Patricio Guzmán's latest film completes a trilogy on his native Chile,…
The Pinochet Case
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
If you are not affiliated with a college or university, and are interested in watching this film, please register as an individual and login to rent this film. Already registered? Login to rent this film. This film is also available on our home streaming platform, OVID.tv.
Augusto Pinochet, the general who overthrew President Salvador Allende of Chile in 1973, was the first dictator in Latin America - or the world - to be humbled by the international justice system since the Nuremberg trials.
In September 1998, Pinochet flew to London on a pleasure trip. He rested for a few days. He had tea with Margaret Thatcher. But, suddenly, he began experiencing back pain and underwent an operation in the London Clinic. Upon waking from surgery, he was arrested by the London police. Who was responsible for this?
This new film by Patricio Guzmán investigates the legal origins of the case in Spain - where it began two years before Pinochet's arrest. With the film's protagonists, among them the prosecutor Carlos Castressana who filed the charges, and Judge Baltasar Garzon, who upheld them and issued the arrest warrant, THE PINOCHET CASE explores how a small group of people in Madrid laid the groundwork for this incredible feat -- catching a dictator 25 years after his rise to power.
Scotland Yard served the arrest warrant, and THE PINOCHET CASE also follows the workings of the British legal system that ensued. The General spent 503 days under house arrest at an estate outside London, until Tony Blair's government released him on grounds of ill health. But only after the House of Lords, in an historic decision with international repercussions, divested him of his legal immunity, ruling that even heads of state can be held accountable for crimes against humanity.
Crucial to the legal case against Pinochet were the testimonies of victims of those crimes. Hundreds of Chileans, most of them women, relatives of the 'disappeared,' ex-prisoners that had suffered all kinds of torture and interrogation in secret prisons, traveled to Madrid to testify. THE PINOCHET CASE movingly incorporates their stories.
When Pinochet finally returned to Chile, he faced 200 accusations of crimes, this time in Chilean courts. Eventually the Chilean Supreme Court also stripped him of his immunity, and on January 29, 2001, Judge Juan Guzmán placed Augusto Pinochet under house arrest. The people were no longer afraid, and the Chilean justice system started to make up for lost time.
'Eloquent, meticulously structured. A gripping step-by-step account of the case. Sober political and legal analysis alternates with grim first-hand accounts of torture and murder in a film that has the structure of a choral symphony that swells to a bittersweet finale. A beautifully layered mosaic that is all the more powerful for never raising its voice to a shout...'-New York Times
'Haunting! A magisterial documentary about the force of memory.'-New York Magazine
'Extraordinarily powerful!'-Pat Aufderheide, International Documentary
'Both a legalistic thriller and a searing documentary, THE PINOCHET CASE is a fitting coda to a magnificent trilogy... (and) Guzmán's trilogy is one of the finest documentaries ever made.'-Simon Hattenstone, The Guardian
Citation
Main credits
Guzmán, Patricio (screenwriter)
Guzmán, Patricio (film director)
Jeanneau, Yves (film producer)
Morris, Michael (narrator)
Other credits
Translation, Sally Station; editor, Claudio Martínez; photography and camera, Jacques Bouquin.
Distributor subjects
Chile; Ethics; History (World); Human Rights; Latin America; Law; On 35mm; Political Science; South America; US and Canadian Broadcast Rights; Western EuropeKeywords
WEBVTT
00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:38.000
[sil.]
00:00:55.000 --> 00:01:03.000
[sil.]
00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:23.000
[sil.]
00:02:55.000 --> 00:03:00.000
[sil.]
00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:13.000
[sil.]
00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:15.000
[sil.]
00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:35.000
[sil.]
00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:20.000
[sil.]
00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:33.000
[non-English narration]
00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:08.000
[sil.]
00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:58.000
[sil.]
00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:58.000
[sil.]
00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:14.999
In 1973,
00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:19.999
General Augusta Pinochet staged a coup in
Chile against President Salvador Allende
00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:24.999
beginning a 17 year dictatorship. Under
the pretext of doing away with communism
00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:29.999
Pinochet instead did away with
all democratic institutions
00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:34.999
and remained in power until 1990.
00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:39.999
At that time, Joanne
Garces, a Spanish attorney
00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:44.999
was IND’s main advisor.
00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:49.999
He was by INDs side during the assault
in the palace. But was able to escape
00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:54.999
and return to Madrid where 23 years
later he became the senior attorney
00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:59.999
in the Pinochet case.
00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:04.999
From the beginning
00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:09.999
and in spite of the repression the democratic
opposition was able to set up archives
00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:14.999
containing the files of the persons who were
tortured, executed, or who had disappeared.
00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:19.999
The Catholic Church and other
organizations gathered
00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:24.999
information for these enormous
archives full of memories and terror.
00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:29.999
A team of attorneys working for Vicaria de la
Solidaridad fought (inaudible) to defend human rights.
00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:34.999
Each victim has a file within
the archives concerning his
00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:40.000
or her own story.
00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:28.000
[sil.]
00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:45.000
[sil.]
00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:18.000
[sil.]
00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:24.999
In Madrid, in 1996, a
39 year old prosecutor,
00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:29.999
Carlos (inaudible) discovered the
legal loophole for detaining
00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:34.999
Pinochet didn’t think that the Spanish
legal system should sit around
00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:39.999
with their arms folded when faced with
the crimes in Chile and Argentina.
00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:44.999
There had to be a way to make the truth known
and to bring back the memories of the victims.
00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:49.999
Castresana’s childhood
had been deeply affected
00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:54.999
by Franco’s dictatorship. He
felt close to the Chilean
00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:59.999
and Argentine victims because they had gone through
the same experiences as him and his family.
00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:05.000
However, he had no ties to Latin America and
had never visited any of those countries.
00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:30.000
[sil.]
00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.999
Castresana carefully sifted
through legislative enactment
00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:49.999
and discovered an article that allows
the Spanish legal system to intervene
00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.999
in any country where crimes of genocide,
terrorism, and torture have been committed.
00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:59.999
This finding together with the
international treaties that Spain ratified
00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.999
after Franco’s death opened the way
for the hearing of two complaints.
00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:10.000
One against the Argentine military
and the other against Pinochet.
00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:34.999
Castresana also discovered that
the Chilean an Argentine generals
00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:39.999
had applied the same methods used by the Nazis
concerning the disappearance of prisoners.
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.999
And this helped lend a
way to two complaints.
00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:50.000
[sil.]
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:19.999
Judge (inaudible) García-Castrillón
00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.999
agreed to begin the trial hearing. Later,
(inaudible) followed up the proceedings alone.
00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.999
Known for his tenacity, he pursued the
case not knowing where it would lead him
00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
with the accused under
parliamentary impunity and being
00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.999
12,000 kilo meters away in Chile.
It wasn’t until much later
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.999
that the 11 judges of the Spanish
Supreme Court unanimously confirmed
00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.999
the crimes in Chile and Argentina
fill under universal jurisdiction
00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.999
and could therefore be tried in courts
anywhere in the world, thus also in Spain.
00:20:55.000 --> 00:21:03.000
[sil.]
00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.999
The other central figure in the story
was Valencia Bon Joanne Garces(ph).
00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.999
The senior attorney for the victims.
Thirty years earlier,
00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.999
after finishing his studies in political
science in Paris, he moved to Santiago,
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.999
Chile, where he worked as private
advisor to President Salvador Allende.
00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.999
During the assault to convince him
to leave the government palace,
00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.999
Allende said to him, \"You are the only person
that can tell the world what has happened here.\"
00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:40.000
Allende thus, saved his life and the
palace was bombarded shortly thereafter.
00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.999
For 23 years, Garces waited in hope
00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.999
for another chance to face Pinochet.
When Castrisanas complaint was accepted,
00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.999
Garces immediately asked to be allow to defend
the victims who began arriving in Spain.
00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.999
The legal machinery had started to turn.
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:38.000
[sil.]
00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:38.000
[sil.]
00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
For two years
00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
the victims gave their testimony to general
indifference. No one, neither the press
00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.999
nor public opinion nor the governments involved believed
that the case would have any chance of success.
00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:15.000
[sil.]
00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:23.000
[sil.]
00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:50.000
[sil.]
00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:20.000
[sil.]
00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:40.000
[sil.]
00:33:55.000 --> 00:34:00.000
[non-English narration]
00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:30.000
[sil.]
00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:55.000
[sil.]
00:37:55.000 --> 00:38:00.000
[sil.]
00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:20.000
[sil.]
00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:55.000
[sil.]
00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:15.000
[sil.]
00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:08.000
[sil.]
00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:59.999
Once a year, he was invited by British airspace.
Umm… Normally, you know, after the summer,
00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.999
September, October, like
this year, uh… like in 1998,
00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:09.999
on the last occasion, he was invited by British
airspace to come and have a look at, you know,
00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.999
and he went along and there
was, so that’s what happened.
00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:19.999
Friday, the 2nd of October
1998, we had lunch
00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.999
and he only drank very little wine and I
said, \"General, is the wine all right?
00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:29.999
Would you like something else?\" He said, \"I don’t know
but I’m having a check up.\" And I didn’t even know on
00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.999
Friday afternoon when I had lunch with him that it had to
do with his back. But I… he told me afterwards that uh…
00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:39.999
that uh… The surgeon said,
\"Listen, we do this all the time
00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:44.999
just have it done and you, you know, in
10 days time you can go back to Chile.\"
00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.999
And when I accompanied him and we went
to drink at Lady Thatcher’s House,
00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:54.999
just a square and that is when he announced
that he would submit himself to surgery,
00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:59.999
uh… the Friday following the 9th of October
00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:05.000
and that his wife Lucía
would come on Wednesday.
00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:45.000
[sil.]
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:34.999
The court in Spain
00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:39.999
finally authorized both as Garzón application
for an extradition arrest of Pinochet
00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.999
that was transmitted that
evening to Scotland Yard
00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:49.999
in… in London and they then
had to seek the permission
00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:54.999
of the Home Secretary to undertake the
arrest that was immediately authorized
00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:59.999
and they informed the
Chilean ambassador of that
00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:04.999
and went straight to the clinic
uh… office of Scotland Yard did
00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:10.000
and formally arrested Pinochet whilst
he was in bed in the London Clinic.
00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:54.999
And… and I couldn’t believe it. Uh…
00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.999
I… I don’t know and I was totally
convinced it was a mistake, you know,
00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:04.999
that was somebody’s got the wrong papers and you know, and
forgot to have a stamp from somebody and just passed it.
00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:09.999
And everybody expected this to be, oh, I thought
this is going to be over in, you know, a week.
00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:14.999
Nobody… nobody ever thought
it would take 500 days.
00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:19.999
[music]
00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.999
From the very first day,
00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:29.999
Chilean exiles gathered to protest in front of
the hospital. Meanwhile, the European Parliament
00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:35.000
supported Spain’s demand for
Pinochet’s extradition.
00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:54.999
What interested me most from the case was
00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:59.999
the interference with impunity
for former heads of state.
00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:04.999
I don’t believe that diplomacy can function
00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:09.999
in a world where a head of state or a
former head of state may be arrested.
00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:14.999
I certainly, don’t think the world can function
if the head of state is open to arrest.
00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:19.999
And I think the distinction between a head of state
and a former head of state is rather a fine one.
00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:24.999
Are we going to uh… say
to the Chinese President,
00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:29.999
\"Welcome to London\"? We went to arrest you today
but we want to arrest you in six months time,
00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:34.999
when you are no longer head of state.
The world can’t function uh… like that.
00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:40.000
[sil.]
00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:33.000
[sil.]
00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:39.999
The 25th of November 1998,
which was his birthday
00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:44.999
and 5 ‘o was going to be the judgment of the Lords
was going to be at two o’clock in the afternoon.
00:51:45.000 --> 00:51:49.999
And I arrived there, I can’t remember,
half past twelve or something like that.
00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:54.999
And they were all there,
packed, dressed up.
00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:59.999
The general was ready to umm…
(inaudible) he had a boots,
00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:04.999
the winter boots on, suitcases were there.
00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:09.999
Everybody was ready to go.
00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:14.999
I was sitting umm…
00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:19.999
amongst a group of conservative M.P.’s,
all of whom were Pinochet supporters.
00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:24.999
And the result is read out. A bit
like a football penalty shootout.
00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:29.999
You know, with team A, yes. Team A, yes.
One, one, two,
00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:34.999
one, two, two, three, two.
That’s the result.
00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:39.999
So we… we’re going through it. And
the result starts to run against us
00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:44.999
and this very right when
Tory goes, \"Eh, you’ve lost
00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:49.999
his phrase.\" And it’s not
over till the fat lady sings
00:52:50.000 --> 00:52:54.999
as they say in the opera. And then we won the
last three and we won the case and he said,
00:52:55.000 --> 00:52:59.999
\"I don’t believe it.\" He said, \"You law
of one. I do not believe it.\" And then
00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:04.999
the place just erupted. And then the
Chileans all went out embracing each other.
00:53:05.000 --> 00:53:09.999
The body language is interesting. Precious
that reserved, the Chileans are so ecstatic.
00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:18.000
[music]
00:53:30.000 --> 00:53:38.000
[sil.]
00:53:45.000 --> 00:53:49.999
The House of Lords had finished its work.
00:53:50.000 --> 00:53:54.999
But one week later, Pinochet’s attorneys
discovered that one of the judges was involved
00:53:55.000 --> 00:53:59.999
with Amnesty International, one
of the parties being represented.
00:54:00.000 --> 00:54:04.999
To Whom It May Concern: everyone’s surprise,
and for the first time in 150 years,
00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:09.999
the Lords reversed their decision and
decided to re-examine the written record
00:54:10.000 --> 00:54:14.999
before other magistrates.
00:54:15.000 --> 00:54:19.999
This decision forced the ex-dictator to rent
a house in a fashionable suburb of London.
00:54:20.000 --> 00:54:24.999
Half of the house was
occupied by the police.
00:54:25.000 --> 00:54:29.999
The prisoner began reading Napoleon’s
memos. 150 metres from the house,
00:54:30.000 --> 00:54:34.999
a picket line of Chileans
followed his every move.
00:54:35.000 --> 00:54:39.999
[music]
00:54:40.000 --> 00:54:44.999
During this time, Spain demanded
Pinochet’s tradition followed by France,
00:54:45.000 --> 00:54:49.999
Switzerland, and Belgium. The United
States meanwhile sent Judge Garzón
00:54:50.000 --> 00:54:54.999
secret documents regarding
Operation Condor.
00:54:55.000 --> 00:54:59.999
Pinochet’s military pact for the liquidation of
his opponents in six South American countries.
00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:04.999
All the while the prisoner was just bored, although,
sometimes personalities would come to lend
00:55:05.000 --> 00:55:10.000
him their support.
00:55:25.000 --> 00:55:30.000
[sil.]
00:56:40.000 --> 00:56:44.999
For a while Pinochet managed to avoid
00:56:45.000 --> 00:56:49.999
any public court appearances. But English law
required him to appear in Belmarsh court
00:56:50.000 --> 00:56:55.000
where the judge read the charges
being weighed against him.
00:57:00.000 --> 00:57:04.999
There comes a point when the accused
is in the dog. Where he has to just
00:57:05.000 --> 00:57:09.999
give his name. So I remember that moment
very well when he said, (inaudible)
00:57:10.000 --> 00:57:14.999
him at that moment that was the first time,
00:57:15.000 --> 00:57:19.999
the ex-dictator had subjugated
himself to a criminal court
00:57:20.000 --> 00:57:24.999
for the offenses he was charged
with and in particularly
00:57:25.000 --> 00:57:29.999
for the crime of torture and probably,
for him for the first time,
00:57:30.000 --> 00:57:34.999
he was surrounded by policemen. Of
course, they did not represent his men,
00:57:35.000 --> 00:57:39.999
they represented the forces keeping him
under arrest. And then he left the court
00:57:40.000 --> 00:57:44.999
with a blanket over his head.
Now the days when I was child
00:57:45.000 --> 00:57:49.999
in Britain, one would see
on the television pictures
00:57:50.000 --> 00:57:54.999
of convicted murderers, child molesters,
00:57:55.000 --> 00:57:59.999
people like that leaving court with a blanket
over their head and the vision of Pinochet
00:58:00.000 --> 00:58:05.000
being driven away from the court with a
blanket over his head was a form of justice.
00:58:10.000 --> 00:58:14.999
[sil.]
00:58:15.000 --> 00:58:19.999
Three months later, the Lord’s lifted Pinochet’s
impunity Once again. Although, this time
00:58:20.000 --> 00:58:24.999
for lesser offenses. Meanwhile, other
courts collected new complaints
00:58:25.000 --> 00:58:30.000
from Chile, Germany, Italy,
Norway, Sweden, and Luxembourg.
00:59:45.000 --> 00:59:53.000
[sil.]
01:00:00.000 --> 01:00:04.999
In Madrid, the Pinochet case
became the top story in the media.
01:00:05.000 --> 01:00:09.999
The hope of a trial deeply affected the victims
in Chile and throughout the entire world.
01:00:10.000 --> 01:00:15.000
Witnesses flocked to Judge Garzón’s office
and the archives grew to 35,000 pages.
01:05:15.000 --> 01:05:20.000
[sil.]
01:07:25.000 --> 01:07:30.000
[sil.]
01:08:00.000 --> 01:08:05.000
[sil.]
01:08:45.000 --> 01:08:50.000
[sil.]
01:09:05.000 --> 01:09:13.000
[sil.]
01:11:40.000 --> 01:11:48.000
[sil.]
01:13:55.000 --> 01:14:03.000
[sil.]
01:15:20.000 --> 01:15:28.000
[non-English narration]
01:15:30.000 --> 01:15:34.999
In September 1999, the extradition hearing began
at London’s Bow Street Magistrates Court.
01:15:35.000 --> 01:15:39.999
Facing the exiled protesters
now were Pinochet sympathizers
01:15:40.000 --> 01:15:44.999
whose flights from Chile had been paid
for by the ex-dictators foundation.
01:15:45.000 --> 01:15:49.999
The English judicial system
01:15:50.000 --> 01:15:54.999
listen to both sides for a week and had to decide whether
or not Pinochet could be sent to Spain to be tried.
01:15:55.000 --> 01:16:03.000
[non-English narration]
01:16:05.000 --> 01:16:09.999
What… what are we talking about?
Most general Pinochet
01:16:10.000 --> 01:16:14.999
personally involved in
the, in the disappearance
01:16:15.000 --> 01:16:19.999
and the murder of people of
fellow Chileans. And umm…
01:16:20.000 --> 01:16:24.999
I’m saying that he is not a matter
01:16:25.000 --> 01:16:29.999
and that he is not somebody who would be a
catalyst murderer. Is he a twofold fox?
01:16:30.000 --> 01:16:34.999
Yes. We’ll see tough on his opponents
01:16:35.000 --> 01:16:39.999
who were out uh… for destruction.
01:16:40.000 --> 01:16:44.999
Yes. Uh… Is he a patriot? Yes.
01:16:45.000 --> 01:16:49.999
Umm… Did he feel that possibly
01:16:50.000 --> 01:16:54.999
he was living uh… in some
kind of a civil war? Yes.
01:16:55.000 --> 01:16:59.999
I dare say that when you
look at the figures
01:17:00.000 --> 01:17:04.999
and you know, every life is a life.
I’m… I’m not,
01:17:05.000 --> 01:17:09.999
but if you look at the figures
and you see what he has done,
01:17:10.000 --> 01:17:14.999
not only in order to…
to eliminate communism
01:17:15.000 --> 01:17:19.999
in his country which was then the name of the game in
those years that was, you know, you fought communism,
01:17:20.000 --> 01:17:24.999
you tried to keep that out
of your country. I dare say
01:17:25.000 --> 01:17:29.999
that he did that was minimal loss of
life, was minimal human suffering.
01:17:30.000 --> 01:17:34.999
And uh…
01:17:35.000 --> 01:17:39.999
to, for some minor groupings,
01:17:40.000 --> 01:17:44.999
to come and make a big fuss
about it, 25 years later,
01:17:45.000 --> 01:17:49.999
I find, very, very sad. Very, very sad.
01:17:50.000 --> 01:17:58.000
[non-English narration]
01:18:15.000 --> 01:18:19.999
This is a complete perversion
01:18:20.000 --> 01:18:24.999
of what the extradition
convention was intend to do
01:18:25.000 --> 01:18:29.999
and it was only because people cleverly
put the extradition convention together
01:18:30.000 --> 01:18:34.999
with the torture convention and I’m not a lawyer
but I very much doubt of the torture convention
01:18:35.000 --> 01:18:39.999
was really intended for use
against heads of state
01:18:40.000 --> 01:18:44.999
in… in… in that way.
01:18:45.000 --> 01:18:53.000
You see here,
01:19:20.000 --> 01:19:24.999
the accused is absent. But the clark(ph)
to the court, a woman who had been sitting
01:19:25.000 --> 01:19:29.999
just in front of the judge read out the
charges including 45 cases of torture.
01:19:30.000 --> 01:19:34.999
And the magistrate made it clear
01:19:35.000 --> 01:19:39.999
that these charges were very serious
charges among the worst he’d ever heard.
01:19:40.000 --> 01:19:44.999
And he was really showing that he
was taking this very seriously
01:19:45.000 --> 01:19:50.000
that he was going to be very through and
that no one could expect any favors.
01:19:55.000 --> 01:20:00.000
[sil.]
01:20:40.000 --> 01:20:44.999
It was beautifully done
01:20:45.000 --> 01:20:49.999
by (inaudible). They just went
through case by case by case
01:20:50.000 --> 01:20:54.999
but it was in the slight dismissive mode.
So saying,
01:20:55.000 --> 01:20:59.999
\"Well, your honor, umm… I have this
case here. This is the case of…
01:21:00.000 --> 01:21:04.999
of George and this person was suffered from
01:21:05.000 --> 01:21:09.999
electric shock treatment and so on.
And oh, we’ve got another case here.\"
01:21:10.000 --> 01:21:14.999
And it was always as they were back to stop.
And each time they stopped, \"I’m sorry,
01:21:15.000 --> 01:21:19.999
there’s another case I want to bring out.\" And then
another, then another, then another, then another.
01:21:20.000 --> 01:21:24.999
And it was devastating.
01:21:25.000 --> 01:21:30.000
[sil.]
01:21:35.000 --> 01:21:40.000
[non-English narration]
01:21:45.000 --> 01:21:53.000
[non-English narration]
01:22:05.000 --> 01:22:09.999
The magistrate announced that General
Pinochet can’t be extraverted to Spain
01:22:10.000 --> 01:22:14.999
or in other words, there’s no
British legal reason why he can’t.
01:22:15.000 --> 01:22:19.999
This guy is here today, (inaudible) 35
charges of torture and (inaudible).
01:22:20.000 --> 01:22:28.000
What I’m saying is that the judge
01:22:35.000 --> 01:22:39.999
that they recognize that he has acted as
a police officer rather than as a judge.
01:22:40.000 --> 01:22:44.999
He is uninvited, he is prohibited to apply
justice in this case. He has applied
01:22:45.000 --> 01:22:49.999
an extradition treaty which is
completely out of Latin America
01:22:50.000 --> 01:22:55.000
is completely away from our mentality
and from normal standards in law.
01:23:00.000 --> 01:23:08.000
[non-English narration]
01:23:35.000 --> 01:23:43.000
[music]
01:24:45.000 --> 01:24:49.999
Five days before president election
01:24:50.000 --> 01:24:54.999
where take place in Chili The British
home secretary liberated the prisoner.
01:24:55.000 --> 01:24:59.999
Medical examinations had found that Pinochet
suffered from 16 different elements,
01:25:00.000 --> 01:25:04.999
was taking 11 different medications.
01:25:05.000 --> 01:25:09.999
Could not remember events from the past.
Was incapable of standing trial
01:25:10.000 --> 01:25:15.000
and that he had difficulty in walking.
01:25:35.000 --> 01:25:40.000
[sil.]
01:25:45.000 --> 01:25:50.000
[sil.]
01:26:20.000 --> 01:26:25.000
[sil.]
01:26:50.000 --> 01:26:58.000
[sil.]
01:27:05.000 --> 01:27:13.000
[music]
01:27:20.000 --> 01:27:28.000
[sil.]
01:27:30.000 --> 01:27:38.000
[music]
01:28:20.000 --> 01:28:28.000
[sil.]
01:29:35.000 --> 01:29:43.000
[music]
01:31:30.000 --> 01:31:38.000
[sil.]
01:32:35.000 --> 01:32:43.000
[music]
01:32:55.000 --> 01:32:59.999
In Santiago, inpatient with the slowness of
the judicial process, groups of young people
01:33:00.000 --> 01:33:04.999
organised t denounce in their own turn. The
extortaries and the professionals responsible
01:33:05.000 --> 01:33:10.000
for the repression who were
still holding high positions.
01:34:05.000 --> 01:34:13.000
[sil.]
01:34:20.000 --> 01:34:24.999
While Pinochet was in London,
Judge Guzman was receiving
01:34:25.000 --> 01:34:29.999
the Chilean complaints. Families of
the victims presented more than 200
01:34:30.000 --> 01:34:34.999
of their own complaints against
Pinochet denouncing the amnesty laws.
01:34:35.000 --> 01:34:39.999
The people stopped being afraid and the
legal powers made up for last time.
01:34:40.000 --> 01:34:44.999
For the first time, Judge Guzman was
able to gain entrance to the houses
01:34:45.000 --> 01:34:50.000
used for torture and where hundreds
of people had disappeared.
01:35:20.000 --> 01:35:28.000
[sil.]
01:35:50.000 --> 01:35:54.999
It seemed to judge Guzmán that the
amnesty, the military had given themselves
01:35:55.000 --> 01:35:59.999
could not be applied to the
persons who had disappeared.
01:36:00.000 --> 01:36:04.999
To him the disappearance of those persons was a
criminal offense which would continue until the moment
01:36:05.000 --> 01:36:09.999
the victims were found. Guzmán crossed
the country looking for proof,
01:36:10.000 --> 01:36:14.999
taking statements, and examining bodies.
01:36:15.000 --> 01:36:23.000
[sil.]
01:36:55.000 --> 01:37:00.000
[sil.]
01:37:20.000 --> 01:37:25.000
[sil.]
01:38:05.000 --> 01:38:10.000
[sil.]
01:38:50.000 --> 01:38:58.000
[sil.]
01:39:00.000 --> 01:39:04.999
Two days after Pinochet returned, Judge
Guzman asked the Court of Appeals
01:39:05.000 --> 01:39:09.999
to lift his impunity as senator
for life in order to indict him.
01:39:10.000 --> 01:39:14.999
By a vote of 13 to 9, the
judges agreed to his request.
01:39:15.000 --> 01:39:19.999
But defence attorneys demanded
arbitration from the Supreme Court
01:39:20.000 --> 01:39:28.000
which angered the victims.
01:40:20.000 --> 01:40:28.000
[non-English narration]
01:40:50.000 --> 01:40:58.000
[non-English narration]
01:41:00.000 --> 01:41:04.999
On August 7th, 2000, in a historic ruling
01:41:05.000 --> 01:41:09.999
by a vote of 14 to 6, the Supreme Court confirmed
the lifting of parliamentary impunity.
01:41:10.000 --> 01:41:14.999
The decision of the magistrates allowed
Judge Guzman to continue with his work.
01:41:15.000 --> 01:41:19.999
First of all,
01:41:20.000 --> 01:41:24.999
the judge ordered the accused to submit to new medical
examinations that prove that Pinochet’s mental health
01:41:25.000 --> 01:41:29.999
was normal for a person of his age.
01:41:30.000 --> 01:41:34.999
Then the judge interrogated the ex-senator for
half an hour. Pinochet denied responsibility
01:41:35.000 --> 01:41:39.999
for the crimes and placed the
blame on his subordinates.
01:41:40.000 --> 01:41:44.999
Five years after the case
have been opened in Spain,
01:41:45.000 --> 01:41:49.999
the Chilean judicial system was on
the point of arresting Pinochet.
01:41:50.000 --> 01:41:58.000
[sil.]
01:42:00.000 --> 01:42:04.999
This was the same time that the first statue
of Allende was being erected in Santiago.
01:42:05.000 --> 01:42:09.999
On January 7th 2001, the army
admitted to having eliminated
01:42:10.000 --> 01:42:14.999
180 of Allende supporters. Most of
them being dumped into the sea.
01:42:15.000 --> 01:42:19.999
For the first time, the military
confessed to some of their crimes
01:42:20.000 --> 01:42:24.999
after having maintained a
silence of almost 30 years.
01:42:25.000 --> 01:42:29.999
After having betrayed
Salvador Allende Pinochet
01:42:30.000 --> 01:42:34.999
tried to erase the fact from history.
01:42:35.000 --> 01:42:39.999
But the image of the president has remained with the
victims and continues to give courage to those who resist.
01:42:40.000 --> 01:42:44.999
On January 29th 2001,
01:42:45.000 --> 01:42:49.999
Judge Guzman ordered Pinochet’s arrest
01:42:50.000 --> 01:42:54.999
and had him charged with the crimes.
He was placed under house arrest.
01:42:55.000 --> 01:42:59.999
Across from the government palace,
the statue of Salvador Allende
01:43:00.000 --> 01:43:04.999
has finally found it’s place.
01:43:05.000 --> 01:43:13.000
[sil.]
01:46:15.000 --> 01:46:23.000
[sil.]
01:49:35.000 --> 01:49:40.000
[sil.]
Distributor: Icarus Films
Length: 109 minutes
Date: 2001
Genre: Expository
Language: English; Spanish / English subtitles
Grade: 9-12, College, Adult
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
Existing customers, please log in to view this film.
New to Docuseek? Register to request a quote.
Related Films
Journalism students at the University of Chile embark on an investigation…
Patricio Guzmán tells Allende's story, from his youth in Valparaiso and…