IAFS 1000

Human Rights:

The Pinochet Prosecutions (cont)

Dinner at Prof. Chester’s

• Save the date: Friday, Nov 30, 6pm

Outline

• Case study: Pinochet regime (Chile)

• What can we do about HR violations?

• Debates

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/americas/south_america_pol98.jpg

HR Violations:The Caseof Chile

Pinochet Prosecution

• 1996: Spanish charges: genocide, terrorism, torture, murder, etc

• Oct 1998: Pinochet to UK

• Oct 16, 1998: Pinochet arrested at Spanish request

Pinochet Prosecution

• Insult to Chilean sovereignty or long-awaited justice?

• Dec 1998: Pinochet indicted in Spain

Pinochet Prosecution

• Sept 1999: Br extradition hearing

• Mar 3, 2000: UK govt decision to release Pinochet on grounds of poor health

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

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”

Enforcement: US Policy

• Vanik-Jackson Amendment

◦ linked trade policy to HR

◦ orig. aimed at USSR

◦ later debate over China’s Most Favored Nation (MFN) trading status

Other “Enforcers”

• Red Cross

• Amnesty International

Controversies

• Tension between norm of sovereignty and norm of human rights

• Universalist views of human rights vs cultural relativism

Tiananmen Square• April-June 1989 student protests in China

• June 4: People’s Liberation Army clears square

• Fighting leaves hundreds, possibly thousands, dead

http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989

http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989

A Protester Faces Down Tanks after Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square

• Protest in the West

• Chinese government response: Western

values should not be imposed on China

• Controversy fades, trumped by trade

Conclusions

• HR standards difficult to enforce

• Pinochet precedent unclear

Happy Thanksgiving!