Pinochet faces new human rights charges News
Pinochet faces new human rights charges

[JURIST] Chilean Judge Victor Montiglio announced Tuesday that former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] will face a new round of human rights charges. As the judge continues to investigate Pinochet's role in Operation Colombo [Wikipedia backgrounder], where a dozen members of the opposition were allegedly kidnapped and murdered, he found enough evidence to connect Pinochet to the abduction of three more dissidents. Last month, Pinochet was charged in the disappearance of six dissidents [JURIST report] during the Operation Colombo campaign. Montiglio, however, dropped the charges in connection to the disappearance of four other dissents since those accusations were earlier dismissed by a military tribunal. Calling this as a "judicial mistake", prosecutor Boris Paredes plans to appeal the decision. Earlier this month, a panel of judges rejected the defense's argument that Pinochet was too ill to face trial [JURIST report] and he is now under house arrest. In addition to the human rights violations, Pinochet faces tax evasion and corruption charges [JURIST report]. More than 3,000 people were killed while Pinochet was in power from 1973 to 1990. BBC News has more.

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