The Spanish and British governments used international and national law to determine that Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet could be tried for human rights violations.
Legal Actions Against Pinochet
In the early years of Pinochet’s 1973–1990 dictatorship, human rights activists documented his forces’ acts of illegal detention, forced transfers, murder, torture, and disappearances. After democracy returned to Chile, an official truth commission recorded about 3,000 human rights violations. However, Pinochet avoided prosecution in Chile. Before leaving office, he granted constitutional immunity to himself and his accomplices.
Spanish and British Legal Proceedings
Victims’ lawyers filed complaints in Spain using accion popular, or “people’s action.” This procedure allows Spanish citizens to initiate criminal actions in specific cases. Spanish courts accepted the case, applying universal jurisdiction, which permits prosecuting crimes like torture and genocide, regardless of where they occurred.
A Spanish warrant led to Pinochet’s arrest in London. His defenders argued that, as a former head of state, he had immunity from arrest and extradition. The British House of Lords rejected this claim, ruling that a former head of state’s immunity does not cover crimes like torture and genocide. After Britain and Chile ratified the 1984 United Nations Convention against Torture, Pinochet could no longer claim immunity from torture charges.
Pinochet was eventually sent back to Chile for medical reasons and was not tried in Spain. Later, the Chilean Supreme Court stripped him of the immunity he had granted himself. It ruled that he should face trial, but eventually deemed him too ill to proceed.
The arrest and extradition of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet is among the most extraordinary of the legal cases. It set a precedent that may be used in the future to target current and former heads of state for international justice. The Lords’ ruling set an important precedent, demonstrating to the world that a head of state enjoys no immunity from prosecution on charges of torture, that such crimes can be prosecuted anywhere in the world under the principle of universal jurisdiction and that national courts can be used to force states to fulfill their obligations under international law. The international attention also changed the political equation in Chile, which could no longer cling to national laws that had protected human rights violators, including Pinochet, from being tried for their actions. Most importantly, Pinochet’s prolonged detention in London diminished the fear he engendered in the Chilean population, which began to move ahead in new ways, making it possible for victims to be acknowledged and seek redress.
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