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| Kissinger Watch #1 - 04 |
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| FRENCH AND CHILEAN JUDGES TRY TO INTERROGATE KISSINGER | |
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| source: Pinochet Watch 36 | |
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| While visiting Paris last month, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was called as a witness in a case involving the disappearance of French citizens in Chile and Argentina in the 1970s. The Parisian police presented Kissinger with the summons at the Ritz Hotel on May 28. The summons was issued by French Judge Roger Le Loire at the request of William Bourdon, Secretary General of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and a lawyer for families of French victims of the Pinochet dictatorship. Le Loire, who issued an international arrest warrant against Augusto Pinochet in 1998, is currently investigating the disappearance of five French citizens who were disappeared in Chile and Argentina. One of those was disappeared as part of Operation Condor, a coordinated campaign of terror that united the security forces of Chile, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and Argentina to exchange intelligence and carry out joint operations against so-called leftist subversives. Condor was responsible for the exchange of prisoners, disappearances, and the assassination of opposition leaders, including the 1976 assassination of Orlando Letelier and Ronni Karpen Moffitt in Washington, D.C. Kissinger was specifically asked to testify about Operation Condor. Recently declassified documents show that the US government was aware of and monitored the activities of Condor. According to William Bourdon, There are a number of factors that suggest that the US government was carefully monitoring what happened in Chile, especially the situation of foreigners who had disappeared...Kissinger is more than just a symbol, he is a witness who can contribute to uncovering the truth. Kissinger made no public comments about the summons and did not appear at the court to testify. The US Embassy told Le Loire that Kissinger had other obligations that prevented him from appearing before the court. The Embassy also announced that the court should not have presented the request directly to Kissinger. A spokesperson explained, we understand that the court is examining a period when Dr. Kissinger was an official of the US government. We therefore believe that the court should present its request through government channels to the Department of State. In an interview with Mexican magazine Proceso, Bourdon pointed out that Le Loire had already sent a formal request for information to the US government two years ago asking to interview several US witnesses-he never received a reply. Bourdon went on to say that as long as Le Loire continues his investigation, Kissinger will be called to testify every time he visits Paris. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHILEAN AND ARGENTINIAN JUDGES ALSO SEEKS TO INTERROGATE KISSINGER Two weeks after Judge Le Loire called Kissinger to testify in France, Chilean Judge Juan Guzmán announced that he would seek to interrogate the former US official as part of his investigation into the 1973 murder of American journalist Charles Horman in Chile. On June 4, Judge Guzmán declared that he would send a list of questions to Kissinger regarding the Horman case. That same day, however, the court denied a petition to interrogate Pinochet as part of the Horman investigation. On August 9, the Argentinian Judge Rodolfo Canicoba requested the testimony of Kissinger regarding his investigations into Operation Condor. For more information: Bruce Broomhall, Criminal Justice on a Global Scale, The New York Times, June 13, 2001 Anne Marie Mergier, Kissinger, premio Nobel de la Paz, responsible de asesinatos, Proceso, June 12, 2001 La Tercera, Juez Guzmán envía exhorto a Henry Kissinger, June 5, 2001 CNN en Español.com, EE.UU. se opuso a que Kissinger preste declaración sobre Chile en Francia, May 30, 2001 Pierre-Antoine Souchard, Kissinger Summoned in Pinochet Case, AP, May 28, 2001 Eduardo Febbro, Un Juez Frances Quiere Que Atestigue el Ex-Secretario de Estado, Página 12, May 29, 2001 BBC, US Bars Kissinger in Pinochet Probe, May 29, 2001 | |
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