Abstract
This chapter will study the position of the democratically elected government of Patricio Aylwin in Chile on the human-rights issue and the prosecution of military officials for human rights violations committed during the regime of Augusto Pinochet from September 1973 to March 1990. The experiences of other Southern Cone nations (Argentina and Uruguay) will be discussed within the context of the Chilean case. While a detailed analysis of the handling of rights abuses in Argentina and Uruguay1 is not possible here, given the complexity and duration of that issue (particularly in Argentina), their experiences clearly influenced the Chilean approach to this problem, with which Chile is still struggling and which, to a large extent, will influence the course of its political and it is hoped, democratic future.
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Notes and References
Among the large amount of material on Argentina, the human-rights issue and the prosecution of military officials for rights abuses, see, for Argentina, Comisión Nacional sobre la Desaparición de Personas, Nunca más: informe de la Comisión Nacional sobre la Desaparición de Personas (Buenos Aires: EUDEBA, 1984), English trans., Never Again: A Report (London: Faber, in association with Index on Censorship, 1986); Definitivamente — nunca más: la otra cara del informe de la CONADEP, 2nd edn (Buenos Aires: Foro de Estudios sobre la Administración de Justicia, 1985); Kathryn Lee Crawford, ‘Due Obedience and the Rights of Victims: Argentina’s Transition to Democracy’, Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 12 (February 1990), pp. 17–52
Jaime Malamud-Goti, ‘Transitional Governments in the Breach: Why Punish State Criminals?’, Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 12 (February 1990), pp. 1–16
Mark J. Osiel, ‘The Making of Human Rights Policy in Argentina: The Impact of Ideas and Interests on a Legal Conflict’, Journal of Latin American Studies, vol. 18 (May 1986), pp. 135–80; Roger Cohen, ‘Alfonsín’s Gamble: Argentina’s Chief’s Halt to Army Trials is Risk Taken to Curb Discord; He Seeks Role for a Military Alienated by Prosecution for Killings of Leftists’, Wall Street Journal, 19 May 1987, pp. 1ff
John Tweedy, Jr., ‘The Argentine “Dirty Wars” Trials: The First Latin American Nuremberg?’, Guild Practitioner: Current Problems; Law and Practice, vol. 44 (winter 1987), pp. 15–32
José Zalaquete, ‘From Dictatorship to Democracy’, New Republic, vol. 193, no. 25 (16 December 1985), pp. 17–21
Patrick Lacefield, ‘Report on Argentina: The Generals Don’t Repent But They’ll Take a Pardon’, Commonweal, vol. 116, no. 19 (3 November 1989), pp. 583–4; and
Jaime Malamud-Goti, ‘Cry, Argentina’, Nation, vol. 249, no. 15 (6 November 1989), pp. 517–18.
For more on Suárez Masón, see Camille Peri, ‘Getting to Know the Lord of Life & Death’, Mother Jones, vol. 13, no. 7 (September 1988), pp. 34–42. On Menem’s 29 December 1990 pardon of jailed former military leaders (including Suárez Masón), see Eugene Robinson, ‘Argentine Pardon of Jailed Ex-Military Rulers Triggers Protests’, Washington Post, 31 December 1990, p. A8; ‘No Peace in the Dirty War’, Time, 14 January 1991, p. 52; ‘Letting Them Out’, Economist, 5 January 1991, pp. 34–5; ‘Pardoning Mass Murder in Argentina’ (editorial), New York Times, 3 January 1991, p. A20; and Jacobo Timerman, ‘Fear Returns to Argentina’, New York Times, 5 January 1991, p. 21.
Aryeh Neier, ‘Watching Rights’, Nation, vol. 251 (19 November 1990), p. 588.
Arturo Valenzuela and Pamela Constable, ‘Democracy in Chile’, Current History, vol. 90, no. 553 (February 1991), p. 53.
Maureen Meehan, ‘Chile: Military Rejects Human Rights Report’, Latinamerica Press, vol. 23, no. 12 (4 april 1991), pp. 1–2. For more on the reaction of the human rights community, see “It’s Now Known that What We Denounced was True”’ (Interview) Latinamerica Press, vol. 23, no. 13 (11 April 1991), p. 3.
Peter Ford, ‘Chile Treads Narrow Rights Path: Public Demand for Punishment is Countered by General’s Warning Not to Persecute Military’, Christian Science Monitor, Resolution: Global 19 March 1990, p. 3.
Tom Wicker, ‘“Middle Way” in Chile’, New York Times, Resolution: Global 16 August 1990, p. A25.
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© 1994 Policy Studies Organization
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Metz, A. (1994). Chile and the Prosecution of Military Officials for Human Rights Violations: A Comparative Approach. In: Nagel, S.S. (eds) Latin American Development and Public Policy. Policy Studies Organization Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-23449-3_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-23449-3_13
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