A step in the right direction towards international justice

The arrest of former President Augusto Pinochet, ten years ago (on 16th October), marked a historical global precedent for the future of international human rights law.

Pinochet’s arrest made a dramatic impact not only within Chile, by offering justice for the relatives of victims who had been tortured, murdered or forcibly disappeared during the Chilean regime; but also for international law, confirming the rule of universal jurisdiction and leading to the investigations, prosecutions and sentences of perpetrators worldwide (including heads of states).

Pinochet’s arrest also marked a significant milestone in Amnesty International’s work against impunity and for the application of international justice.

Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand in particular took a lead by being the first section to protest the “goodwill” visits of Chilean naval training ship the Esmeralda to protest its historic use as a torture vessel, to remember the victims and to bring the torturers to justice. Today Amnesty International sections around the world actively protest the presence of the Esmeralda in their ports.

“Despite numerous victims’ testimonies documenting the Esmeralda being used as a floating torture centre during Pinochet’s rule, the Chilean government has never officially acknowledged the ship’s bloody history,” says Rebecca Emery, Amnesty’s spokesperson.

As this year’s general New Zealand election nears, Amnesty is also working to ensure that New Zealand’s future leaders commit to opposing impunity for perpetrators of torture, helping to ensure justice for the victims of torture and ill-treatment.

In New Zealand’s most comprehensive pre-election survey on human rights, Amnesty has documented that 64% of all New Zealand election candidates who have responded to the survey are against torture practices and would speak up against them. Furthermore, 6% of candidates would refuse to ally with nations that are known to use torture practices.

“New Zealand can be proud of its historic commitment to international human rights and we challenge our elected representatives to continue this tradition of speaking out against grave human rights abuses,” says Emery.

Background

Chile under Pinochet’s rule
On 11 September 1973 General Augusto Pinochet led a bloody coup d'etat against the democratically elected Allende government in Chile. Pinochet’s military junta embarked on a programme of repression against his opponents including political persecution, mass arrests, systematic torture and “disappearances” and secret detentions and executions. More than 1100 people were forcefully disappeared, more than 2000 were unlawfully killed and several thousands were tortured by the military forces between 1973 and 1990. Pinochet gave himself immunity from prosecution from almost all of these crimes as a senator for life in Chile, making it unlikely he would ever  face trial there.

While visiting the United Kingdom for medical reasons, the former military dictator was indicted by Spanish magistrate Baltasar Garzón on 16 October 1998, for crimes against humanity committed in his own country.


The Esmeralda
The Chilean naval training ship Esmeralda makes yearly training voyages visiting ports around the world acting as a "roving" embassy for Chile. In 1973, the Esmeralda was used as a floating torture chamber and prison during Pinochet’s rule.

Amnesty International has documented and published a number of testimonies from victims of torture on board the Esmeralda. At least 110 political prisoners were interrogated aboard this ship for more than two weeks without charge or trial. To this day, Chilean authorities continue to deny these allegations; no one has ever been prosecuted for these crimes, and none of the victims have been acknowledged.

Amnesty International’s Election ‘08 Campaign: Putting human rights at the heart of the debate
Over the past few months Amnesty International has conducted New Zealand’s largest pre-election survey on human rights, gathering responses from all election candidates to gauge their views on human rights issues such as human rights in the Asia-Pacific region, violence against women, and torture and the War on Terror. Over 100 candidates and parties have responded to Amnesty’s survey, click here to read all responses

Click here for a special Amnesty offer - Jorge Sandoval relives his Chilean ordeal under Pinochet's dictatorship, in a revealing new book, Surviving Pinochet.