Chile: Torture: An International crime: Even one torture victime is one too many

On 24 March 1999, the United Kingdom (UK) House of Lords ruled that former General Augusto Pinochet can be extradited only for the crimes of torture and conspiracy to torture alleged to have been committed after 8 December 1988, the date on which the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UN Convention against Torture) became binding on the UK, Spain and Chile. Although the House of Lords judgment clearly stated that during the government of General Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) "appalling acts of barbarism were committed in Chile and elsewhere in the world: torture, murder and the unexplained disappearance of individuals all on a large scale", the majority of the charges were eliminated. The House of Lords held that crimes other than torture and conspiracy to torture, included in the Spanish extradition request were either not extraditable offences, that the description of the conduct did not satisfy the requirements of English law or the crimes were not crimes under international law. The Law Lords confirmed that a former head of state cannot show that to commit an international crime is to perform a function which international law protects by giving immunity. Six Law Lords agreed on the principle that torture is an international crime over which international law and the parties to the UN Convention against Torture have given universal jurisdiction to all courts wherever the torture occurs. Indeed, even one case of torture would be sufficient to permit extradition to a state able and willing to try the person accused. In their ruling, the Law Lords indicated that the UK Home Secretary, Jack Straw, can therefore, if he thinks fit, permit the extradition proceedings against Augusto Pinochet to continue on the reduced number of charges. On 29 March 1999, the Home Secretary invited all interested parties to make representations by 7 April 1999 concerning whether he should renew his authority to the UK courts to proceed to consider the extradition request by Spain in the light of the ruling by the Law Lords. He said that he would reach a decision by 15 April 1999. On 7 April 1999, Amnesty International made a submission to the UK Home Secretary, Jack Straw, together with the other third-party intervenors in the House of Lords, the Medical Foundation for the Care of the Victims of Torture, the Redress Trust, Mary Ann and Juana Francisca Beausire, Dr Sheila Cassidy and the Association of Relatives of Disappeared Prisoners. In their submission, the intervenors urged the Home Secretary not to modify the authority he signed on 9 December 1998 to proceed in the extradition process of former general Augusto Pinochet with respect to any conduct amounting to torture after 8 December 1988 or conspiracy to commit torture after that date, which is in the Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón request for extradition or in any supplemental request for extradition. The intervenors stressed in particular that each of the over 1,000 still unresolved cases of 'disappearances' continue to inflict severe pain or suffering amounting to torture until the fate of the 'disappeared' is clearly established. This can only happen if the victim 'reappears', those responsible acknowledge the facts, or an independent and impartial body clarifies what happened to the victim. The perpetrators should be brought to justice.