The Pinochet Case: Origins, Progress and Implications

by Madeleine Davis

Overview

The 1998 arrest of Senator Augusto Pinochet in London, on the orders of a Spanish judge seeking his extradition for human rights crimes, made headlines all over the world. Part of a wider, ongoing attempt by human rights activists and lawyers to prosecute the crimes of Latin American military regimes, the case has important implications for national and international law and for politics, diplomacy, and democracy. This book brings together political scientists and lawyers from Latin America, the United States, Spain, and the UK to analyze the political and historical context of the case, its progress through the courts in the UK and Chile, its handling by national governments, and its political and legal implications, both national and international. Contributors include Alan Angell (St Antony's College, Oxford), Alexandra Barahona de Brito (Instituto de Estudos Estrategicos e Internacionais and Universidade Moderna, Lisbon), Francisco Bravo López (Chilean Interior Ministry), Juan E. Garcés (1999 recipient of the Right Livelihood Award for his work in preparing the Pinochet case), Carlos Huneeus (CERC, Chile and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile), Brian Loveman (San Diego State University), Carlos Malamud (Real Instituto Elcano de Estudios Internacionales y Estratégicos, Madrid), Antonio Remiro Brotóns (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid), Naomi Roht-Arriaza (University of California, Hastings College of Law), and Diana Woodhouse (Oxford Brookes University).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781900039529
Publisher:	University of London Press
Publication date:	02/01/2003
Series:	Institute of Latin American Studies
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	266
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Madeleine Davis is lecturer in politics at Queen Mary, University of London.

Table of Contents

	Notes on Contributors	ix
	Foreword	xi
1	Introduction: Law and politics in the Pinochet case	1
	An overview of events	2
	The Chilean dimension	6
	Law vs politics in the national arena	10
	Geo-politics and international law	14
Part 1	Context
2	Kissinger and Pinochet facing universal jurisdiction	25
	The international context for the rise and consolidation of a criminal state in Chile	26
	Kissinger's retrospective view in 2001	29
	International law, crimes against humanity and universal criminal jurisdiction	35
3	Constitutional and political foundations of impunity in Chile	43
	Internal security, the armed forces and military law in the Iberian tradition	44
	The military fuero and jurisdiction of military tribunals over civilians Fusion of military and civilian authority	47
	Nation-building, constitutions and the armed forces after Independence	51
	Regimes of exception	52
	National security and military law	53
	Chile 1973-1990	56
	Immunity, impunity and the Pinochet case: hope for the future?	60
4	The Pinochet factor in Chilean politics	63
	The Pinochet project	65
	Creating the new institutional and constitutional structure	66
	Democratising the Pinochet structure	69
	Civil--military relations	71
	The changing attitudes of the military	72
	The Supreme Court and the role of the judiciary	75
	Pinochet, the civilian right and public opinion	79
	Conclusion	82
Part 2	Legal Progress
5	The progress of Pinochet through the UK extradition procedure; an analysis of the legal challenges and judicial decisions	87
	Pinochet challenges the validity of the warrants (Pinochet 1)	88
	The Home Secretary exercises his discretion	94
	Pinochet challenges the House of Lords decision (Pinochet 2)	96
	The House of Lords rehears the appeal (Pinochet 3)	99
	The case returns to the Home Secretary	103
	Conclusion	105
6	The Pinochet case in the Chilean courts	107
	Preliminary issues	107
	Justice in the democratic transition	111
	Pinochet's trial	112
	The Special Judges	120
	Conclusion	121
Part 3	Politics
7	The politics of the Pinochet case in the United Kingdom	125
	The arrest	127
	Political pressures at the start of the case	130
	A matter for the courts	134
	A changed context	139
	Conclusion	144
8	Spanish public opinion and the Pinochet case	145
	Spanish justice	145
	The Spanish government and the extradition proceedings	151
	Social forces	156
	The Opposition	159
	The press	163
	Conclusion	167
9	The consequences of the Pinochet case for Chilean politics	169
	Augusto Pinochet: a strong dictator with popular support	170
	The position of the government and Concertacion parties	173
	The response of the army	177
	The right-wing and business leaders	180
	Internal factors favouring Pinochet's trial in Chile	184
	Conclusion	188
Part 4	Implications and Effects
10	Of catalysts and cases: transnational prosecutions and impunity in Latin America	191
	Amnesty, domestic investigations and the role of the judiciary	192
	Developments within Argentina	194
	Related cases in other national courts	198
	The Guatemalan experience	207
	Conclusion	210
11	The Pinochet case and the changing boundaries of democracy	212
	Transnationalising the search for justice: four cases	213
	Elite pacts and popular sovereignty: who are 'the people'?	220
	Shifting sovereign boundaries and the impact on democratic governance	222
	National courts, international jurisdiction	225
	Obstacles in the way of universal justice	227
	Conclusion	229
12	International law after the Pinochet case	231
	The principle of universal criminal jurisdiction	232
	A series of immunities	239
	Universal jurisdiction: an international criminal court	242
	Conclusion	249
	Select bibliography	252
	Index	261