A line must be drawn between the legitimate functions of a head of state and human rights crimes of the kind alleged against Gen Augusto Pinochet, the House of Lords has been told.
On the second day of the new hearing to determine whether the former Chilean dictator enjoys sovereign immunity from arrest and legal process in England, Mr Alun Jones QC told the seven sitting Law Lords that international conventions prohibiting human rights violations were based firmly on the notion of individual responsibility.
As a bitter public relations battle raged away from the court, and as gruesome details emerged of the nature of the Spanish indictment against Gen Pinochet concerning alleged crimes involving rape, buggery, and electrocution Mr Jones said: "It must be that no matter who you are, whether you are a head of state, a government official, a public official, you have individual, personal responsibility in respect of a category of crimes recognised internationally as particularly odious, such as genocide, torture and taking hostages. Somewhere a line has to be drawn between actions which are the functions of a head of state, and those which are not."
Mr Jones told the Law Lords that a limited number of a head of state's functions were regarded as attracting immunity under international law. If countries chose to give their head of state additional functions those were not recognised as meriting any kind of immunity.
As Mr Jones addressed the court, pro-Pinochet supporters distributed a pamphlet written by a senior aide to Baroness Thatcher, Dr Robin Harris, explaining "why Pinochet and the army were morally and constitutionally justified in taking power on September 11th, 1973, from the corrupt, chaotic, revolutionary administration of Salvadore Allende".
At a London press conference Dr Harris described Gen Pinochet as "the closest thing Britain has to a political prisoner . . . a victim of something very like politically-inspired kidnap". And the former chancellor, Lord Lamont, told of his visit to the general's temporary Wentworth home to tell him of the shame many Britons felt at his treatment.
Lord Lamont said: "He was in excellent spirits, as you would expect of the good and brave soldier that he is."
The draft Spanish charges against the former commander-in-chief of the Chilean army outline his alleged complicity in the murder of some 4,000 people in Chile and other countries, with actions allegedly carried out in Spain, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay, the US, Italy, France and Portugal.
It is alleged that he and others, including public officials, agreed that opponents in Chile and elsewhere would be abducted and undergo pain and suffering, causing grievous bodily harm, whether over a brief period or a period of years; that such pain and suffering would include rape, buggery and other sexual assault and humiliation; and that the victims of torture would include children.
In an incident in October 1974 it is alleged that Gen Pinochet and others inflicted severe pain and suffering on Jose Marcelino Gonzalez Malpu, by applying electric current to his genital organs, shoulders and ankles and pretending to shoot his captive naked mother in front of him.
Marta Lidia Ugarte Roman was allegedly suspended from a pole in a pit, had her finger and toe nails pulled out and was burned. Another victim allegedly had electric current applied to her mouth, vagina and breasts, was raped by two men, and forced to eat the human remains of her dead fellow captives.
And Pedro Hugo Arellano Carvajal was allegedly placed aboard a helicopter, then pushed out with ropes attached to his trousers and dragged through thorns; subjected to electrocution; forced to play Russian roulette.
Carvajal was forced to remove his clothes in the presence of another captive family who had been arrested with their sons, and was forced to witness the torture of that family as the father was made to sexually abuse his son, as simultaneously that son was made to abuse his youngest brother.
The Lords hearing continues.
Supporters of Gen Pinochet, who flew from Chile to London to oppose his extradition to Spain, yesterday denied a report that protesters were paid by the hour.
About 250 pro-Pinochet demonstrators and senators were in London on Monday for the first day of a House of Lords rehearing of the 83-year-old's claim for immunity, according to the Chilean Reconciliation Movement. A spokesman, Mr Fernando Barros, confirmed that for those supporters who could not afford to travel to London, tickets were paid by "donations from businessmen" collected by 14 pro-Pinochet groups in Chile.