11 Dec Goodbye Pinochet
11.12.06
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8 Comments
I’m sure Kevin will have more to say about this, but it is worth noting that Augusto Pinochet, former Chilean dictator and the target of many international prosecution efforts for his actions as Chilean dictator, passed away yesterday. Pinochet may indeed face punishment for his crimes, but it won’t be at the hands of international or domestic courts.
We still have time to prosecute Henry Kissinger and the CIA persons of the time who have admitted (heard it on NPR this morning) to helping set the conditions for Pinochet coming to power.
Best,
Ben
What charges precisely does Mr. Davis imagine in such a case?
Ask the victims and their families who were trying to bring Pinnochet to justice my friend. I am sure they can help prefer them. Civil proceedings attempted in the states against Henry Kissinger have not prospered. CIA report on their role see http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20000919/index.html.
Best,
Ben
Matthew,
I recommend two books for your leisure time reading:
Marc Cooper, Pinochet and Me (London: Verso, 2001) and, especially, Christopher Hitchens, The Trial of Henry Kissinger (London: Verso, 2001).
Addendum: See too
PINOCHET: A Declassified Documentary Obit
Archive Posts Records on former Dictator’s Repression, Acts of Terrorism, U.S. Support
at The National Security Archive
And Peter Kornbluh, ed., The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability (New York: The New Press, 2004 ed.).
(Thanks to Mary L. Dudziak’s Legal History Blog: http://legalhistoryblog.blogspot.com/)
I think it’s fitting in a way that he died on international human rights day.
And recalled the Sting song… see here:
http://www.notes.co.il/gross/26332.asp
Ask the victims and their families who were trying to bring Pinnochet to justice my friend. I am sure they can help prefer them. Civil proceedings attempted in the states against Henry Kissinger have not prospered. CIA report on their role see http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20000919/index.html.
I am aware of the CIA documents in question. However, I don’t think they ammount to evidence of criminal wrongdoing on Mr. Kissinger’s part. Nor do most of the accusations in Mr. Hitchens book, where the first charge appears to criminalize not agreeing to any peace deal offered. (Editorial note: I’ve never been a big fan of Hitchens.)
The failure of civil proceedings against Kissinger simply reinforces the point.
The D.C. Circuit in Schneider v. Kissinger, 4 11 12 F.3d 190 (D.C. Cir. 2005), cert. denied, 126 S.Ct.
1768 (2006), affirmed the dismissal of the claims against Secretary Kissinger on political question
grounds. Dismissal says nothing about the merits but is based on an internal US law doctrine.
Best,
Ben