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IAFS 1000 Human Rights: The Pinochet Prosecutions

IAFS 1000 Human Rights: The Pinochet Prosecutions. What are Human Rights (HR)?. Civil and political human rights Economic and social human rights. UN Role in Protecting Human Rights. 1945: UN Charter 1948: Universal Declaration of HR 1948: Convention on Genocide

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IAFS 1000 Human Rights: The Pinochet Prosecutions

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  1. IAFS 1000 Human Rights: The Pinochet Prosecutions

  2. What are Human Rights (HR)? • Civil and political human rights • Economic and social human rights

  3. UN Role inProtecting Human Rights • 1945: UN Charter • 1948: Universal Declaration of HR • 1948: Convention on Genocide • 1952: Conv. on Rights of Women • 1959: Conv. on Rights of the Child • 1960: Convention on Independence to Colonial Countries • 1964: Conv. on Racial Discrimination

  4. UN Role (cont) • 1966: Core treaties: on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and on Civil and Political Rights • 1967: Convention on Discrimination of Women • 1975: Convention on Torture and Punishment • 1981: Convention on Religious Intolerance and Discrimination

  5. Universal Declaration of HR (1948) • Article 5. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. • Article 9. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. • Article 19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

  6. Universal Declaration of HR (cont) • Article 20. (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. (2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association. • Article 25. (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

  7. HR Violations: The Case of Chile http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/americas/south_america_pol98.jpg

  8. Coup in Chile: September 11, 1973 President Allende (elected 1970) General Pinochet http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1022347.stm

  9. Troops surround the Presidential Palace During 1973 Coup http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1022347.stm

  10. Guidance Cable to CIA’s Santiago Station Chief, October 16, 1970 All declassified documents from National Security Archive <www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/>

  11. Options Paper for Nov 5, 1970 NSC Meeting on Chile: Fears of a South American Domino Effect

  12. Dancing “La Cueca,” Traditional Courtship Dance, Alone (March 8, 1978) http://www.derechoschile.com/derechos/dictadura_victimas_eng.html

  13. Families of the “disappeared” (December 1988) http://www.pbs.org/weta/forcemorepowerful/chile/

  14. The Case of Chile • 1970 election of Marxist President Allende • Sept 11, 1973 coup led by General Augusto Pinochet • Persecution of pol opponents • 1978 amnesty • 1989: Pinochet voted out of power • 1990 Truth and Reconciliation Commission: concluded that 3,197 people had disappeared, been extrajudicially executed, or died under torture between 1973 and 1990

  15. Pinochet Prosecution • 1996: Spanish charges: genocide, terrorism, torture, murder, etc • Oct 1998: Pinochet to UK • Oct 16, 1998: Pinochet arrested at Spanish request • Insult to Chilean sovereignty or long-awaited justice? • Dec 1998: Pinochet indicted in Spain • Sept 1999: Br extradition hearing • Mar 3, 2001: UK govt decision to release Pinochet on grounds of poor health

  16. Recent Developments in Chile • 2001: Chilean court strips Pinochet of immunity for HR abuses • Jan 2006: Election of Pres. Bachelet, former torture victim • Nov 2006: Pinochet accepts “political responsibility” http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_america/newsid_5010000/5010944.stm

  17. Enforcement: US Policy • Annual HR report from State Dept • Office of Human Rights in State Dept • Sanctions possible for states that show “consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights” • Vanik-Jackson Amendment ◦ linked trade policy to HR ◦ orig. aimed at USSR ◦ later debate over China’s Most Favored Nation trading status

  18. Other “Enforcers” • Red Cross • Amnesty International

  19. Controversies • Tension between norm of sovereignty and norm of human rights • Universalist views of human rights vs cultural relativism

  20. Tiananmen Square • April-June 1989 student protests in China • June 4: People’s Liberation Army clears square • Fighting leaves hundreds, possibly thousands, dead • Protest in the West • Chinese government response: Western values should not be imposed on China • Controversy fades, trumped by trade http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989

  21. Conclusions • HR standards difficult to enforce • Pinochet precedent unclear • Globalization’s effects ambiguous

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