Pinochet Is Ruled Unfit for Trial

Gen. Augusto Pinochet cannot be tried on human rights charges because of his deteriorating health and mental condition, a divided court ruled Monday, in effect bringing the 85-year-old former dictator’s legal troubles to an end.

The ruling said Pinochet suffers from such severe dementia that he cannot be prosecuted on charges of covering up 75 murders by the “caravan of death,” an army unit that toured northern Chile by helicopter shortly after his 1973 coup, eliminating suspected leftists.

The 2-1 decision by a panel of judges on the Santiago Court of Appeals is technically a suspension of the charges against Pinochet and could be appealed.

But few in Chile believe that he will ever appear in court.

“I think, unfortunately, that this is as far as the Pinochet case goes,” prosecution lawyer Juan Bustos told reporters.

Legal experts say about 250 other human rights cases against Pinochet in Chile are now likely to crumble.

Pinochet’s legal odyssey began when he went to London in October 1998 for back surgery.

British authorities unexpectedly detained him at the request of a Spanish judge and kept him under house arrest for 16 months before releasing him on health grounds.

He returned to Chile in March 2000, but his immunity was lifted and he was forced to continue his legal battle.

Earlier this year, Pinochet was diagnosed as having “moderate dementia.” He also suffers from diabetes and arthritis, has a pacemaker and has had at least three mild strokes since 1998, according to his doctors.