10 28 2014 The Pinochet Case When he stepped down he had created multiple layers of immunity for himself Amnesty law prohibiting prosecutions for crimes that occurred 1973 1978 when most of the killings took place the first 5 years of his dictatorship Had immunity as Senator for Life Truth Commission could only investigate cases ending in death He still had a tremendous amount of power once voted out All this meant to guarantee that neither he nor the military would ever be brought to justice But the international legal landscape was changing Universal Jurisdiction introduced 1990s The ability of any country to prosecute the worst human rights offenders wherever they are found Based on the old English piracy laws pirates can be hung by A number of countries add Universal Jurisdiction to their laws in the o Spain Denmark France Israel Belgium Netherlands whoever finds them 90s it had to be ratified Germany UN Convention Against Torture CAT Adapted by the UN in 1984 Both Britain and the USA ratify CAT Establishes universal jurisdiction for the prosecution of torturers Torturers can be prosecuted wherever they are found as long as there is a victim in that country No statute of limitations on torture o Some crimes can expire if not prosecuted in a certain No sovereign immunity you cannot order torture as a head of state amount of time and enjoy immunity o Legal doctrine that normally says that heads of state cannot be prosecuted for things they do while they re in office Countries not willing to prosecute a torturer must extradite the suspect to a country with jurisdiction o Obligation of this convention In the early 1990s Chilean torture survivors living in Spain they were refugees begin to file criminal lawsuits against Pinochet Under command control theory Judge Baltasar Garzon put in charge of investigating their cases He begins tracking where Pinochet travels Learns that Pinochet visits Great Britain frequently as an arms dealer and for shopping and medical trips and to visit his good friend Margaret Thatcher Garzon knows that Britain has ratified the CAT and also has an extradition treaty with Spain Garzon waits until Pinochet visits England for back surgery in 1998 and issues an arrest warrant for him on charges of torture o He is arrested by Scotland Yard detectives in GB on charges of torture o People were dumbfounded Case becomes a 2 year international legal battle Goes all the way to the Law Lords Britain s Supreme Court o Pinochet under house arrest in GB this entire time o Maggie Thatcher visits him weekly for tea First time the CAT is tested in national courts March 2000 CAT upheld by the Law Lords o They have to follow through But Britain decides that Pinochet is too ill to face trial in Spain o Chooses instead to return him to Chile to face trial in his home country Boards plane in wheelchair leaves plane walking Upon arrival the Chilean military embraces their hero o But chile has changed while he was away Chilean Supreme Court revokes his immunity He is indicted on charges of torture and forced disappearances Entirely thanks to the international community 1973 Caravana de la Muerte helicopter death squad this helicopter went all over Chile with a hit list and secretly killed and buried these several hundred people It was the only time that Pinochet had ever signed a military order for human rights violations this order was saved by the general it was given to New judicial interpretation on investigation of forced disappearances Until the body has been found the case is one of kidnapping and not covered by amnesty law This allows for it to be prosecuted Or the military had to show where the body was and then they could take advantage of the amnesty law otherwise they would be prosecuted Pinochet claims dementia in 2001 to avoid prosecution He gets away with it Chilean court rules he has suffered speech and memory loss Charges are revoked but Pinochet has to resign as Senator for Life and retire from public life 2003 radio interview with Univision in Miami Pinochet laughs and jokes about escaping prosecution has no memory or speech issues 2004 Chilean Supreme Court revoked his immunity and resumes prosecution for war crimes and tortures Adds new charge of financial corruption he had stolen a ton of He finally loses all credibility Pinochet dies under house arrest on Dec 10 2006 Human Rights Day at age of 91 Pinochet Case Legacy Heads of State can be prosecuted for torture no sovereign immunity The CAT really is binding Universal jurisdiction has real teeth 10 28 2014 Nov 4 Part III Human Rights and Refugee Law Result of the Holocaust 2 types grew form this Human Rights Law Refugee Law Allies liberate German concentration camps and find millions of displaced people who have lost their homes and families And many don t want to return Millions of displaced persons at end of war State of Israel founded for displaced European Jews Many countries realize that they had contributed to the death toll because of their refusal to take in the Jewish refugees o Very few allowed refugees in SS St Louis voyage of the damned Ship carrying 900 Jewish refugees from Germany in may 1939 They all got visas to go to Cuba Headed to Cuba but turned away The government had changed and denied them They then tried to land in Miami FDR and US Coast Guard prevent ship from landing in Florida Ship forced to return to Europe Almost all passengers ultimately perish in the Holocaust Signifies one of our own failures to help refugees Refugee Law Postwar spread of communism leads to refugee flows from behind the Iron Curtain divided free world from communist world o Not only Jewish people that had been rescued but also others fleeing communism o Russian troops occupy Eastern Bloc countries No democracies 1949 89 huge divide Berlin Wall divides a city and the Free World huge symbol of repression UN High Commission for Refugees UNHCR created o Specializes in handling refugee flows UN Refugee Convention created 1951 o Binding multilateral treaty Definition of Refugee a person outside of their country who has a well founded fear of persecution on account of Race religion nationality political opinion or particular social group called the 5 enumerated grounds Not everyone who leaves their country is a refugee What the definition excludes Internally displaced people still within their home country People who flee their homeland for economic reasons People fleeing natural disasters People who are fleeing
View Full Document
Unlocking...