Chile: Probes of Pinochet-Era Crimes Face Shut Down

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15 Apr 2005 18:30:18 GMT

Source: Human Rights Watch

(Santiago, April 15, 2005) - The Chilean Supreme Court should reconsider its decision to end the mandate of the special judges investigating human rights violations committed under the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, a group of leading international human rights organizations said today in an urgent appeal made in support of their Chilean counterparts. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists said that the Chilean Supreme Court's termination of the mandate of the special judges, due on July 25, 2005, would be the most serious reverse for justice and accountability for past human rights violations since Chile returned to democratic rule in 1990.

Beginning in 2001, the court had assigned some appellate and first instance judges the task of exclusively or preferentially investigating human rights cases, of which more than 350 are still open.

"In the past four years, these special judges have made more progress on these cases than the whole judiciary did in the previous quarter century," said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. "It would be a tragedy if these advances were halted, just when a spark of hope has reignited for thousands of relatives of Pinochet's victims."

The appeal was made at a press conference in Santiago attended by representatives of the Association of Relatives of the Disappeared (AFDD), the Association of Relatives of Victims of Political Execution (AFEP), the Foundation for Social Assistance of the Christian Churches (FASIC), the Corporation for the Promotion and Defense of Peoples' Rights (CODEPU), the Center for Mental Health and Human Rights (CINTRAS), The Human Rights Program of Diego Portales University, the Chilean section of Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HRW/00f6eb67e8ceb32399535a2a26719e87.htm