Human Rights Trials in Chile During and after the ‘Pinochet Years’

Abstract

This article reflects on the recent Chilean experience of accountability actions, particularly the attempted prosecution of perpetrators of past human rights violations. While acknowledging the undoubtedly substantial impulse provided by the dramatic October 1998 UK arrest of former dictator Augusto Pinochet, it focuses on domestic actors and drivers in a post-1998 revival of such attempts. The article examines the extent and limitations of recent change in the area of prosecutions in Chile, noting that these have been undertaken at the insistence of private actors rather than the state. It also notes that the self-amnesty law of 1978 is still textually intact despite advances in restricting its application with regards to certain categories of internationally proscribed crimes. Finally, the article examines some explanatory factors for both recent advances and remaining blockages in the Chilean human rights accountability scenario.