Word: pinochets
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...generalissimo is not untouchable. Britain's court of appeals Wednesday ruled that General Augusto Pinochet has no immunity from prosecution, opening the way for London's courts to hear a Spanish extradition request. Violent demonstrations erupted in Chile following the decision. But with the immunity issue resolved, the final word on Pinochet's fate will now rest with the Labor party government. "They could release him on compassionate grounds," says TIME London bureau chief Barry Hillenbrand, "but there'll be strong pressure from within the party to proceed. This government has cloaked itself in the mantle of human rights...
...smell of his own fear was an unfamiliar experience for General Augusto Pinochet. That much is clear from the former Chilean dictator's statement Sunday on his detention in Britain. "My wife was the one who explained to me why I had been arrested...," Pinochet began. "I was hurt and bewildered." Even if the House of Lords this week overturns his arrest, the general's opponents will take his statement as a victory. "This is the first time Pinochet's been forced to account for himself, and he's clearly shaken," says TIME Latin America bureau chief Tim Padgett...
...Pinochet's statement defends his junta's human rights abuses on the grounds that he was at war with dangerous Marxists. But there are cracks in the general's once-stony demeanor. "I wish things could have been different," he says at one point. His claim that his arrest is "certainly not British justice" remains to be determined this week by the House of Lords -- but it won't be helped by the fact that none of the 3,000 people kidnapped and killed by his junta ever saw the inside of a courtroom. The British take a dim view...
Autumn just got chillier for Chile's patriarch. The Spanish government on Friday formalized its request to extradite General Augusto Pinochet, leaving the ex-dictator's fate in the hands of Britain's House of Lords. The bewigged Law Lords will next week rule on the legality of Pinochet's arrest by British police. If they uphold it, he could be headed for a long holiday in Spain...
...Lords are being asked to overturn a High Court ruling that Pinochet enjoys immunity for crimes allegedly committed as head of state. "The legal issues at stake here have global implications," says TIME U.N. correspondent William Dowell. "The argument being presented is that a crime against humanity cannot enjoy immunity in any circumstances. Setting that precedent would pardon dictators from Idi Amin to Karadzic -- it even would have pardoned Hitler." Meanwhile, France, Switzerland and Sweden are all completing their own extradition requests. Take a number and stand in line...