By Jenni Mays
and Lynda Hansen
BRISBANE — More than 100 supporters attended a cultural event on February 6 at the Trades and Labor Council building organised by the Communist Party of Australia's Victor Jara branch. Jose Viligron gave an update on the legal proceedings against Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet.
On October 16, 1998, Pinochet was arrested in London in response to an application from Spanish judges investigating human rights abuses during and after the military coup led by Pinochet in 1973. Viligron explained that on January 20 that year, a Chilean court had accepted a complaint of genocide brought against Pinochet by the Communist Party of Chile.
On November 25, Britain's House of Lords upheld an extradition order against Pinochet, ruling that he had no immunity. However, Pinochet's lawyers demanded that the case be reheard because one of the lords involved in the ruling had links to Amnesty International. The Law Lords' decision was set aside and new hearings have begun.
Claudio Gallardo told the Brisbane audience the history of Chilean activist singer Victor Jara, who was beaten to death during the coup by Pinochet's troops. Her presentation was followed by an impressive array of Guatemalan and Chilean guitarists and poets, and performances by lively indigenous Chilean dance groups.
Viligron told Green Left Weekly: "The Chilean people who suffered under Pinochet's regime demand nothing less than the dictator's extradition to Spain to face charges of crimes against humanity. Justice for the people — justice for Chile!"