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WSWS : News & Analysis : South & Central America
Chilean government to make presentation to the Pinochet hearing
By Julie Hyland
16 January, 1999
The House of Lords has ruled that the Chilean government will be able to
make representations to next week's hearing to decide if General Augusto
Pinochet is immune from prosecution for human rights abuses.
The decision was made on Wednesday, after written representation from the
Chilean government. Stating that it did not wish to provide a "personal
shield" for the former dictator, the government went on to argue that in
the interests of Chile's national sovereignty, any investigation and trial
of Pinochet should take place only in the country's own courts.
Lord Browne-Wilkinson, chairman of the panel of three Law Lords hearing the
representation, ruled that it would be wrong to exclude the Chilean
government and that it should be able to make both written and oral
representations at the new hearing, which begins on Monday. He also ruled
that, given the lateness of its application, the government should serve an
account of its case on all other parties to the hearing by no later than
20.00 hours, GMT, on Thursday.
Alun Jones QC, acting for the Spanish government which is seeking
Pinochet's extradition for trial on charges of torture, hostage-taking and
conspiracy to murder, had earlier objected to the Chilean government's
application. Its late arrival, and uncertainty over the issues it would
raise, aroused fears that "it will lead to not only a longer hearing, but a
more difficult one, which could have been avoided by putting in heads of
argument long ago," he argued.
The Law Lords had ruled in November that the general had no immunity from
arrest and extradition to Spain. That ruling was overturned following
allegations of possible bias by Lord Hoffmann, who had failed to declare
his links with the human rights organisation Amnesty International.
As the country's highest court, the legal challenge against the House of
Lords ruling--especially on the grounds of possible bias--is unprecedented.
Consequently, the British legal system has entered uncharted territory
under conditions in which it is dealing with an already highly contentious
and internationally high profile case.
In an effort to restore its credibility, seven judges, instead of five,
will hear the arguments next week. The Law Lords also agreed that a group
headed by Amnesty International would be able to make representations,
although it restricted the Human Rights Watch organisation to making
written submissions.
Nonetheless, the Lords efforts at impartiality are being severely strained.
The charge of bias saw Pinochet's lawyers objecting to the inclusion of
Lord Woolf in next week's panel, after they learned of his invitation to
host an Amnesty International fundraiser. Woolf's decision not to
participate in that event--because of his possible role in the forthcoming
hearing--prevented the challenge against him, but he has now declined to
sit.
Lord Browne-Wilkinson, the senior Law Lord who earlier declared his
governorship of the British Institute of Human Rights, is included in the
seven-judge line-up. But he is one of the four judges who overturned the
earlier ruling by the panel that included Lord Hoffmann. The panel will
also include Lord Millett, a high ranking freemason; Lord Hutton, the
former Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland where Britain has been
condemned for human rights abuses; and Lord Phillips, who presided over the
Maxwell fraud trial that resulted in a whitewash.
See Also:
The Pinochet extradition
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