Torture survivors' charity calls Pinochet judgement "ironic"

Freedom from Torture, third-party intervenors in the Pinochet case, described today's judgement by the Law Lords which gives the former dictator a fresh hearing as "ironic but not unjust."

"Pinochet is an accused arch torturer who systematically defied the rule of law throughout his 17 years in office," said Foundation director Helen Bamber.



"It is ironic that it is the kind of legal safeguard over which he was once quite happy to trample that is now protecting him."



Freedom from Torture, a London-based charity that laid before the Law Lords affidavits concerning more than 60 cases of torture and disappearance in Chile, is now calling on the Government to bring British domestic law into line with its international obligations under the treaty, now signed by the UK, that establishes the International Criminal Court.



This would mean removing "Head of State immunity" - which Pinochet successfully pleaded at the High Court - as a defence against torture, genocide and other crimes against humanity.



"Whatever the outcome of the fresh hearing in the Pinochet case, the Government must make clear that no official, not even former or current heads of state - not Hitler, not Saddam, not Milosevic, not Pinochet - can enjoy permanent impunity for torture, hostage-taking and other such crimes, " said Helen Bamber.



In Britain, Freedom from Torture helps 25 Chilean survivors of torture who, many years after their imprisonment, still suffer nightmares, flashbacks and in some cases physical ailments from the ferocious treatment they received.