Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 11:41:26 -0800
From: Sid Shniad <•••@••.•••>
Subject: PINOCHET MAY HAVE HAD CIA GO-AHEAD TO KILL TWO AMERICANS,
DOCUMENTS SHOW - The Guardian (London)
The Guardian (London) Monday February 14, 2000
PINOCHET MAY HAVE HAD CIA GO-AHEAD TO KILL TWO AMERICANS, DOCUMENTS SHOW
By Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles
The CIA may have given General Augusto Pinochet's govern-
ment the go-ahead to murder the young American writer on whom
the film Missing was based, according to newly declassified docu-
ments. The revelation is likely to weaken Gen Pinochet's case that
he was unaware of atrocities committed by his secret police when
he was Chile's dictator.
Two US citizens, Charles Horman, 31, and Frank Teruggi, 24,
were killed in Chile in 1973 following the military coup that over-
threw President Salvador Allende.
Both men had been supporters of Allende and had worked for a
newsletter sympathetic to him in the capital, Santiago.
Horman had spotted US warships off the Chilean coast at Val-
paraiso shortly after the coup and had believed this showed signs of
American connivance. Horman was given a lift back to Santiago by
a US military captain two days before he disappeared. His story
was told in Costa-Gavras's 1982 film Missing, which starred Jack
Lemmon.
Teruggi, a friend of Horman's, was arrested by the secret po-
lice, held at the National Stadium in Santiago and had his throat
slashed.
The US government released papers about the deaths in 1980,
apparently exonerating the US of any involvement. But some
documents remained classified. Now President Clinton has ordered
the declassification of "all documents that shed light on human
rights abuses... during and prior to the Pinochet era in Chile."
One declassified document states: "US intelligence may have
played a part in Horman's death. At best, it was limited to provid-
ing or confirming information that helped motivate his murder by
the government of Chile. At worst, US intelligence was aware the
government saw Horman in a rather serious light and US officials
did nothing to discourage the logical outcome of government of
Chile paranoia."
The declassified material giving details of a subsequent inquiry
carried out by the American authorities into the deaths states: "[The
CIA] may have played an unfortunate part in Horman's death."
The implication is that the CIA indicated to the Chilean military
that Horman was a danger who could be eliminated without too
much risk of a fuss from the US.
Henry Kissinger, who was secretary of state during the period,
told the New York Times, which published the declassified material
yesterday, that if he had been made aware of the matter, he "would
have done something".
Horman's widow, Joyce, is now pressing the government for a
fuller investigation into the links between the US government and
Gen Pinochet.
The former army captain, Ray Davis, denies any involvement
with the deaths of the men, but told the inquiry that Horman and
Teruggi were "part of the problem".
****************************************************************
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 15:51:32 -0800
From: Sid Shniad <•••@••.•••>
The Globe and Mail Wednesday, February 16, 2000
COURT OPENS PINOCHET'S MEDICAL REPORT
Countries seeking extradition of former Chilean
dictator will get confidential look
By Alan Freeman, European Bureau; With reports from AFP and Reuters
London -- Four nations seeking the extradition of former Chilean
dictator Augusto Pinochet will get a confidential look at the
medical report that found the 84-year-old general unfit to stand trial
on torture charges.
A three-judge panel of the High Court here ruled that British
Home Secretary Jack Straw erred when he refused to disclose the
medical report, which Mr. Straw has said makes him inclined to
allow the general to return home to Chile on compassionate
grounds rather than face extradition to Spain.
"If ever there were a case in which the integrity of the
international criminal justice system needed to be demonstrated, a
case calling for the highest standards of fairness and transparency,
this is it," said Lord Justice Simon Brown in the decision.
The Chilean government reacted somewhat positively to the
ruling yesterday. It "is nothing more than a delay," which shows the
"discretion [the British Home Secretary] has to allow him to
return" to Chile, presidential secretary Jose Miguel Insulza said.
In Santiago, human-rights activists punched the air in
celebration as the ruling was announced, saying it blocked any rapid
return home of the detained former dictator.
"Happy, satisfied, we are one step closer to seeing Pinochet
being extradited to Spain to face the courts there," Viviana Diaz,
president of Families of the Detained Disappeared, said at the
headquarters of the protest group.
As a result of the ruling, Belgium, France, Spain and
Switzerland, all of which are seeking extradition of the general, will
be given a week to study the medical report. However, six human-
rights groups that were part of the appeal to the High Court won't
get a look.
A lawyer representing Mr. Straw said that the four governments
would have until Feb. 22 to file comments on the report, which was
prepared by four medical specialists. Mr. Straw is expected to rule
on whether to allow the general to go free shortly after.
Human-rights groups that have lobbied for the general to be
extradited to Spain and face trial for torture committed during his
17-year rule, welcomed the court ruling even though they are not
allowed to see the medical report themselves.
"This is a victory for fairness, transparency and for Pinochet's
victims," Reed Brody, advocacy director at Human Rights Watch,
said in an interview from New York.
Mr. Brody said that the ruling means the British government's
decision on whether or not to let Gen. Pinochet go on humanitarian
grounds will be based on law, and there will be no room for
suspicions that politics were somehow involved.
Without knowing the contents of the medical report, it was
impossible to know whether or not Mr. Straw had come to a proper
conclusion, Mr. Brody said.
The human-rights groups have expressed concern that the
examination of Gen. Pinochet was conducted in a single day and
that there was no specialist in geriatric medicine involved.
Yet Mr. Brody insisted that the human-rights organizations
were willing to back a ruling to allow the general to return home if
the report showed definitively that he wasn't in shape to face trial.
"If the evidence shows that Gen. Pinochet is unfit to stand trial,
we won't argue about forcing him to stand trial."
A spokeswoman for the Belgian government, which took the
issue to court, said it's possible Belgium may accede to the findings
of the medical report. "Maybe we'll agree with it? Why not?"
Patrick Robertson, a spokesman for British groups lobbying on
behalf of Gen. Pinochet, said that the general's health was
particularly fragile last weekend. "He wasn't at all well," he said.
Mr. Robertson said he had been expecting yesterday's court
ruling and suspects that a final decision on the general's fate is still
weeks away. "You can spend even more taxpayers' money pushing
this thing around," he said.
Reuters reported from Spain that Judge Baltasar Garzon, who
began the extradition proceedings, was satisfied with the court
ruling, although he was awaiting formal notification of its contents.
When Mr. Straw received the medical report last month and
said he was inclined to let Gen. Pinochet go, it was believed that he
could have been freed within days. But the report simply led to
another round of court hearings and appeals.
In the decision, Judge Brown said opinions were passionately
divided over whether to extradite the general or allow him to go
home to Chile, but he concluded: "It is high time the decision was
taken."
