Indictment and arrest of Augusto Pinochet

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Augusto Pinochet
Criminal statusDeceased
Criminal charge
Operation Condor
Background histories
Events
Government leaders
Targeted militias
Principal operatives
Organizations responsible
Locations
  • Esmeralda
  • Estadio Nacional de Chile
  • Villa Grimaldi
  • Colonia Dignidad
  • Navy Petty-Officers School of Mechanics
Laws
Archives and reports
Reactions

General

Chile between 1973 and 1990, it marked the first time judges had applied the principle of universal jurisdiction
, declaring themselves competent to judge crimes committed in a country by former heads of state, despite the existence of local amnesty laws.

Pinochet led a 1973 coup which deposed Socialist President Salvador Allende. His 17-year regime was notorious for many human rights violations, some of which were committed as part of Operation Condor, an illegal effort to suppress left-wing political opponents in Chile and abroad in coordination with foreign intelligence agencies. Pinochet was also accused of using his position to pursue personal enrichment through embezzlement of government funds, the illegal drug trade and illegal arms trade. The Rettig Report found that at least 2,279 people were conclusively murdered by the Chilean government for political reasons during Pinochet's regime, and the Valech Report found that at least 30,000 people were tortured by the government for political reasons.

Pinochet's attorneys, headed by

Courts of Appeal, the Supreme Court, medical experts, etc., led to Pinochet's subsequent house arrest and release, before he died on 10 December 2006, just after having been again put under house arrest on 28 November 2006 in the Caravan of Death case.[1]

At the time of his death in 2006, Pinochet had been implicated in over 300 criminal charges for many human rights violations,

Eugenio Berrios cases, tax evasion and passport forgery.[2][3]

Timeline

Arrest in London

See also: R v Bow Street Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, ex parte Pinochet

In 1998, Pinochet, who at the time continued to wield considerable influence in Chile, travelled to the United Kingdom for medical treatment; allegations have been made that he was also there to negotiate arms contracts.

Concertación and headed by President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle opposed his arrest, extradition
to Spain, as well as trial.

A hard-fought 16-month-long legal battle ensued in the

legislation ratifying the United Nations Convention Against Torture in the Criminal Justice Act 1988.[8][9]
This invalidated most, but not all, of the charges against Pinochet and gave the green light for his extradition to Spain to proceed.

In April 1999, former UK Prime Minister

United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights, Mary Robinson, hailed the Lords' ruling, declaring that it was a clear endorsement that torture is an international crime subject to universal jurisdiction.[9] Furthermore, Amnesty International and the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture demanded his extradition to Spain.[12] In protest against Spain's action, Chile withdrew its ambassador from Madrid for a time.[13] Thatcher sent Pinochet a bottle of single malt whisky during this time, with a note saying "Scotch is one British institution that will never let you down".[14]

Meanwhile, questions began to emerge in the media about Pinochet's allegedly fragile health. After medical tests were conducted, Home Secretary

Santiago de Chile's airport was to triumphantly stand up from his wheelchair to the acclaim of his supporters.[17][18] The first person to greet him was his successor as head of the Chilean Armed Forces, General Ricardo Izurieta.[18] President Ricardo Lagos, who had just been sworn into office on 11 March, said the retired general's televised arrival had damaged Chile's international reputation, while thousands held demonstrations against the ex-dictator.[19]

Despite his release on grounds of ill health, the unprecedented detention of Pinochet in a foreign country for

Court of Appeal of the Audiencia Nacional affirmed Spanish jurisdiction over Argentine and Chilean cases, declaring that domestic amnesty laws (in the case of Chile, the 1978 amnesty law passed by Pinochet's regime) could not bind the Spanish courts.[8] Both for matters concerning the "Dirty War" in Argentina and for Chile, they characterized the crimes as genocides.[8] However, both the Spanish and British rulings relied not on international law, but on domestic legislation: "They talked about universal jurisdiction, but grounded their decision in domestic statutory law."[8]

The arrest of Pinochet has been characterized as a watershed moment in the international justice regime. According to Daniel Krcmaric, the arrest "marked the first time in the modern international system that a current or former head of state was arrested in a foreign country for international crimes."[23]

Return to Chile

In March 2000, after Pinochet's return, the Chilean Congress approved a

disappeared": even though they were most likely dead, the absence of their corpses made any charge of homicide difficult.[25] Shortly after, on 11 December 2000, the ruling was suspended by the Court of Appeal of Santiago on medical grounds. In addition to the Caravan of Death, 177 other complaints were filed against Pinochet.[25]

In January 2001, medical experts stated that Pinochet was suffering from "mild dementia", which did not impede him from being prosecuted before the courts.

political transition permits us to have."[28]
Shortly after the verdict, Pinochet resigned from the Senate, thus benefiting from the 2000 constitutional amendment granting him immunity from prosecution. Thereafter, he lived a quiet life, rarely made public appearances and was notably absent from events marking the 30th anniversary of the coup on 11 September 2003.

House arrest

On 28 May 2004, a Court of Appeals voted 14 to 9 to revoke Pinochet's dementia status and, consequently, his immunity from prosecution. In arguing its case, the prosecution presented a recent television interview Pinochet had given for a Miami-based television network. The judges found that the interview raised doubts about the alleged mental incapacity of Pinochet. On 26 August, in a 9 to 8 vote, the Supreme Court upheld the decision. On 2 December, a Santiago Appeals Court stripped Pinochet of immunity from prosecution over the 1974 assassination of General Carlos Prats, his predecessor as Army Commander-in-Chief, who was killed by a car bomb while in exile in Argentina. On 13 December, Judge Juan Guzmán Tapia placed Pinochet under house arrest and indicted him over the disappearance of nine opposition activists and the murder of one of them during his regime. However, the Supreme Court reversed the Appeals Court ruling in the Carlos Prats case on 24 March 2005, thereby upholding Pinochet's immunity. Later that year, on 14 September, the Supreme Court decided to strip Pinochet of his immunity in the Operation Colombo case involving the killing of 119 dissidents.[29] The following day, he was then acquitted of the human rights case due to his purported ill health. In late November, he was once again deemed fit to stand trial by the Chilean Supreme Court and indicted, this time for the disappearance of six dissidents who had been detained by Chile's security forces in late 1974. He was placed under house arrest on the eve of his 90th birthday.

In July 2006, the Supreme Court upheld a January judgment by the Court of Appeal of Santiago, which argued that the 2002 Supreme Court's ruling stating that Pinochet could not be prosecuted in the Caravan of Death case did not apply to two of its victims, who were former bodyguards of Salvador Allende.[30][31] On 9 September, Pinochet was stripped of his immunity by the Supreme Court.[32] Judge Alejandro Madrid was thus able to indict him for the kidnappings and tortures at Villa Grimaldi.[32] Furthermore, Pinochet was indicted in October 2006 for the assassination of DINA biochemist Eugenio Berríos in 1995.[33] On 30 October, Pinochet was charged with 36 counts of kidnapping, 23 counts of torture, and one of murder for the torture and disappearance of opponents of his regime at Villa Grimaldi. On 28 November 2006, judge Víctor Montiglio, charged with overseeing the Caravan of Death case, ordered Pinochet's house arrest.[1] However, Pinochet died a few days later on 10 December, without having been convicted of any crimes committed during his administration.

Tax fraud and foreign bank accounts

The

shell corporations (referring to Pinochet as only "a former public official"), and hiding his accounts from regulatory agencies. The report said the violations were "symptomatic of uneven and, at times, ineffective enforcement by all federal bank regulators, of bank compliance with their anti-money-laundering obligations". In 2006, Pinochet's total wealth was estimated to be at least $28 million.[34]

Five days later, a Chilean court formally opened an investigation into Pinochet's finances for the first time, on allegations of fraud, misappropriation of funds and bribery. A few hours later, the state prosecutor, Chile's State Defense Council (Consejo de Defensa del Estado), presented a second request for the same judge to investigate Pinochet's assets, but without directly accusing him of crimes. On 1 October 2004, Chile's Internal Revenue Service ("Servicio de Impuestos Internos") filed a lawsuit against Pinochet, accusing him of fraud and tax evasion, for the amount of US$3.6 million in investment accounts held at Riggs between 1996 and 2002. Furthermore, a lawsuit against the Riggs Bank and Joe L. Allbritton, chief executive of the bank until 2001, was closed after the bank agreed in February 2005 to pay $9 million to Pinochet's victims in compensation for its money-laundering activities on behalf of Pinochet.[35]

Pinochet could have faced fines in Chile totaling 300% of the amount owed, and prison time, if he had been convicted before his death. Aside from the legal ramifications, this evidence of financial impropriety severely embarrassed Pinochet. According to the State Defense Council, his hidden assets could never have been acquired solely on the basis of his salary as president, Chief of the Armed Forces, and Life Senator.

BAE Systems

In September 2005, a joint-investigation by

British legislation outlaws corruption of foreign public officials (part 12 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001).[37]

Charges against Pinochet and family members

In November 2005, Pinochet was deemed fit to stand trial by the Chilean Supreme Court and was indicted and put under house arrest on

tax fraud
and passport forgery charges but was released on bail; however, he remained under house arrest due to unrelated human rights charges.

This tax fraud filing, related to Pinochet's and his family's secret bank accounts in the United States and in Caribbean islands, for an amount of US$27 million, shocked the pro-Pinochet wing of Chilean public opinion more than the accusations of human rights abuses. Ninety percent of these funds would have been raised between 1990 and 1998, when Pinochet was Commander-in-Chief of the Army, and would essentially have come from weapons traffic (when purchasing Belgian Mirage fighter aircraft in 1994, Dutch Léopard tanks, Swiss Mowag tanks or by illegal sales of weapons to Croatia, in the middle of the Balkan war; the later case has been linked by Chilean justice with the assassination of Colonel Gerardo Huber in 1992). General Pinochet was reported to have owed the Chilean tax administration a total of $16.5 million.

In that case, Pinochet's immunity was stripped by the Appeal Court of Santiago, and confirmed by the Supreme Court on 19 October 2005. The legal proceedings could have eventually led to a trial against Pinochet, his wife

Lucia Hiriart and one of his sons, Marco Antonio Pinochet, who was sued for complicity. Judge Juan Guzmán Tapia
was skeptical, however, of the probability of a trial, either for human rights violations or for financial fraud. Nonetheless, indications from a number of medical examinations suggested that the physical and mental condition of the former dictator would have allowed him to be prosecuted. On 23 November 2005, judge Carlos Cerda charged Pinochet for fraud and ordered his arrest. Pinochet was freed under caution on the grounds that "his freedom did not represent a danger for the security of the society". This was the fourth time in seven years that Pinochet was indicted and charged for illegal behavior.

On 23 February 2006, Pinochet's wife Lucia Hiriart, children Augusto, Lucía, Jacqueline, Marco Antonio, and Maria Verónica, daughter-in-law, and personal secretary were indicted on charges of tax fraud, including failing to declare bank accounts overseas, and using false passports. Lucía fled to the US, but was detained and returned to Argentina, her country of departure, after attempting unsuccessfully to claim political asylum.[38] Pinochet's wife, five children, and 17 other persons (including two generals, one of his ex-lawyer and his ex-secretary) were arrested in October 2007 on charges of embezzlement and use of false passports in the context of the Riggs affair. They are[needs update] accused of having illegally transferred $27m (£13.2m) to foreign bank accounts during Pinochet's rule.[39][40]

Impact in Chile

In Chile where most of the

Congress of Chile in Valparaíso.[43]

On June 22, 1999, in what is judged a direct consequence of the arrest and indictment of Pinochet, Frei Ruiz-Tagle shuffled his cabinet.[41] Arrate was changed for Carlos Mladinic and Edmundo Pérez Yoma was appointed minister of National Defense, among other changes.[41] In the Socialist Party, Arrate was part of a larger group that was contrary to the government's position.[41][42] The polarized atmosphere the detention had caused in Chile is reported to have been detrimental to the Socialist Party's candidate for the 1999–2000 Chilean presidential election, Ricardo Lagos.[42] Lagos went nevertheless to on to win the Concercación primaries defeating the Christian Democrat Andrés Zaldívar,[citation needed] and the narrowly defeated Alliance's Joaquín Lavín in the second round.[44]

Allegations during Pinochet's last days

In 2006, General

biological weapons, and in the production (under Eugenio Berríos's direction), sale and trafficking of cocaine.[45]
These allegations were never fully investigated by the Chilean courts, nor by a government commission set up to establish their veracity.

Fifteen years of investigations also revealed that Pinochet was at the center of an illegal

front companies, including the Banco Coutts International in Miami.[46] One of the deals notably included the transfer of 370 tons of weapons to Croatia, which was under UN embargo because of the war against Serbia.[46] Another involved a 1995 arms contract with Ecuador which gave rise to kickbacks, some of which ended up in Pinochet's bank accounts abroad.[47]

See also

References

  1. ^
    20minutos
    , 28 November 2006.
  2. ^ a b Más de 300 querellas abiertas Archived 1 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine, El Periódico, URL accessed on 10 September 2007 (in Spanish)
  3. 20 Minutos
    , 25 October 2006 (in Spanish)
  4. ^ ¿En qué negocios andaba Pinochet en Londres?. El secreto mundo de los armamentos." Archived 17 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Punto Final, 18 December 1998 (in Spanish)
  5. ^ "Pinochet arrested in London". The Guardian. 18 October 1998. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Europe | Pinochet arrested in London". BBC News. 17 October 1998. Archived from the original on 7 September 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  7. ^ The judgements of the House of Lords and the other British Courts which considered Pinochet's case can be found on the British and Irish Legal Information Institute Archived 28 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine website.
  8. ^
    Hastings College of Law), The Pinochet Precedent and Universal Jurisdiction Archived 1 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine in New England Law Review
    Vol. 35:2 (9 pages)
  9. ^ a b "Straw considers Pinochet case" Archived 12 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine, BBC, 25 March 1999 (in English)
  10. ^ "Thatcher pleads Pinochet's case" Archived 7 June 2004 at the Wayback Machine, BBC, 6 October 1999 (in English)
  11. ^ Former U.S. President Bush urges Pinochet release Archived 29 December 2005 at the Wayback Machine, CNN, 12 April 1999 (in English)
  12. ^ "Pinochet must go to Spain, says Amnesty" Archived 7 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine, BBC, 21 January 1999 (in English)
  13. ^ Talks set to ease Pinochet rift Archived 27 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine, BBC, 20 June 2000 (in English)
  14. ^ Youkee, Mat (4 October 2019). "Thatcher sent Pinochet finest scotch during former dictator's UK house arrest". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 October 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  15. ^ a b Belgium begins Pinochet challenge Archived 12 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine, BBC, 25 January 2000 (in English)
  16. ^ Pinochet set free Archived 16 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine, BBC, 2 March 2000 (in English)
  17. ^ Alex Bellos and Jonathan Franklin, Pinochet receives a hero's welcome on his return, The Guardian, 4 March 2000 (in English)
  18. ^ a b Pinochet arrives in Chile Archived 26 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine, BBC, 3 March 2000 (in English)
  19. ^ Thousands march against Pinochet Archived 26 May 2004 at the Wayback Machine, BBC, 4 March 2000
  20. doi:10.1093/ejil/10.2.237. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  21. S2CID 146429081
    .
  22. ^ The Ripple Effect of the Pinochet Case Archived 23 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine, Global policy.org, 2004 (in English)
  23. JSTOR 10.7591/j.ctvrs90j0
    .
  24. ^ Chile offers Pinochet new immunity Archived 26 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine, BBC, 25 March 2000 (in English)
  25. ^ a b Pinochet charged with kidnapping Archived 26 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine, BBC, 1 December 2000 (in English)
  26. ^ Pinochet 'fit enough' for trial Archived 27 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine, BBC, 16 January 2001 (in English)
  27. ^ "Pinochet arrest ordered" Archived 27 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine, BBC, 30 January 2001 (in English)
  28. ^ "The Appeals Court Ruling Is Negotiated Out for Pinochet" Archived 24 June 2002 at the Wayback Machine, Interview with Attorney Hugo Gutierrez, by Memoria y Justicia, 21 February 2002 (in English)
  29. ^ Court strips Pinochet of immunity Archived 13 March 2006 at the Wayback Machine, BBC, 14 September 2005 (in English)
  30. ^ Chile high court allows Pinochet 'Caravan of Death' case to proceed Archived 8 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine, 17 July 2006 (in English)
  31. ^ Chile court upholds Pinochet bail in one case, removes immunity in another Archived 7 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine, 11 January 2006 (in English)
  32. ^ a b Court 'lifts Pinochet immunity', BBC, 8 September 2006.
  33. ^ Levée de l'immunité de Pinochet pour le meurtre d'un chimiste Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, news agency cable, 12 October 2006 (in French)
  34. ^ Larry Rohter, Colonel's Death Gives Clues to Pinochet Arms Deals Archived 8 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, 19 June 2006 (in English)
  35. ^ Terence O'Hara, Allbrittons, Riggs to Pay Victims Of Pinochet Archived 3 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine, The Washington Post, 25 February 2005 (in English)
  36. ^ a b c David Leigh and Rob Evans, Revealed: BAE's secret £1m to Pinochet, The Guardian, 15 September 2005 (in English)
  37. ^ a b c David Leigh, Jonathan Franklin and Rob Evans, Detective story that linked £1m Pinochet cash to BAE, The Guardian, 15 September 2005 (in English)
  38. ^ "U.S. sends back Pinochet daughter" Archived 11 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine, CNN, 18 January 2006 (in English)
  39. ^ Pinochet family arrested in Chile Archived 12 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine, BBC, 4 October 2007 (in English)
  40. ^ "Cobertura Especial: Detienen a familia y principales colaboradores de Pinochet" Archived 11 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine, La Tercera, 4 October 2007 (in Spanish)
  41. ^ a b c d e f Dávila, Mireya, 2019. Veinte años de la detención de Pinochet en Londres y sus efectos en el sistema político chileno. Conference paper. University of Chile.
  42. ^ a b c d e f Huneeus, Carlos (2007). Las consecuencias del caso Pinochet en la política chilena. Centro de. Estudios de la Realidad Contemporánea.
  43. ^ A demonstration on 21 May 1999 in Valparaiso in front of the National Congress and treatment of participants by the authorities [CHL36536.E] (Report). Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. 27 February 2001.
  44. ^ "Votación País Presidencial 2ª v 1999". Electoral Service. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  45. ^ Jonathan Franklin, Pinochet 'sold cocaine to Europe and US', The Guardian, 11 July 2006 (in English)
  46. ^ a b Andrea Chaparro Solís, Generales (R) y civiles de Famae procesados en caso armas a Croacia Archived 29 June 2012 at archive.today, La Nación, 13 June 2006 (in Spanish)
  47. ^ Andrea Chaparro Solís, Consejo de Defensa del Estado se hace querellante en caso armas a Ecuador Archived 16 January 2013 at archive.today, La Nación, 5 June 2006 (in Spanish)

External links

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