From: Native Americas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Pinochet Case Has Implications For Dictators
The following is an article from the Winter 1998 issue of Native Americas, published by the Akwe:kon Press at Cornell University. For more information on how to stay informed of emerging trends that impact Native peoples throughout the hemisphere visit our website at http://nativeamericas.aip.cornell.edu.
Pinochet Case Has Implications For Dictators
By Craig Benjamin
The Nuremberg Tribunal, which tried Nazi war criminals after World War
II, established the principle that every country has the right and the
obligation to prosecute genocide and crimes against humanity, no matter
where in the world these crimes have taken place. This past October, the
Spanish High Court ruled that this principle gives Spanish judges the
right to bring General Augusto Pinochet, the former military dictator of
Chile, to trial. This ruling was applauded by human rights organizations
as a significant step toward ending the legal impunity of governments.
Such impunity has been responsible for states escaping prosecuting for
torture, political killings and genocidal assaults on Native peoples.
By Craig Benjamin
The Spanish ruling came 25 years after Pinochet took power in a CIA-backed coup that overthrew the democratically elected socialist government of Salvador Allende. During 17 years of military rule, Pinochet reversed the social and economic reforms of Allende. In pioneering many of the policies of privatization and free trade that have since been widely adopted throughout the hemisphere, Pinochet's regime carried out what Amnesty International has called "a planned systematic, widespread policy of violation of fundamental human rights," directed against anyone who might oppose the changes.
Pinochet stepped aside to allow a return to civilian rule in 1990. Before that, he granted himself a permanent position in government. Years earlier, he had granted himself immunity from prosecution for any human rights violations committed under his regime. Since the return to civilian rule, the Chilean government officially acknowledged 2,095 confirmed extrajudicial executions and deaths under torture during the Pinochet regime, as well as 1,102 "disappearances" where the exact fates of the disappeared victims remain unknown. The actual toll of Pinochet's internal war is generally believed to be much higher, including uncounted incidents of torture and arbitrary arrest.
It is clear that the full extent of crimes against indigenous peoples in Chile has never been acknowledged. The determination of the Pinochet regime to overturn land reforms instituted under Allende made indigenous peoples in rural Chile a primary target for repression. The Inter Church Committee for Human Rights in Latin America concluded in 1979, that the Mapuches, the largest indigenous group in Chile, were being persecuted "only for their condition as indigenous people."
The official report by the Chilean Truth and Reconciliation Commission documents at least 100 Mapuches who were executed or "disappeared" under the Pinochet regime. Mapuche organizations and international human rights organizatons such as Amnesty International state many killings and abuses carried out against the Mapuche have gone unreported because of the isolation of rural areas and because of the continued fear of repression in indigenous communities.
In a report marking the 25th anniversary of the Pinochet coup, the Mapuche International Link (MIL) points out that 80 percent of people arrested by police and security in southern Chile were Mapuche. The report also argues that the civilian government that followed Pinochet has also failed to address many of the critical legacies of the military regime, including the ongoing invasions of indigenous lands by large-scale development projects and continued patterns of violence against indigenous peoples.
Reynaldo Mariqueo, a Mapuche exile granted refugee status in the U.K. in the 1970s, is a member of the Mapuche Inter-regional Council of Chile, and heads MIL in the U.K. Mariqueo commented: "Almost eight years after democracy's rebirth, the repression of Chile's Mapuche people, and the suffering inflicted on them, is as brutal as it was during the worst days of General Augusto Pinochet's infamous dictatorship."
International prosecution of genocide and crimes against humanity has been rare since Nuremburg and confined to few regions of the world such as the former states of Yugoslavia. The soon to be established International Criminal Court is a potential forum where charges of crimes against humanity can be brought against any regime. As such, it is potentially a focus for the efforts of indigenous peoples in the Americas to seek justice for crimes of genocide and large-scale human rights abuses. There is only one main open question about the International Criminal Court is whether regimes that are close allies of Western governments will be shielded from prosecution. This makes the developments in the Pinochet case extremely significant.
The U.N. Ad-Hoc Working Group on Chile concluded as early as 1976 that the human rights violations that were carried out by the Pinochet government need to be prosecuted by the international community as crimes against humanity. Most western governments, however, chose to remain silent.
This lack of response changed in October when Pinochet was arrested in the U.K. on a warrant issued in Spain. The charges against Pinochet were initiated by a maverick Spanish judge, Baltazar Garz�n, who wants Pinochet and 37other high-ranking officials of his regime prosecuted for killings and torture of Spanish citizens. At printing, it is not clear whether or not Pinochet will be extradited to Spain to face the charges. A U.K. court ruled against the Nuremburg principles, finding that as an official of the Chilean government Pinochet has diplomatic immunity from prosecution. This decision has been appealed.
Regardless of the outcome, human rights activists say an important precedent has been set. According to Siobhan Harty, coordinator of activities on Chile for Amnesty International in Canada, these events may signal "a real change in our understanding of crimes against humanity and how they can be prosecuted." According to Harty: "The principle of universal jurisdiction for crimes against humanity has been kicking around a long time, but it's very rarely been implemented. The tendency has been to dismiss principles like these as being unenforceable in the real world of international politics. Now some of these old realist arguments are going to be up for grabs."
The ruling by the Spanish High Court also established Spanish jurisdiction to prosecute human rights abuses committed by the military regime in Argentina between 1976 and 1983.�
Native Americas Journal
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