AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF JURISTS, CHILEAN BRANCH
Santiago, December 11, 2006

Declares:

1. The dictator Augusto Pinochet is dead. We regret there is still no justice for the crimes and violations of human rights committed against thousands of Chileans. The slow pace of justice permitted him to die without ever being sentenced, with only a very few indictments and some of the criminal complaints were dismissed on grounds of a fictitious dementia, declared by questionable experts.

2. Families of the victims of forced disappearance, summary executions and torture who demanded justice and punishment for Pinochet who bears primary responsibility. They have endured great pain during many years of continual pilgrimages to the courts, seeking justice, which is their legitimate right. Now they are obliged to continue to hope and wait for the courts to convict those individuals who carried out the orders of the dictator, whose death saved him from being sentenced for his crimes. The true author of these crimes against humanity has died without being sentenced.

3. Circles of power have offered numerous justifications and explanations to contribute to the impunity the dictator enjoyed. Shameful political motives came together to take him away from England and free him from international justice, with the promise that he should be and could be tried in Chile. That same protective policy saved him from responsibility in the embezzlement case known as Pinocheques, and later in the Riggs Bank scandal involving false passports and secret accounts.

4. The great opportunity to heal Chilean society by applying justice during his lifetime, was lost. As Chileans and as lawyers, we are ashamed. We believe in respect for law, fight for equality before the law, and advocate speedy justice without any fears nor genuflecting before the powers that be. We feel powerless because impunity is a shameful form of corruption and abdication of principle. We are ashamed because the dictator has died and the Chilean Army regards him as a hero, even though it is still in debt with the legacy of Carlos Prats and Rene Schneider. We feel an immense pain for those who lost their lives, and their family members who must continue to demand truth, justice and reparation.

5. The American Association of Jurists, Chilean Branch, which is committed to the values of respect for human right, calls on judges and magistrates of the judiciary branch to reflect upon their responsibility for making justice and proceeding opportunely with the investigations of criminal complaints so that, the accomplices and those who covered up crimes and violations to human rights may be condemned, once and for all, despite the great degree of responsibility they have for never having sentenced Pinochet.

6. Pinochet is dead, but the battle against impunity is not over. Human rights attorneys and the Chilean Branch of the American Association of Jurist are committed to fight with renewed vigor so that Chile may see the day when a true democracy reigns, with full respect for human rights and complete disclosure of the truth and justice.

Graciela Alvarez Rojas, President
Fabiola Letelier, Vice president
Juan Subercaseaux, Secretary General
Ramon Vargas, Director
Manuel Jacques, Director

1117 Huerfanos, Of. 632, Santiago.
Fonofax 6953223
graciela@entelchile.net

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