Close Shave General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte will remain a rightly reviled figure in the history of the twentieth century. Chile's dictator should have been brought to justice in 1998 for crimes against the human rights of his people. To our shame the Chilean people were betrayed again. Human rights are exactly that – the inalienable right of every person to be treated with respect and humanity by their government. Pinochet showed contempt for his own people for the best part of seventeen years and then for the rule of law.
In March 1998 Pinochet retired as Commander-in-Chief of Chile's Armed Forces. He travelled to Britain, purportedly for treatment. That left him open to a warrant for arrest issued by the Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón Real. Garzón wanted him extradited to face trial in Spain for his crimes. Coached on how to beat medical examination Pinochet hoodwinked the British authorities. Then Home Secretary, Jack Straw, ruled that he was too ill and frail to stand trial. The tyrant returned to Chile and celebrated with supporters. He made a miraculous recovery.
Pinochet imposed a shameful Constitution on the people of Chile – one which legitimised mass murder, torture and disappearances. The 1980 Constitution paved the way for Pinochet and his thugs to evade justice as it gave them immunity. Pinochet was allowed to continue as Commander-in-Chief after Patricio Aylwin became President in 1990 until 1998. The usurper Pinochet retired and became a Senator for Life, which was designed to protect him from prosecution.
Justice Delayed Too Long Given the outrage over the survival of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi – the only person ever convicted of the Lockerbie Bombing – where is the outrage over a mass murderer who killed thousands, evading justice? And now that the wave of Arab indignation over dictators has reached Libya and resulted in the bombing of government strong-holds, al- Megrahi could be tried again or returned to prison in Scotland. After Pinochet's 'miraculous recovery' Chile decided that its uncomfortable past had to be confronted. His crimes were investigated by Chilean Judge Juan Guzmán Tapia. In 2004 Guzmán ruled that the the serial abuser of human rights and mass embezzler was mentally fit enough to stand trial.
However, the serial abuser of human rights cheated justice, dying in December 2006. Pinochet was facing trial on three-hundred charges after murdering thousands, torturing many thousands more, disappearing numerous others, tax evasion and corruptly amassing a personal fortune of $28m at the time. Shamefully, for Britain, he was helped to cheat justice through our judicial processes, even with audacious irony, using the Human Rights Act to avoid justice. |