PINOCHET LOSES IMMUNITY BID Fate of former Chilean dictator rests with British cabinet minister
Britain's highest court ruled November 25 against former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet's claim of diplomatic immunity from arrest and extradition. A House of Lords tribunal ruled in a 3-2 vote that, in the words of Lord Justice Johan Steyn, Pinochet's alleged crimes were no more part of a head of state's functions than "murdering his gardener or arranging the torture of his opponents for the sheer spectacle of it."
The decision may lead to Pinochet's extradition to Spain to answer charges of genocide, torture and terrorism during his 1973-1990 regime, when more than 3,000 people were killed or "disappeared." Pinochet has been under police guard at a London hospital since October 16 on a warrant from Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón, who is investigating the general's "crimes against humanity." British Home Secretary Jack Straw has until December 2 to decide whether to honor Garzón's extradition request.
YOU CAN DO TWO THINGS
1. Contact British Home Secretary Jack Straw with this message: "Accept the Spanish court's extradition request for Pinochet on the grounds that he is charged with well-documented 'crimes against humanity.' " CONTACT: Rt. Honorable Jack Straw, MP, Home Secretary. Phone: 011-44-171-273-4000. Fax: 011-44-171-273-2190. E-mail: gen.ho at gtnet.gov.uk. Amnesty International offers a sample letter at http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news/index.html.
2. Contact U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno with this message: "Cooperate fully with the Spanish court's request for all classified documents from U.S. investigations into Pinochet's human-rights violations, and reopen the investigation into the 1976 murders of former Chilean Foreign Minister Orlando Letelier and his aide Ronnie Moffitt in Washington D.C., naming Pinochet as a co-conspirator." CONTACT: Honorable Janet Reno, U.S. Attorney General. Phone: (202) 514-2063. Fax: (202) 514-4507. E-Mail: web at justice.usdoj.gov (in subject line, put "A.G. Janet Reno").
Tom Kruse Casilla 5812 / Cochabamba, Bolivia Tel/Fax: (591-4) 248242 Email: tkruse at albatros.cnb.net