Dictator evades justice in death

SANTIAGO – The death of General Augusto Pinochet sparked champagne-soaked celebrations, skirmishes with police and displays of lasting devotion as Chileans took an anguished look back at the dictator who brutally ruled for 17 years.

For victims, Pinochet’s demise dashed hopes that he would ever face justice for the torture and killings that were the hallmarks of his 1973-1990 regime. Pinochet overthrew socialist President Salvador Allende at a time when the US was working to destabilise his Marxist government and keep Chile from exporting communism in Latin America.But the world reacted in horror as Santiago’s main soccer stadium filled with political prisoners to be tortured, killed or forced into exile.Although his dictatorship laid the groundwork for South America’s most stable economy, Pinochet will be remembered as the archetype of the era’s repressive rulers who proliferated throughout Latin America and, in many cases, were secretly supported by the United States.Chile’s government says at least 3 197 people were killed for political reasons during Pinochet’s rule, but courts allowed the aging general to escape hundreds of criminal complaints as his health declined.”This criminal has departed without ever being sentenced for all the acts he was responsible for during his dictatorship,” lamented Hugo Gutierrez, a human rights lawyer involved in several lawsuits against Pinochet.Lorena Pizarro, president of an association of relatives of the dictatorship’s victims, called Pinochet genocidal and said it was ironic he had died “on December 10, the international day of human rights”.But the office of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Pinochet’s staunchest ally in Britain, said she was “greatly saddened” by his death.While some former US presidents quietly supported Pinochet, the current administration of George W Bush has good ties with Chile’s free-market Socialist President Michelle Bachelet, whose father, a Pinochet opponent, died after being tortured in prison.”Our thoughts today are with the victims of his reign and their families,” said White House spokesman Tony Fratto.Chile’s government said on Sunday that Pinochet will not receive the state funeral normally granted to former presidents, but only military honours at the Santiago military academy.Recently, Bachelet said it would be “a violation of my conscience” to attend a state funeral for him.As he requested, Pinochet will be cremated, according to son Marco Antonio, to avoid desecration of his tomb by “people who always hated him”.Pinochet took power on September 11 1973, demanding an unconditional surrender from Allende as warplanes bombed the presidential palace.Instead, Allende committed suicide with a submachine gun he had received as a gift from Fidel Castro.Pinochet disbanded Congress, banned political activity and crushed dissent.Chile’s economy was already in ruins when he launched a radical free-market programme that at first triggered financial collapse and dire unemployment.But it opened the way for South America’s healthiest economy, which has grown by five per cent to seven per cent a year since 1984.Pinochet lost an October 1988 referendum to extend his rule, then lost an election to Patricio Alywin, whose centre-left coalition has ruled Chile since 1990.Pinochet avoided prosecution for years after his presidency.But in 1998, after travelling to London for back surgery, he was placed under house arrest when a Spanish judge issued a warrant seeking to try him for human rights violations.British authorities decided he was too ill to stand trial and sent him home in March 2000.Back in Chile, more than 200 criminal complaints were filed against him.Although he was under house arrest at the time of his death, no case ever reached trial because of his poor health.On his 91st birthday – less than a month before his death – his wife read a statement by him saying he took “political responsibility for everything that was done, which had no other goal than making Chile greater and avoiding its disintegration”.Nampa-APPinochet overthrew socialist President Salvador Allende at a time when the US was working to destabilise his Marxist government and keep Chile from exporting communism in Latin America.But the world reacted in horror as Santiago’s main soccer stadium filled with political prisoners to be tortured, killed or forced into exile.Although his dictatorship laid the groundwork for South America’s most stable economy, Pinochet will be remembered as the archetype of the era’s repressive rulers who proliferated throughout Latin America and, in many cases, were secretly supported by the United States.Chile’s government says at least 3 197 people were killed for political reasons during Pinochet’s rule, but courts allowed the aging general to escape hundreds of criminal complaints as his health declined.”This criminal has departed without ever being sentenced for all the acts he was responsible for during his dictatorship,” lamented Hugo Gutierrez, a human rights lawyer involved in several lawsuits against Pinochet.Lorena Pizarro, president of an association of relatives of the dictatorship’s victims, called Pinochet genocidal and said it was ironic he had died “on December 10, the international day of human rights”.But the office of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Pinochet’s staunchest ally in Britain, said she was “greatly saddened” by his death.While some former US presidents quietly supported Pinochet, the current administration of George W Bush has good ties with Chile’s free-market Socialist President Michelle Bachelet, whose father, a Pinochet opponent, died after being tortured in prison.”Our thoughts today are with the victims of his reign and their families,” said White House spokesman Tony Fratto.Chile’s government said on Sunday that Pinochet will not receive the state funeral normally granted to former presidents, but only military honours at the Santiago military academy.Recently, Bachelet said it would be “a violation of my conscience” to attend a state funeral for him.As he requested, Pinochet will be cremated, according to son Marco Antonio, to avoid desecration of his tomb by “people who always hated him”.Pinochet took power on September 11 1973, demanding an unconditional surrender from Allende as warplanes bombed the presidential palace.Instead, Allende committed suicide with a submachine gun he had received as a gift from Fidel Castro.Pinochet disbanded Congress, banned political activity and crushed dissent.Chile’s economy was already in ruins when he launched a radical free-market programme that at first triggered financial collapse and dire unemployment.But it opened the way for South America’s healthiest economy, which has grown by five per cent to seven per cent a year since 1984.Pinochet lost an October 1988 referendum to extend his rule, then lost an election to Patricio Alywin, whose centre-left coalition has ruled Chile since 1990.Pinochet avoided prosecution for years after his presidency.But in 1998, after travelling to London for back surgery, he was placed under house arrest when a Spanish judge issued a warrant seeking to try him for human rights violations.British authorities decided he was too ill to stand trial and sent him home in March 2000.Back in Chile, more than 200 criminal complaints were filed against him.Although he was under house arrest at the time of his death, no case ever reached trial because of his poor health.On his 91st birthday – less than a month before his death – his wife read a statement by him saying he took “political responsibility for everything that was done, which had no other goal than making Chile greater and avoiding its disintegration”.Nampa-AP