The legal process for the extradition of Gen Augusto Pinochet moved another step forward yesterday with the decision by the British Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, that the Spanish request for the general's extradition should proceed.
Gen Pinochet's supporters described the decision as a blow to attempts at reconciliation in Chile. The Home Secretary issued an "authority to proceed" with the extradition after the Law Lords had asked him last month to reconsider whether the former Chilean dictator should face the legal process in Britain.
Amnesty International said it was heartened by Mr Straw's recognition that even one case of torture "is one too many" and constituted a crime for which Gen Pinochet must stand trial. Gen Pinochet's lawyers, already given leave to seek a judicial review of the first authority to proceed with extradition issued by the Home Secretary in December, were granted an immediate adjournment of extradition proceedings at Bow Street Magistrates' Court until April 30th. In a letter to all the parties concerned, a Home Office official explained that although Mr Straw had regard to the substantially reduced number and range of the charges against Gen Pinochet, the remaining offences with which he was charged "are serious".
The passage of time since the alleged offences were committed and the age and health of Gen Pinochet were not regarded as sufficient grounds for halting extradition proceedings. The Home Secretary concluded that Gen Pinochet was not unfit to stand trial and furthermore that it would not be "unjust or oppressive" for him to face trial in relation to the remaining extraditable offences. Mr Straw held that other factors, such as the possible effects of extradition proceedings on the stability of Chile and on British interests in Chile, did not amount to sufficient grounds to block the legal process. Since the Law Lords' ruling, the Spanish judge leading the case for extradition in Spain, Judge Baltasar Garzon, has submitted more than 40 further cases of torture and murder which took place in Chile after 1988.
Opinion in Britain was sharply divided. Shortly after the Home Secretary's decision was announced, Baroness Thatcher and Lord Lamont renewed their attacks on Mr Straw. Baroness Thatcher, who visited Gen Pinochet at his rented home in Wentworth, Surrey, last month, denounced the decision as a "vindictive political act". She said Mr Straw's consideration of the arguments was "superficial and inadequate" and accused him of demeaning his office by placing ambition above his duties.
Lord Lamont said he could not understand why, when Mr Straw had halted the extradition of Ms Roisin McAliskey, who was accused of involvement in an IRA attack on a British army barracks in Germany, on the grounds of illhealth, the same compassion could not be afforded to Gen Pinochet. The shadow Home Secretary, Sir Norman Fowler, said Mr Straw had missed the chance to end a "sorry affair".
The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture welcomed Mr Straw's announcement, however, saying it reconfirmed the principle "that men such as Pinochet, Milosevic and Saddam Hussein must stand trial for their crimes against humanity".