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General Augusto Pinochet loses his immunity
Pinochet’s lawyers have stated that they will appeal this ruling — filed in March by Chilean Judge Juan Guzman Tapia — to the Supreme Court, which may take until mid-July to render a decision. Guzman has been investigating more than 100 civil suits averring Pinochet’s involvement in abusing human rights.
Guzman has stated that he has evidence linking Pinochet to the disappearance of 19 of the 74 political prisoners who were removed from jails across the country in October 1973 by a military group known as the Caravan of Death. About 3,000 Chileans disappeared or were murdered during Pinochet’s dictatorship from 1973 to 1990. On the other hand, Pinochet’s defense, which insists that he is too ill to stand trial, sustains that the evidence proposed by the accusing party does not exist.
With respect to the rulings, the executive branch has kept its promise to abide by the independence of the courts. Regardless of the outcome, Chile’s society is significantly divided between those who believe that Pinochet should be tried for the alleged human rights abuses that occurred during his regime and others who believe that Pinochet is too ill to face trial. However, Chileans concur on one thing: leaving the past behind and facing toward the future.
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Table of Contents New president focuses on future while reconciling the past |
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Perhaps the most controversial topic in Chile is the General Augusto Pinochet court case. This process began last March, when Pinochet returned to Chile from Britain where he had been detained under arrest for 503 days and was considered to be too ill for trial, thus escaping extradition to Spain. Three months later, on June 6, 22 judges of Santiago’s Court of Appeals ruled in favor of taking away the immunity that Pinochet holds as a life-tenure senator. The 13-9 vote, which has to be ratified by the Supreme Court, allows the general to be put on trial on grounds of alleged human rights abuses.