DATE=1/14/2000
TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP
TITLE=GENERAL PINOCHET'S REPRIEVE
NUMBER=6-11634
BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS
TELEPHONE=619-3335
CONTENT=
INTRO: The British Home Office has ruled former
Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet, too ill to stand
trial in Spain, where he is wanted for human rights
violations. The 84-year old general has been held by
British authorities for more than a year pending a
series of legal rulings on and challenges to Spain's
extradition request.
The US press appears to favor the way Britain has
handled the Pinochet case. We get a sampling of these
views now from ___________ in today's U-S Opinion
Roundup.
TEXT: General Augusto Pinochet came to power in Chile
after the 1973 military coup against the
democratically-elected socialist government of
Salvador Allende. During his 17 year-rule thousands
of people who opposed to General Pinochet disappeared.
Human rights groups inside and outside the country
accused his government of torture and murder.
To many in Chile, however, the general was and is a
hero who saved the country from a communist takeover,
and eventually prepared it for the democracy and free
market economy it now enjoys.
The current international legal controversy began in
October 1998, when General Pinochet traveled to
Britain for surgery. He was detained on an
international arrest warranted, in which Spain claimed
Spanish citizens in Chile had been targeted and killed
during the general's rule.
The case is considered a groundbreaking in how the
international community treats despotic rulers in the
future.
We begin our sampling with the Boston Globe, which is
pleased with the outcome.
VOICE: The majesty of the law was on display
... when Britain found Chile's erstwhile
dictator, General Augusto Pinochet, medically
unfit to stand trial in Spain for crimes against
humanity. ... two significant principles were
affirmed in the dramatic case of [General]
Pinochet. Britain's highest judicial authority,
the Law Lords of the House of Lords, ruled that
[Mr.] Pinochet could not be exempt from
prosecution for crimes against humanity merely
because he had acted as a head of state. In
this way the British legal system established a
Pinochet precedent: there is no such thing as
sovereign immunity for crimes against humanity.
... Perhaps even more telling is the emblematic
meaning of the due process accorded [Mr.]
Pinochet in Britain. ... At the end of a
meticulously fair process, he received a mercy
that is inherent in the law. There was no such
mercy for the men and women who were tortured
and killed while [General] Pinochet ruled Chile.
TEXT: In northern New Jersey, The [Bergen County]
Record is also pleased at the broader implications of
the Pinochet case, whatever actually happens to the
man.
VOICE: ... even if Mr. Pinochet goes free, as
expected, a great legal precedent has been set.
As the extradition case made its way through the
British courts, the legal principle of
"universal jurisdiction" was established. Mr.
Pinochet never denied the charges against him,
but claimed that since the acts were committed
while he was head of state, he was immune from
prosecution. That claim was thrown out by
Britain's highest court, which ruled that being
a head of state does not excuse crimes against
humanity. The ruling opens up new international
powers for those seeking justice for human
rights abuses, no matter where they occurred.
TEXT: In California, The Los Angeles Times is
somewhat concerned about how this latest development
may reverberate back in Chile.
VOICE: We hope ... the news of [General]
Pinochet's probable release won't affect Chile's
presidential election this Sunday. He is not
being sent home to revive his fascist regime but
to await a natural death, an opportunity that
his regime denied to thousands in the democratic
opposition. If [Mr.] Pinochet has any decency
left, he will immediately resign as senator-for-
life and forsake politics. If he is unfit to be
tried for the crimes of which he's accused,
surely he is unfit to serve in the Chilean
Senate.
TEXT: The Miami Herald also says the principle
established by this case is more important than the
fate of an aging Latin despot.
VOICE: Britain's decision may offer little
solace to today's victims. But it may comfort
the many, left and right, in Chile who have long
demanded that Mr. Pinochet be freed. Even his
political foes have argued that Chile, now a
thriving democracy, has a right to solve its
internal problems internally. It does. Yet
this case reflects another, growing view: That
some crimes are so heinous as to be crimes
against humanity. The perpetrators of these
crimes must be held accountable by global
standards, in any lawful court with a nexus to
the victims and willing to take on their
complaints.
TEXT: Taking an even harder line than most other U-S
dailies, The Milwaukee Journal wants to show General
Pinochet no mercy.
VOICE: If [General] Pinochet is too ill to
stand trial now, let him remain in the
comfortable detention of the mansion where he
resides until such time as he is able to answer
for his crimes. And if he dies before then, few
will mourn his passing.
TEXT: And lastly, from The San Francisco Chronicle.
VOICE: ... [General] Pinochet may never see the
inside of [a] jail cell, much less sleep on the floor
of a soccer stadium for weeks like many of his
imprisoned foes. Nor will Spain get a chance to haul
him before the dock. Human rights advocates believe
he may have an easier time answering for his bloody
conduct in Chile, where his case has stirred deep
divisions over his behavior. It will be worth seeing
which way a close election for Chilean president will
go with the news of [Mr.] Pinochet's possible return.
... The British government tempered justice with mercy
by clearing the way for the aging, defeated general to
go home. The decision shows more mercy than [Mr.]
Pinochet ever did.
TEXT: With those thoughts from Northern California's
major daily, we conclude this sampling of U-S
editorial comment on the fate of former Chilean
dictator General Augusto Pinochet.
NEB/ANG/JO
14-Jan-2000 15:21 PM EDT (14-Jan-2000 2021 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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