The Case of Pinochet

Justice...
 

One of Aylwin's first decisions as President was to establish the National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation ("National Commission"), with the charge that the National Commission "clarify in a comprehensive manner the truth about the most serious human rights violations" suffered during the military dictatorship.  Aylwin's charge was one that from the outset admitted to limitations.  He very explicitly noted that the goal of the National Commission was justicia en lo posible, translated as "justice inasmuch as was possible."

"Even in arguing for the narrowest possible reading of the amnesty law,
Foreign Minister Insulza recently recognized that no punishment would
result from investigations: 'I think that Congress should interpret the
amnesty law saying that it cannot be understood as a limitation of the
faculty of the courts to investigate cases, identify those responsible,
convict them and then apply the amnesty.
Truth and justice, but no punishment.'"

(Cosas No. 577, Nov. 6, 1998.)
Human Rights Watch
 

                                                "It may be the right thing to bring people to justice, but sometimes you just can't.
                                                What kind of situation would that leave Chile in? No totalitarian government is
                                                truly imposed from above. All have networks of informants and sympathizers in all
                                                walks of life. This is necessary to stay in power.  How far are you willing to go?
                                                The guilty will include not only the military, but business owners, the poor, the
                                                clergy... What kind of society would you be left with? . . .

                                                SOMETIMES JUSTICE HAS TO TAKE A BACK SEAT."

"By pursuing the general, assembling a strong legal case and issuing the extradition request, Garzón has already achieved the salutary result of Pinochet's moral ruin. Henceforth a man who had the gall to pose as his nation's saviour will take his place alongside Caligula and Idi Amin.  Even if Pinochet never faces a tribunal, justice has been done."

"For the last 25 years, I've wanted so much for this to come to pass: that at least once before your death your blue eyes would have to look at the black and clear eyes of the women whose sons and husbands and fathers and brothers you kidnapped and disappeared, one woman and then another woman and then one more . . . I have asked myself what would happen if you were required to listen day after day to the numberless stories of your victims, if you had to recognise their existence."

                                                                                                                                    Ariel Dorfman,
                                                                                                                                    Comment: Repent now, while you can,
                                                                                                                                    The Observer, November 1, 1998.
 
 

The task confronting nations in a transition back
to democracy is precisely that of "rescuing history."
If this is to be done, the stories of a former regime's
torture victims must be acknowledged publicly and
become a part of the larger collective memory of
their country.  The best hope for such victims and
their respective societies may well be a biblical one:
"You shall learn the truth and the truth will set you free."

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