Court Strips Chile's Pinochet of Immunity

[maddezmom]

SANTIAGO, Chile - A court on Friday stripped Gen. Augusto Pinochet (news - web sites) of his immunity from prosecution, paving the way for the trial of the former Chilean dictator on human rights charges.



The court voted 14-9 to lift the immunity the 88-year-old Pinochet enjoys as former president, a court clerk said.


The decision may still be appealed before the Supreme Court, which has repeatedly ruled that Pinochet is physically and mentally unfit to stand trial.

~snip~

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040528/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/chile_pinochet_1

[Nlighten1]

1. Get his ass....

To prison with that bastard!

[gratuitous]

2. Bad news, Henry

Looks like people have longer memories than some of the butchers thought. And if a supposedly immutable law can be overturned, then what's to stop the Iraqis from breaking the contracts that Bremer is currently setting up with the profiteers?

Very bad news indeed for some.

Very good news for freedom-loving people of good will all over the globe.

[maddezmom]

5. the timing of the release of the Nixon tapes couln't be better n/t

[derby378]

3. YES!!!

Now playing Karate Schnitzel from Tenacious D's album to celebrate the eventual trial of Pinochet...

[struggle4progress]

13. And yippee!

[Merlin]

4. This must be partially a response to yesterday's unveiling of Kissinger's

notes which pretty much put solidly on the record the US involvement in the coup.

I hope this son of a bitch dies a miserable death knowing his country will hold him in eternal ignominy for what he did. Would that the same could be true for Richard Helms and Henry Kissinger.

God bless the women who, for many years, as Sting's song reminded us, used to "Dance Alone" in the grand plaza to mourn and protest the loss of their "disappeared" husbands and sons.

The tragedy for America is that 36 years later we are still toppling democratically elected governments in Latin America. And the greater tragedy is that Americans don't seem to care.

[mmm]

11. Amen to that

I hope there is a place called hell

[Judi Lynn]

20. So glad you mentioned that eloquent song.

Last verse:

Hey Mr. Pinochet
You've sown a bitter crop
It's foreign money that supports you
One day the money's going to stop
No wages for your torturers
No budget for your guns
Can you think of your own mother
Dancin' with her invisible son
They're dancing with the missing
They're dancing with the dead
They dance with the invisible ones
They're anguish is unsaid
They're dancing with their fathers
They're dancing with their sons
They're dancing with their husbands
They dance alone
They dance alone

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/sting/theydancealone.html

Kissinger,Pinochet

[Tracer]

6. As I recall, ...

... about 4 years ago, Pinochet was on trial in London ... but got off the hook due to age and infirmity.

I hope this doesn't happen again.

[UpInArms]

7. related article: US helped oust Allende in '73 coup

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/05/27/1085641649381.html

The Kissinger transcripts include several episodes that appear at odds with the former secretary of state's own version of events, such as his claim that Washington had nothing to do with the September 1973 military coup in Chile that toppled the democratically elected, leftist government of Salvador Allende.

"We didn't do it," Dr Kissinger told Richard Nixon, "I mean we helped them. (unintelligible) created the conditions as great as possible."

Peter Kornbluh, a Latin America specialist at the National Security Archive, said the passage appeared to mark an acknowledgement by Dr Kissinger that US policy paved the way for the coup that brought Augusto Pinochet to power. "It's diametrically opposed to the account he provides in his memoirs," said Mr Kornbluh.

...more...

Kissinger needs to prepare himself for trial and prison.

[peacetalksforall]

8. Kissinger is one immigrant that they should have closed the doors on.

See the tragedy that an Open Arms immigration policy has meant for mankind. One little visa for that criminal and look what he brought us and the world. I hope he is exposed. Big Time.

The people of Latin America need a little justice.

What this country has done has got to get through to the see-no-evil so-called patriots of this country.

[peacetalksforall]

9. Read the Secret History of the CIA by Trento for some Chile background.

[wicket]

17. Where is Kissinger from originally?

[maddezmom]

18. Germany...here a quick bio

~~
Dr. Kissinger was born in Fuerth, Germany, on May 27, 1923, came to the United States in 1938, and was naturalised a United States citizen on June 19, 1943. He received the BA Degree Summa Cum Laude at Harvard College in 1950 and the MA and PhD Degrees at Harvard University in 1952 and 1954 respectively.
~~
http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1973/kissinger-bio.html

[maddezmom]

19. great link on Kissinger on BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/feature_kissinger.shtml

[Judi Lynn]

10. Great news for those who had given up hope on justice in Chile.

Pinochet liked to say that no blade of grass moved in Chile without his order.
http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/article/0,13005,901020701-265371,00.html

[D-Notice]

12. One thing...

Wasn't the Chilean constitution written by Pinochet? Sure I read it somewhere

[gratuitous]

15. I don't know if it was Pinochet personally

But his cronies for sure wrote it into the constitution and Pinochet and his fellow perps would be immune from prosecution. A neat little trick. Until it didn't work anymore.

Henry Kissinger's world where he can live and move and have his being has just grown a little smaller. Again.

[meow2u3]

16. I wouldn't be surprised if Bushco tried this same stunt

When he's deposed from the office he stole--thanks to the Fascist Five and a Rethug Congress!!!

[newyawker99]

23. Hi english guy!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Ann Arbor Dem]

14. It's about damned time....

Pinochet should be made to live out whatever years he has left in a dungeon full of rats.

[daleo]

21. He can apply for political asylum in the U.S.

Kissinger could use a roommate. Bush would probably like swapping torture stories.

[dArKeR]

22. Pinochet can stand trial in Chile

A Chilean court stripped General Augusto Pinochet on Friday of his immunity from prosecution, paving the way for the trial of the former Chilean dictator on human-rights charges.

The court voted 14-9 to lift the immunity that the 88-year-old Pinochet enjoys as former president, a court clerk said.

The decision may still be appealed before the Supreme Court, which has repeatedly ruled that Gen. Pinochet is physically and mentally unfit to stand trial.

Human-rights lawyers have sued him in connection with the deaths of several Chileans in the so-called Operation Condor, a repression plan implemented by the military dictatorships that ruled South America's southern cone countries in the 1970s and 1980s.

http://theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040528.wpino0528/BNStory/International/

FRIENDLY DICTATORS TRADING CARDS
http://home.iprimus.com.au/korob/fdtcards/SouthAmerica.html

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

24. Trading cards -- they should have chosen another Brazilian

Castello Branco was actually very tame -- the one that followed, Arthur da Costa e Silva, on the other hand, was a butcher of the highest order. Emílio Médici (the third) was right up there too.