CHILE'S DICTATOR DIES

On December 10, the notorious 91-year old former dictator of Chile, Gen. Augusto Pinochet, died of heart complications in a military hospital in Santiago, Chile.

Pinochet took power in a U.S.-supported coup in 1973 that toppled Chile’s elected government, headed by Salvador Allende. Allende was killed in the assault on the presidential palace, although a military statement shortly after the coup claimed he had committed suicide. Pinochet’s repressive, dictatorial rule, which lasted until 1990, was marked by torture, enforced disappearances, and murders numbering in the tens of thousands. Countless individuals still remain missing and unaccounted for today, as successive governments in Chile continue to document the abuses.

After stepping down as President in 1990, Pinochet maintained the powerful position of head of the army until 1997. That same year, he granted himself the status of senator for life in an effort to retain political amnesty. He finally gave up his senator for life position in 2002, claiming mental incompetence and other physical ailments. These alleged infirmities helped him sidestep hundreds of court cases filed against him, the most notable of which was a 1996 case filed in Spain, charging the former dictator with gross human rights violations and international terrorism. In 1998, while Pinochet was traveling to London, Spain petitioned the British authorities to detain Pinochet and extradite him to Spain to stand trial. While Britain’s House of Lords initially upheld a part of the Spanish charges, Pinochet was ultimately deemed unfit to stand trial and remained under house arrest in Britain and then in Chile.

Notwithstanding significant developments in international law and strong international and domestic pressure to hold Pinochet criminally accountable for his crimes, Pinochet evaded justice until the end.

Updated December 11, 2006

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