Word: arresting
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Next Monday, almost a year after his arrest by British law enforcement authorities, former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet's extradition trial will begin in London. In the months since his arrest, the intense debate about his case has, interestingly enough, not centered on whether he did what he is accused of. Indeed, the gravity of these accusations has been almost forgotten amid the flurry of debate about the case...
...command were responsible for acts of murder, torture, kidnapping and international terrorism. Moreover, they have presented the Spanish magistrate with newly available evidence showing that this campaign of terror was directed by the dictator himself. In response, the magistrate issued indictments against Pinochet, and put out the international arrest warrant that led to his detention...
Simply put, the lawyers for Pinochet's victims got indictments in Spain, and not Chile, because the general was still a powerful man up to the day of his arrest. Before resigning his dictatorial post in 1990, Pinochet decreed that he and his subordinates would be immune from prosecution for their crimes, even after he stepped down. He then used his authority while Chile's constitution was being written to ensure that this decree could never be repealed without his consent. Since 1990, Chilean courts have consistently been forced to uphold this immunity decree; cases against Pinochet in Chilean courts...
These dire predictions have been proven wrong, largely because they misunderstand the relationship between justice and democracy. For the sizable percentage of Chile's population with relatives or friends who were victims of Pinochet's terror, his arrest had positive consequences. For these people, long overdue justice is starting to materialize, lending the idea of democracy a fuller meaning. Democracy has not only been made fuller for the victims and their families, but Pinochet's arrest has made the democratic transition more secure. According to a recent Washington Post article, the psychological effects of Pinochet's arrest in Chile have...
Perhaps the most important consequence of Pinochet's arrest is not a benefit that the Chilean people will receive now, but one that the citizens of some country, sometime in the future will receive. By demonstrating that nations will take seriously their obligation to prosecute genocidal and terrorist leaders, Spain and Britain have demonstrated to the world that such leaders will face prosecution and imprisonment. Perhaps this demonstration will make leaders think twice in the future before wiping out ethnic, religious or political groups that they dislike...