Q. How likely are the Chilean courts to prosecute Pinochet?

A. There are legal obstacles to Pinochet's prosecution in Chile, including:

  • his immunity from criminal process as a senator for life;
  • an amnesty decree that covers crimes committed from 1973 to 1978;
  • a proposed constitutional reform that would make it more difficult to challenge that immunity in court;
  • a statute of limitation which makes it difficult to try torturers after five years have elapsed since the crime; and
  • the wide jurisdiction of military courts which would be unlikely to prosecute their former patron.

However, the courts have powers to strip Pinochet of his immunity, and the Supreme Court has pronounced the amnesty law to be inapplicable in "disappearance" cases. President Ricardo Lagos has promised publicly not to interfere in the actions of the courts, and opposition leader Joaquin Lavin has stated that Pinochet is subject to the law like any other Chilean citizen.


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What is the status of the cases against Pinochet now in Chilean courts?

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The Pinochet Precedent: the End of Impunity?