The Association of Relatives of the Forcibly Disappeared (AFDD) of Chile described as "historic" the decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) to condemn the Chilean State for the application of the Amnesty Law in the case of an opponent executed during the dictatorship.

The international body determined that Chile violated the provisions of the Pact of San José, Costa Rica, in the case of Alfredo Almonacid, a teacher and militant of the Communist Party murdered on September 17, 1973, one day after being arrested by the police.

In 1997, the military justice system issued a final dismissal of the case—which had been initiated by the ordinary courts—on the grounds that criminal liability had been extinguished by virtue of the Amnesty Law.

The resolution exempted military personnel Raúl Neveu and Manuel Castro, prosecuted in 1996 for qualified homicide and complicity, respectively, from criminal liability. "Without a doubt, it is a very important resolution that brings back to the table something that we have pointed out during all these years of transition, which points to the existence and validity of a self-pardon decree from the dictatorship, such as the Amnesty decree law," the president of the AFDD, Lorena Pizarro, indicated to ANSA.

Indeed, the IACHR resolution condemns the Chilean State to ensure that the Amnesty Law, a remnant of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship, "does not continue to represent an obstacle to the continuation of investigations into the extrajudicial execution of Mr.

Almonacid Arellano and to the identification and, where appropriate, the punishment of those responsible." It also establishes that the case can be reopened, even if "res judicata" exists, and points out that "attempting to grant amnesty to those responsible for crimes against humanity is incompatible with the American Convention." "The existence of a decree law from the years of the dictatorship is inexplicable and unacceptable, because it contravenes all international human rights regulations," declared Pizarro.

She further pointed out that the State of Chile, by becoming a party to the Pact of San José, Costa Rica, in 1990, "finally assumes that the IACHR has a decision-making power that forces the Chilean State today to face the Amnesty decree law." The ruling, voted on unanimously, adds that amnesty should not be an obstacle to "the investigation, prosecution, and punishment of those responsible for other similar violations that occurred in Chile." Although it highlights the Chilean effort to reach the "historical truth," the ruling establishes that "this cannot replace the State's obligation" to achieve it through justice. The ruling coincides with the recent presentation, by the victims' relatives, of a proposal for the repeal of the Amnesty Law to the parties of the ruling coalition, the Concertación. "We know that due to a lack of political will in this country, the discussion on the nullity of the Amnesty decree law has not begun, but today we are facing a different fact, facing a decision from an international human rights court, which forces the State of Chile to assume the nullity of this decree," emphasized Pizarro.

Source: La Nación, October 13, 2006

Human Rights: Supreme Court confirms conviction of Carabineros officer for the crime of teacher Almonacid

The Supreme Court confirmed a 5-year suspended sentence for a retired Carabineros officer for the "qualified homicide" of a communist teacher in 1973, after the Inter-American Court of Human Rights annulled a previous proceeding due to the application of the Amnesty Law, the Judiciary reported this Wednesday. "In a unanimous ruling, the ministers of the Second Chamber of the highest court, Milton Juica, Hugo Dolmestch, Haroldo Brito, Lamberto Cisternas, and the acting lawyer Jorge Lagos, rejected the cassation appeal filed against the sentence of the Rancagua Court of Appeals, which ratified the 5-year prison sentence, with the benefit of supervised release, for the former member of the Carabineros, Raúl Neveu Cortesi," says the report from the Judiciary on its website. This case was investigated again in Chile by the civil justice system after the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), based in Costa Rica, resolved in 2006 to set aside the proceeding closed in the military justice system due to the application of the 1978 Amnesty Law.

CRIME OF THE TEACHER

Five days after the coup d'état of September 11, 1973, Luis Almonacid Arellano, a university professor and militant of the Communist Party, was arrested at his home by a group of Carabineros. While he was being transported in a police vehicle, a Carabineros officer shot him, causing a wound that ultimately led to his death, as verified by the judicial investigation.

Source: La Nación, July 31, 2013