DATE=10/20/98
TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP
NUMBER=6-10967
TITLE=GENERAL PINOCHET'S ARREST STIRS CONTROVERSY
BYLINE=ANDREW N. GUTHRIE
TELEPHONE=619-3335
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS
CONTENT=
///// ED'S: SERVICES WISHING MORE MATERIAL ON THE PINOCHET
ARREST, SHOULD CONSULT U-S EDITORIAL DIGEST 6-10966, WHICH MOVED
EARLIER. /////
INTRO: THE ARREST OF FORMER CHILEAN DICTATOR GENERAL AUGUSTO
PINOCHET BY BRITISH POLICE ON AN INTERNATIONAL WARRANT ISSUED BY
A SPANISH JUDGE IS CAUSING GREAT REACTION IN THE U-S PRESS.
MOST PAPERS ARE PLEASED THAT A MAN, ACCUSED OF CAUSING THE DEATHS
OR DISAPPEARANCE OF SEVERAL-THOUSAND PEOPLE, MAY FINALLY ANSWER
FOR HIS ALLEGED CRIMES. BUT OTHERS SAY THIS ARREST, WHILE HE IS
TRAVELLING WITH A DIPLOMATIC PASSPORT, CLOUDS THE FUTURE OF
INTERNATIONAL LAW AND DIPLOMACY.
WE HAVE A SAMPLING NOW FROM ___________________ WHO BRINGS US
TODAY'S OPINION ROUNDUP.
TEXT: SCOTLAND YARD OFFICERS ARRESTED GENERAL PINOCHET AT A
PRIVATE HOSPITAL IN LONDON LAST FRIDAY ON A WARRANT FROM A
SPANISH JUDGE, WHO HAS BEEN INVESTIGATING THE DEATHS OF SEVERAL
SPANISH CITIZENS DURING MR. PINOCHET'S REGIME. IN ALL, MORE
THAN FOUR-THOUSAND PEOPLE DIED OR DISAPPEARED WHILE HE RAN CHILE
FROM 1973 UNTIL 1990, FOLLOWING A COUP THAT OUSTED MARXIST LEADER
SALVADOR ALLENDE.
WHEN GENERAL PINOCHET STEPPED DOWN AS PRESIDENT HE CONTINUED TO
HEAD THE ARMED FORCES UNTIL HE RETIRED, AND BECAME A SENATOR FOR
LIFE IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. MR. PINOCHET, IN LONDON FOR BACK
SURGERY, WAS ARRESTED ON CHARGES THAT NOW INCLUDE MURDER,
TORTURE, AND GENOCIDE. BUT HIS EXTRADITION TO SPAIN IS ALMOST
CERTAIN TO INVOLVED A COMPLICATED, AND DIPLOMATICALLY STRAINED
STRUGGLE BETWEEN ENGLAND, SPAIN, AND CHILE, WHICH HAS
VOCIFEROUSLY PROTESTED HIS ARREST.
OUR EDITORIAL SAMPLE BEGINS IN TEXAS, WHERE "THE DALLAS MORNING
NEWS" SAYS THE FORMER CHILEAN LEADER MADE A BIG MISTAKE ADDING --
DICTATORS SHOULD NOT LEAVE HOME -- PERIOD!
VOICE: /// OPT /// AUGUSTO PINOCHET ... IS USED TO PLAYING BY
HIS OWN RULES. SO HE MUST HAVE BEEN SHOCKED BY
BRITAIN'S DECISION TO ARREST HIM AT THE REQUEST OF A
SPANISH JUDGE, WHO WANTS HIM TO STAND TRIAL IN SPAIN ON
MURDER AND TORTURE CHARGES. AFTER ALL, HAD NOT CHILE
GIVEN AMNESTY TO THE FORMER GENERAL IN RETURN FOR HIS
HANDING POWER TO ELECTED CIVILIANS IN 1989? AND WERE
NOT THE MURDERS OF SPANISH CITIZENS COVERED BY THAT
AMNESTY? /// END OPT /// ... EITHER MR. PINOCHET WAS
TOO ARROGANT TO GRASP THAT HE WAS VULNERABLE OUTSIDE
CHILE OR NO ONE TOLD HIM THAT THERE IS NOTHING INHERENT
ABOUT HOLDING A DIPLOMATIC PASSPORT OR BEING A SENATOR
THAT PROTECTS ONE FROM PROSECUTION ELSEWHERE. ... MR.
PINOCHET'S BIG MISTAKE WAS TO LEAVE CHILE. HE ERRED
ALSO IN VISITING A COUNTRY WITH AN INDEPENDENT
JUDICIARY. ... [HE] SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE CAREFUL.
TEXT: "THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE" CALLS THE ARREST A VICTORY
FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES, BUT SUGGESTS THE SERIOUS QUESTIONS
ABOUT INTERNATIONAL LAW AND DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY MAKES THE
EVENTUAL OUTCOME UNCLEAR. NEVERTHELESS:
VOICE: THERE IS NO DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY FOR GENOCIDE -- AND
THERE SHOULD NEVER BE. ... U-N SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI
ANNAN APPLAUDED [MR.] PINOCHET'S ARREST AS EVIDENCE THAT
HUMAN RIGHTS LAWS ARE COMING INTO THEIR OWN AND HIDING
PLACES ARE GROWING SCARCE.
TEXT: "THE WASHINGTON TIMES" SAYS THE END IN THIS CASE DOES NOT
JUSTIFY THE MEANS:
VOICE: THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY OUGHT TO TREAD VERY SOFTLY
IN THIS AREA. THE ARREST ... OF MR. PINOCHET ... WILL
GO DOWN AS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF FOOL-HARDY INTERVENTION.
MR. PINOCHET IS A COMPLICATED MAN: A DICTATOR WHO WOULD
BROOK NO DISSENT, BUT ALSO A MAN WHO PREVENTED A
COMMUNIST REVOLUTION IN CHILE; AN AUTHORITARIAN, BUT A
MAN WHO CORRECTLY SAW IN FREE MARKETS THE BEST HOPE FOR
CHILEAN PROGRESS; A STRONGMAN, BUT A MAN WHO ULTIMATELY
RELINQUISHED HIS POWER. /// OPT /// CHILEANS
THEMSELVES ARE HARDLY INDIFFERENT TO MR. PINOCHET; MANY
HATE HIM, MANY REGARD HIM AS A NATIONAL SAVIOR, MANY
THINK HIS LEGACY EXISTS ONLY IN SHADES OF GRAY. /// END
OPT /// ... IN ... GENERAL PINOCHET'S ... CASE ... THE
COMPLEXITY OF THE PAST IS DUE A LITTLE DEFERENCE FOR THE
SAKE OF THE FUTURE.
TEXT: "THE DENVER POST" IS PLEASED, HOWEVER, AND SAYS THE LEGAL
PRECEDENT IS NEEDED
VOICE: /// OPT /// THE ARREST ... RAISES NEW AND OLD QUESTIONS
THAT BEG ANSWERS. AMONG THEM IS WHETHER THE ARREST WILL
INSPIRE NEW EFFORTS AMONG MANY NATIONS STILL REELING
FROM THE EFFECTS OF FORMER DESPOTS ... TO MAKE THEM
ANSWER TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY. WE HOPE IT WILL.
... SPAIN IS TO BE COMMENDED FOR WADING INTO
INTERNATIONAL WATERS IN QUEST OF JUSTICE FOR ONE OF ITS
CITIZENS. SO IS BRITAIN FOR HONORING SPAIN'S CASE AND
DETAINING [MR.] PINOCHET. /// END OPT /// ... IF THE
RULE OF LAW IS TO TRIUMPH OVER THE REIGN OF TERROR,
BUTCHERS AND FANATICS LIKE [GENERAL] PINOCHET MUST AT
LAST ANSWER TO A RESPONSIBLE INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL.
TEXT: BUTCHER? FANATIC? HARDLY, SAYS "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL."
THE BIG BUSINESS DAILY REMINDS READERS OF WHAT IT DESCRIBES AS
THE NEAR CHAOS OF THE ALLENDE REGIME, AS CHILE HEADED TOWARD A
MARXIST ECONOMY PUNCTUATED BY VIOLENT STRIKES AND DEMONSTRATIONS
BY BOTH PRO AND ANTI-ALLENDE SUPPORTERS, AND FOOD LINES.
REGARDING GROUNDS FOR HIS ARREST, "THE JOURNAL," WONDERS, IF
BRITAIN CAN ARREST GENERAL PINOCHET AT SPAIN'S REQUEST, WHY DOES
NOT SPAIN ARREST CUBA'S FIDEL CASTRO WHO IS VISITING THERE TODAY.
ADDS "THE JOURNAL:"
VOICE: HIS [CASTRO'S] KILLING AND HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS DWARF
THE MOST EXAGGERATED ACCUSATIONS AGAINST GENERAL
PINOCHET. INDEED, [MR.] CASTRO'S PROGRAM FOR SUBVERTING
LATIN AMERICA WAS THE REAL ROOT OF THE BRUTALITY THAT
SWEPT THE REGION IN THE 1970S. HIS ATTEMPTS TO SPREAD
REVOLUTION GAVE LIFE TO THE BRUTAL MILITARY
DICTATORSHIPS THAT ONCE MARRED THE LATIN SCENE. ...
FOR THE PAST QUARTER-CENTURY MARXIST ROMANTICS HAVE BEEN
SEEKING REVENGE IN PARTICULAR AGAINST GENERAL PINOCHET,
THE MAN WHO PROBABLY DID MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE IN LATIN
AMERICA TO ROLL BACK THEIR REVOLUTION.
/// OPT ///
TEXT: IN BALTIMORE, "THE SUN" SEES BOTH PROMISE AND PROBLEMS IN
THE ARREST.
VOICE: BY RECOGNIZING [THE] ... ARREST WARRANT, BRITISH
AUTHORITIES SEEM TO HAVE DETERMINED THAT CHARGES OF
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANY
DIPLOMATIC STATUS A SUSPECT MAY HAVE OBTAINED FROM HIS
OWN GOVERNMENT. IF THIS PRECEDENT BECOMES AN ACCEPTED
STANDARD IN INTERNATIONAL LAW, TYRANTS EVERYWHERE WILL
BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE MORE EASILY. ... HOWEVER, THE
PINOCHET PRINCIPLE COULD UPSET THE WHOLE DELICATELY
CONSTRUCTED SYSTEM OF IMMUNITY ... THAT ... GIVES
PROTECTION TO INTERNATIONAL ENVOYS.
/// END OPT ///
TEXT: IN PHILADELPHIA, "THE INQUIRER" SAYS -- THIS FORMER
DICTATOR DESERVES A TRIP TO SPAIN TO ANSWER FOR HIS CRIMES
AGAINST HUMANITY, WHILE "THE LOS ANGELES TIMES" WORRIES ABOUT
WHAT IT CALLS A THICKET OF LEGALITIES IN THE CASE LEADING TO AN
UNCERTAIN FUTURE FOR THE SPANISH QUEST. "THE WASHINGTON POST"
BELIEVES -- IF IT IS CARRIED THROUGH, THE ARREST ... WILL BE A
MODEL FOR EXTENDING POLITICAL ACCOUNTABILITY INTERNATIONALLY.
"THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE" CONCURS.
VOICE: ... WHEN HE FINALLY SURRENDERED THE LAST OF HIS POWER
EARLIER THIS YEAR, HIS PRICE WAS A LIFETIME POST IN THE
CHILEAN SENATE -- WHICH GAVE HIM PERMANENT IMMUNITY FROM
PROSECUTION. TO GAIN DEMOCRACY, CHILEANS HAD TO FORFEIT
JUSTICE -- A BITTER COMPROMISE, THOUGH A NECESSARY ONE.
BUT JUSTICE MAY YET HAVE ITS DAY. ... AS A MATTER OF
INTERNATIONAL LAW, THE ACTION AGAINST [MR.] PINOCHET
LOOKS PLAUSIBLE. AS DICTATORS GO, [MR.] PINOCHET HAD
MUCH TO RECOMMEND HIM ... BUT THOSE VERY REAL
ACHIEVEMENTS DO NOT EXCUSE A RECORD OF TORTURE AND
MURDER. TYRANTS MAY FIND WAYS TO ESCAPE JUSTICE IN
THEIR OWN COUNTRIES. [GENERAL] PINOCHET'S ARREST PUTS
THEM ON NOTICE THAT ONCE THEY CROSS THE BORDER, THEY MAY
HAVE TO ANSWER FOR THEIR CRIMES.
TEXT: ON THAT NOTE, WE CONCLUDE THIS SAMPLING OF THE U-S PRESS
ON THE ARREST IN BRITAIN, OF FORMER CHILEAN DICTATOR AUGUSTO
PINOCHET.
NEB/ANG/RAE
20-Oct-98 1:43 PM EDT (1743 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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