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| Kissinger Watch #1 - 06 | |
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| Resolution of the Genevan Parliament | |
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| By Antonio Hodgers, Member of the Genevan Parliament | |
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| Following the arrest of Pinochet in London in 1998, the Genevan Parliament unanimously adopted a resolution (a non-legally binding but declaratory parliamentary act) demanding the extradition of the ex-dictator in the light of this judgement. This action was principally a symbolic one, supporting the developments in the fight against the impunity of dictators. A few months later, the 'Procureur de Genève' demanded that Pinochet be extradited to Switzerland, in relation to an open procedure from 1977 which led to the disappearance of a Swiss citizen at the hands of the Chilean junta during 'Operation Condor'. Believing it necessary to try not only dictators themselves but also those who aided them in their rise to power and perpetration of criminal acts, a group of Members of Parliament submitted a resolution calling on the Swiss judicial authorities to consider the possible penal liability of Henry Kissinger in relation to this disappearance. The resolution was sent to the Human Rights Committee for further consideration. While right-wing parliamentarians (in the majority) had few qualms about sentencing a fallen ex-dictator, criticising one of the most prestigious diplomatic representatives of the world's biggest power was a completely different matter. The preliminary debate was ideological: the right considered our resolution to be a pretext for a "rearguard anti-American struggle". Nevertheless, the committee's work resulted in a deeper understanding of the issue and, thanks to extracts from various documents published by the National Security Archive, revealed the important role US secret services had played in Pinochet's coup d'état. The final parliamentary debate took place in October 2001. The right-wing majority, unsurprisingly, rejected the resolution. However, a certain level of recognition led to more moderate reasons being expressed for this rejection: "We share the concern for justice, but we can't agree on the means..." The quality of the debate was also remarked upon by the local press. Even if the resolution had only symbolic value, the work carried out by the Human Rights Committee at least brought about a measure of understanding among the Genevan political community of the role of Kissinger in the southern Latin American arena. PROPOSAL FOR A RESOLUTION (412) calling on the judicial authorities to consider the liability of Mr Henry Kissinger, among others, for the crimes committed by the regime of Mr Augusto Pinochet. The entire resolution - in French - available under: http://www.icai-online.org/kissingerwatch/resolutiongeneve.pdf The GREAT COUNCIL (Parliament) of the Republic and canton of Geneva, considering: - resolution 386 of the 23rd October 1998 calling for the extradition of Mr A. Pinochet in light of his trial in Spain, adopted unanimously by our Parliament; - the documents published by the National Security Archive which clearly demonstrate the involvement of the US government, and in particular Mr H. Kissinger in his position as National Security Adviser and Secretary of State, in the collapse of Mr Salvador Allende's democratically elected Chilean government in 1973 and the military coup d'état of Mr A. Pinochet; - the support of Mr H. Kissinger, among others, for the military regime and for the person of Mr A. Pinochet even though the crimes of the latter were internationally known; - the existence, beyond doubt, of further series of documents, which still remain secret, in particular those relative to Operation Condor and the role of the US authorities in this, with whose help the Chilean authorities were able to get rid of Swiss national Mr Alexei Jaccard; - the necessity of bringing to trial not only dictators but also those who aided their rise to power and perpetration of criminal acts, and the necessity of a legislative mechanism which works to this effect; Decides to: - communicate to the "Procurors" of the Rebublic and the Confederation, with reference to the steps introduced regarding Mr A. Pinochet and in the light of new documents published by the United States, our wish for it to be established to what extent the action of the latter, particularly those of Mr Kissinger, can be legally identified as complicity to the various acts of which Mr A. Pinochet has been condemned; And calls on the federal authorities: - to introduce as quickly as possible into our federal legislation the principle of "crime against humanity" and that of "complicity to crime against humanity"; - to put pressure on the United States government to publish all the documents relating to the facts surrounding A. Pinochet's coup d'etat and Operation Condor, in order to give our judiciary access to these documents. | |
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