The Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet died aged 91 this month

Thursday 21 December 2006 at 10:54 pm | In News | 1 Comment

In December 1998 the House of Lords voted in favour of Pinochet’s extradition to answer torture charges against Spanish citizens; two voted against three voted for, including Lord Hoffman.
However, Lord Hoffmann had failed to disclose that since 1990 he had been an unpaid director of Amnesty International Charity Limited and his wife Gillian had worked for Amnesty for 21 years.
Amnesty had campaigned for Pinochet to be brought to justice and because of Hoffmann’s links; the Law Lords’ decision was set aside.

Reversing a House of Lords judgment in this way was unprecedented; reversing is normally exercised by a higher court over the judgment of a lower court.

Eventually the Law Lords ruled that Pinochet should face extradition. But in March 2000 the then Home Secretary, Jack Straw ruled that Pinochet should be released on medical grounds. He returned to Chile. Pinochet ruled the South American country from 1973 when he seized power in a military coup during which elected president Salvador Allende was killed. He remained in power until 1990.
Between 1973 and 1990 more than 3,000 Chileans were killed and thousands tortured. He was arrested in London in 1998 but he avoided lengthy attempts to extradite him to Spain to answer torture charges against Spanish citizens.

Baroness Thatcher remained loyal to Pinochet and pressed for his release after his arrest in London in 1998 because he alone had remained loyal to the UK during the Falkland Campaign. Margaret Thatcher would not have spoken up for him if she had believed him a monster in any event the legal case against him was weak and the motivation of those involved suspect.

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  1. now you can read my Iranian stories in english http://www.mehdikavandi.com the link is my micro stories
    thanks
    Mehdi Kavandi

    Comment by Mehdi — Saturday 23 December 2006 5:52 am #

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