Human Rights Violations Under Pinochet’s Rule Essay Example

Chile.

He remained apolitical throughout his career in the army and was even appointed head of the Army by the previous president of Chile, Salvador Allende. Allende was so sure of Pinochet’s loyalty to him that he refused to believe Pinochet’s involvement in the military coup d’etat of September 1973. Pinochet joined a four-man junta to overthrow the government, which he became leader of unquestionably due to his military backing.By the following year Pinochet was declared president and the violations against humanity began. Salvador Allende, the President in power before Pinochet, and one of the founders of the Chilean Socialist Party, was considered a threat by the United States. Allende was deemed unsatisfactory in his socialist policies with regards to the economy.

The United States placed diplomatic and economic pressure on Allende's Government while nationally he received opposition from the wealthy sectors in Chile.The wealthy began to strike in protest against Allende and were soon followed by various unions of the countries who were supported by President Richard Nixon of the United States. The U. S. was against the idea of a neighbouring communist country and consequently funded opposition groups in their struggle against Pinochet.

This shows that so great was the United States disdain for communism that they were prepared to support another type of government or person in power in Chile. This could be considered a contributing factor as to why Pinochet’s dictatorship was allowed to rule so aggressively with such huge violations against human rights.The DINA, Direcion de Intelligencia Nacional, was the main body responsible for human rights violations in Chile. The DINA was established in June 1974 as subordinate body of

the military junta headed by general Manuel Conteras. During Pinochet’s declared State of Siege, the DINA were given the authority to purging of political opponents of the military regime . Between 1973 and 1977 the DINA were responsible for over 2,000 desparecidos.

Some of the of the most noted violations against human rights took place in Villa Grimaldi, a set of buildings located on the outskirts of Santiago.Up to 5,000 detainees were brought here, and at least 240 of them disappeared or were killed by the DINA. Torture of detainees was common and rape of female detainees was considered routine . The DINA kept devices here designed specifically for the torture of prisoners. The most horrific of these devices was the Parilla. A testimony by Luis Carlos Godoy Cortes highlighted in Amnesty Internationals document stated that he was “Put on to a metal frame (Parilla) with his hands and feet tied to it.

Electric current was applied all over his body, particularly to his genitals and head” The Parilla was a metal frame favoured by the DINA.Once the victim was strapped into the frame one electrode would be fixed to their genitals while another was traced along the body to ensure maximum pain. Details of this method of torture are horrifying and should never have occurred yet due to other countries inadequacy to interfere in Pinochet’s rule the violations continued toward many unfortunate Chileans. The Caravan of Death, the notorious Chilean army death squad, led by General Sergio Arellano Stark, flew by Puma throughout Chile during October 1973 with their main aim to instil terror on potential opponents as well as ensuring loyalty to the

military junta.

Throughout this short period the Caravan of Death killed dozens of prisoners, many who had voluntarily turned themselves into the authorities. Prisoners were taken out of their cells and executed, often without the knowledge of the very authorities to whom they had turned themselves in. The crimes against humanity in this case are not only the killings of these prisoners but the fact that they posed no threat to the new dictatorship. The victims had turned themselves in and were accepting being held in military custody.They were political prisoners; detainees with no track record of violence yet were executed nevertheless. Interesting to note is that all of this occurred within the few days after Pinochet being declared president.

This illustrates that from the beginning of Pinochet’s rule human rights were ignored. If other countries had knowledge of this then Pinochet should have been stopped but the only country powerful enough to stop him was the United States, the country that not only did nothing but also clandestinely supported Pinochet, namely in its contribution to Operation Condor.Operation Condor was a collection of right wing conservative governments of South America with the aim to deter any left-wing influence in their countries and to control any potential or active opposition movement towards their governments. The operation was set up in 1975 and its members included Chile Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru. Each of these member countries were ruled by dictators much like Pinochet, such as Jorge Videla of Argentina, who was found to be guilty of kidnapping children of government opponents and having them illegally adopted by members of the military.The operation Condor was

based on joint intelligence and security services of the member nations with some knowledge and support provided by the United States.

Operation Condors Army consisted of the Chilean DINA and the Argentine SIDE who were responsible for the infamous death flights. During the trial of former Argentine Navy Captain Adolfo Scilingo, he confessed to participating in death flights, where ‘Drugged leftists and other political prisoners were stripped naked and thrown out of military aircraft into the Atlantic Ocean, as part of a strategy to “disappear” the victims’It was impossible for Chiles neighbouring country Argentina to stop Pinochet and his violations towards human rights because Argentina was involved in the same activities as well as other crimes against humanities. Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’ was heavily publicised and Jorge Videla was prosecuted for large-scale human rights abuses, which occurred at the same time as Chiles human rights violations. Not only was Pinochet and his military regime involved in the horrific crimes against humanity due their participation in Operation Condor.Pinochet was also implicated in Operation Colombo where “At least 119 people are alleged to have been abducted by state forces and later murdered in the clandestine operations of 1975” These people are presumed dead as they have never been found. Presumably these political prisoners met the same faith of those killed during operation condor, such as the horrific death flights or those killed by the Caravan of Death.

Regardless these political prisoners should have had the right to trial and if acquitted, imprisonment, certainly not concealed disappearances or deaths.Pinochet and his military junta were not obstructed in their actions at the time. Operation Colombo occurred approximately at the same

time as Operation Condor, the major difference being that Operation Colombo were actions solely responsible for by Chile. The fact that this operation was carried out during the same period as Operation Condor gives light to the reasons why surrounding countries did not react.

Those involved in Operation Condor had “dirty hands” and therefore did not have the moral standing to pass judgement on Pinochet and Operation Colombo.It is also merits noting that as these disappeared were of approximately 119 persons and carried out by the military, that they had the means to conceal these disappearances from international knowledge. Therefore if other countries were not aware of the operation then of course they could not have possibly taken measures to stop or punish the actions of Pinochet and his selected military implicated in the disappearances.Although it has been claimed that the United States had some knowledge and participation in Operation Condor, it was not until December 1992 until a considerable amount of information was uncovered about the activities of Chile, Argentina and the other member countries of this group. In December 1992 Paraguayan Judge Jose Fernandez and lawyer Dr.

Martin Almanda stumbled across thousands of files known as the “Archivos del Terror”. “The files document the repression in the Southern Cone during Operation Condor and include thousands of cases of people who were reportedly arrested, killed, tortured and disappeared between 1954 and 1989”These terror archives documented these crimes, which were committed by the security services of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, all members of Operation Condor. It was these archives that were used to prosecute military officers who were involved in the atrocities

against human rights due to their connection with the Operation Condor project. This reinforces the possibility that surrounding countries did not have knowledge of the extent to which Pinochet and his military regime violated human rights in Chile.

Once the archives came to light, the prosecution against Pinochet commenced. I believe that it was concrete evidence that was needed in order to instigate action by surrounding countries. The first country to make a stand against Pinochet’s infringements violations against human rights was Spain, thanks to Baltasar Garzon, the Spanish judge. In 1998, six years after the “Archivos del Terror” came to light, Judge Garzon issued an order of detention against Pinochet while the dictator was in London undergoing medical treatment. Garzon issued extradition on the basis that he was Seeking to try Pinochet for crimes committed against Spaniards on Chilean Soil.

” The most notable of these crimes was the disappearance of Carmelo Soria, a United Nations diplomat during Pinochet’s Regime. The Spanish Diplomat was “Abducted by the Generals secret police on July 14 1976, and later murdered” The fact that diplomats, especially UN diplomats who are guaranteed diplomatic immunity, were not safe from the human rights violations in Chile under Pinochet’s rule demonstrates the extent of Pinochet’s blatant disregard for basic law on civil rights.Not only does it exhibit the dictators disrespect for rights of man but his belief that he truly was untouchable while he was in power. Perhaps if countries acted sooner than the 1990’s many unfortunate victims could have been saved and these violations could have been prevented and prohibited. However, it cannot be said that nothing was ever done to prosecute

Pinochet. Thanks to Judge Garzon's initiation of indictment, Pinochet’s infringements of human rights were brought to light and actions were put in place to impeach the brutal dictator.

Once Baltasar Garzon instigated the condemnation of Pinochet was put in place, other countries followed suit insisting on universal jurisdiction with regards to Pinochet’s case. According to amnesty international, the principle of universal jurisdiction states a country has the right to: « Exercise jurisdiction over persons found in their territory suspected of torture abroad, to extradite them to other states able and willing to do so or to surrender them to an international criminal court »The most famous of all applications of universal jurisdiction was in the trials against Nazi war criminals. To employ the same principle in judging Pinochet strengthens the argument that the atrocities that occurred during the dictators reign were incredible and should have definitely been prohibited. The difference between Hitler in power and Pinochet was the fact that the latter posed no real threat to other countries; his crimes against humanity were limited to those persons residing in Chile with the exception of the states collaboration with other members of Operation Condor.It seems that other countries were not willing to take action unless they were directly affected or until the crimes became so blatantly obvious, notably with the resurrection of the Archivos del Terror, that they could no longer be overlooked.

Another possibility was that countries and individuals were looking to others to take action before they did. It was the 1990’s when Judge Baltasar began to investigate Chile and Argentina that other countries opinions became clear on the subject. Like sheep they needed

someone to follow.Perhaps the most obvious ally of Pinochet was former prime minister of the United Kingdom.

It was the United Kingdom where Pinochet resided during his battle against his extradition to Spain when Judge Baltasar Garzon indicted the former Chilean president for his association with human rights violations in Chile during his dictatorship. Former prime minister of the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher publicly spoke of her and the UK’s alliance with the dictator with regards to the Falklands War of 1982. Margaret Thatcher held that she was Very much aware that it is [Pinochet] who brought democracy to Chile, [Pinochet] set up a constitution suitable for democracy” It is interesting to note that Thatcher stated this during a televised appearance with Pinochet while he was under house arrest after having been impeached by Garzon with evidence of his crimes against humanity. How the prime minister could disregard such charges and speak only of the good Pinochet demonstrates how international politics operates. Chile had an alliance with the UK during to the Falklands War, aiding Britain in its war against Argentina for control of these isles.

Thatcher herself stated that Britain was in “debt” to Pinochet for Chile’s involvement in the war therefore it is unsurprising that the prime minister and her country sought to protect Chile. Britain has always been considered one of the most powerful countries in the world. The fact that Chile had this alliance with this superpower and that Pinochet was residing in the country at the time he was to be prosecuted meant that it would be difficult for other countries to intervene. This explains the acquiescence of some countries with

regards to stopping or preventing Pinochet’s violations against human rights during his reign of terror.Not only did Chile have an alliance with the UK but also with the USA albeit not so publicly.

In fact the documents that record this were kept classified. The existence of a document, a cable from Robert E. White, the U. S.

ambassador to Paraguay, was reported which revealed “That the United States facilitated communications among South American intelligence chiefs who were working together to eliminate left-wing opposition groups in their countries as part of a covert program known as Operation Condor”It is a well known fact that the USA was incredibly anti-communist, their fears of the political notion stretching as far as monitoring the film industry for signs of socialism, known as McCarthyism . Therefore it is no surprise that the country was involved in an operation that set up with the very intention of preventing and prohibiting any form of communism. It has come to light that the CIA had an active role with regards to Chile’s military junta and its military coup as well as the DINA. The report “CIA activities in Chile” reveals that Many of Pinochet’s officers were involved in systematic widespread human rights abuses… Some of these were contacts or agents of the CIA or US military” The USA had knowledge of the operations they were involved in with Condor.

Why else would they have kept the information classified and hidden for so long? It is possible that their alliance with Chile and the other members of the operation was formed due to the U. S. A. ’s fear of possible communism infiltrating their

country.

Much like the UK, the United States did not intervene to stop the human rights violations in Chile because politically it suited them not to.This demonstrates some countries unwillingness to prioritise the protection of human rights in the world over international politics. Augosto Pinochet ruled with a blatant disregard for human rights. The various methods of torture, the killings and the infamous desaparecidos spanned 17 years while Pinochet was in power yet nothing was done to stop the dictator for numerous reasons. Surrounding South American countries were involved in the same activities with their membership of Operation Condor and therefore did not have the moral standing to condemn Pinochet.

The United States of America secretly had knowledge and aided the activities of this operation, which included the heinous death flights carried out by Argentine SIDE and Chilean DINA. Another super power, Great Britain, publicly allied itself with the dictator and his country due to help needed over the Falkland Islands. The alliances with two superpowers could be a deterrent for other countries to intervene as this could bring about unnecessary trouble for them.The acquiescence of other countries with regards to Chiles implication in crimes against humanity can be attributed to the fact that no country wanted to be the first to condemn.

This is obvious in many countries application of universal jurisdiction in trying Pinochet once Judge Baltasar of Spain indicted the former dictator. Ultimately it was the left to the supreme courts in Chile to try and prosecute Pinochet of crimes that unfortunately he was never convicted of due to his death during these tribunals.