Human Rights Watch told the House of Lords that there is "virtually no possibility" that former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet could be tried in a Chilean court if he is returned there.
In written submissions presented to a panel of Law Lords, the New York-based group rebutted the Chilean government's argument that Pinochet should only be tried in Chile.
"This is just a cynical attempt to get Pinochet back home where he will be safe from justice," said Reed Brody, advocacy director of Human Rights Watch. "The Chilean government knows that its judiciary cannot prosecute Pinochet."
Human Rights Watch submitted a statement by former Chilean Ambassador and former Chilean Bar Association Director Roberto Garret detailing the obstacles preventing a trial in Chile. First among these is the April 1978 amnesty from prosecution that the Chilean military granted itself for the crimes committed from September 1973 through March 1978- the period during which the bulk of Pinochet's crimes were committed. The Chilean Supreme Court has refused on several occasions to reconsider this self-amnesty.
A final obstacle to the prosecution of Pinochet in Chile is the likelihood that he would be tried before a military tribunal because he was commander-in-chief at the time of his crimes. Military courts in Chile are staffed by military officers who have an unbroken record of preventing the prosecution of any military official for crimes committed during the 1973 coup and its aftermath.
Brody discounted yesterday's suggestion by Chilean Foreign Minister José Miguel Insulza that the government might take part in cases now pending against Pinochet in Chile. "This is a trasparent ploy on the eve of Chile's presentation to the Lords," said Brody. "It will have no effect on Pinochet's immunity in Chile."
Ambassador Garret is in London from Wednesday to Saturday and can be contacted on: 0467 311 099 (mobile)
