvador Allende on Sep 11, 1973.

Pinochet’s lawyers filed an appeal Saturday against the arrest and trial orders and are calling for Guzmán’s removal. The Appeals Court of Santiago should announce its ruling in the next few days.

Garcés, born in Spain, served as one of Allende’s top advisers, remaining at his side at La Moneda government palace until just before the president’s death, the day of the military coup.

Upon returning to Spain in 1975, Garcés created the Salvador Allende Foundation and organised several actions of solidarity with Chilean exiles. In 1996, the team of lawyers he heads presented accusations against Pinochet that led to the former dictator’s arrest in London two years later.

Last Friday’s orders for Pinochet’s arrest and trial are for the kidnappings of 19 people in 1973 during a notorious military operation known as the “caravan of death,” a mission the former dictator allegedly ordered.

General Sergio Arellano Stark led the mission. He and four other military officers have been tried for “facilitating the military trials” of political prisoners in several cities throughout Chile by summarily executing them.

In less than a month, the “caravan of death” assassinated 79 political prisoners, many of whom had originally been sentenced for minor crimes. In 19 of the cases, the victims’ bodies were never found.

Because the bodies were never recovered, the judge established what is now known as the “Guzmán doctrine,” which stipulates that the disappearance of the 19 constitutes “qualified kidnapping,” an ongoing crime as long as the victims are not found.

As such, the amnesty law decreed by the Pinochet regime in 1978 does not cover the crime.

The legal proceedings initiated in several countries of Europe, as well as Pinochet’s arrest in London on Oct 16, 1998, raised international awareness that dealing with crimes against humanity does not involve national borders, pointed out Garcés.

In addition, the cases in Europe provide backing for the judges in Chile to bring Pinochet to trial for human rights crimes. Garcés affirmed that Pinochet’s current legal proceedings in Chile were made possible thanks to trials initiated, beginning in 1996, in Argentina, Belgium, France, Spain, United States and Switzerland.

The cases gave Chilean justice authorities the boost they needed to order the trial and arrest “of the worst criminal in Chilean history,” he said.

Garcés emphasised that Pinochet had ordered his subordinates, “in all military units throughout the country, to proceed with the detentions of (opposition) leaders, systematically applying torture against all those detained, regardless of rank, condition, age or gender.”

Citing a book published under Pinochet’s signature, Garcés added that these orders were dispatched in sealed envelopes. The morning of the coup, the dictator ordered his subordinates to open the envelopes, who only then knew of the plans.

The legal actions in Chile against the former dictator are an important step forward, “but unfortunately the decision (last Friday) does not offer guarantees that the Pinochet case will continue through to the end,” because, explained Garcés, the elderly defendant has yet to undergo medical exams to determine if he is mentally fit to stand trial.

The examinations must be conducted with impartiality and the participation of experts designated by the defence and the plaintiffs because of the potential for irregularities, such as those recorded when Pinochet was under house arrest in London awaiting extradition, Garcés maintained.

Last March, the British government interrupted the proceedings and sent the former dictator back to Chile, citing humanitarian reasons, based on irregular medical tests, the Spanish jurist added.

Friday was, said Garcés, a great day in the efforts for justice, but there is still much to be done before the goal is reached.