DATE=10/20/98 TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP NUMBER=6-10967 TITLE=GENERAL PINOCHET'S ARREST STIRS CONTROVERSY BYLINE=ANDREW N. GUTHRIE TELEPHONE=619-3335 DATELINE=WASHINGTON EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS CONTENT= ///// ED'S: SERVICES WISHING MORE MATERIAL ON THE PINOCHET ARREST, SHOULD CONSULT U-S EDITORIAL DIGEST 6-10966, WHICH MOVED EARLIER. ///// INTRO: THE ARREST OF FORMER CHILEAN DICTATOR GENERAL AUGUSTO PINOCHET BY BRITISH POLICE ON AN INTERNATIONAL WARRANT ISSUED BY A SPANISH JUDGE IS CAUSING GREAT REACTION IN THE U-S PRESS. MOST PAPERS ARE PLEASED THAT A MAN, ACCUSED OF CAUSING THE DEATHS OR DISAPPEARANCE OF SEVERAL-THOUSAND PEOPLE, MAY FINALLY ANSWER FOR HIS ALLEGED CRIMES. BUT OTHERS SAY THIS ARREST, WHILE HE IS TRAVELLING WITH A DIPLOMATIC PASSPORT, CLOUDS THE FUTURE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND DIPLOMACY. WE HAVE A SAMPLING NOW FROM ___________________ WHO BRINGS US TODAY'S OPINION ROUNDUP. TEXT: SCOTLAND YARD OFFICERS ARRESTED GENERAL PINOCHET AT A PRIVATE HOSPITAL IN LONDON LAST FRIDAY ON A WARRANT FROM A SPANISH JUDGE, WHO HAS BEEN INVESTIGATING THE DEATHS OF SEVERAL SPANISH CITIZENS DURING MR. PINOCHET'S REGIME. IN ALL, MORE THAN FOUR-THOUSAND PEOPLE DIED OR DISAPPEARED WHILE HE RAN CHILE FROM 1973 UNTIL 1990, FOLLOWING A COUP THAT OUSTED MARXIST LEADER SALVADOR ALLENDE. WHEN GENERAL PINOCHET STEPPED DOWN AS PRESIDENT HE CONTINUED TO HEAD THE ARMED FORCES UNTIL HE RETIRED, AND BECAME A SENATOR FOR LIFE IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. MR. PINOCHET, IN LONDON FOR BACK SURGERY, WAS ARRESTED ON CHARGES THAT NOW INCLUDE MURDER, TORTURE, AND GENOCIDE. BUT HIS EXTRADITION TO SPAIN IS ALMOST CERTAIN TO INVOLVED A COMPLICATED, AND DIPLOMATICALLY STRAINED STRUGGLE BETWEEN ENGLAND, SPAIN, AND CHILE, WHICH HAS VOCIFEROUSLY PROTESTED HIS ARREST. OUR EDITORIAL SAMPLE BEGINS IN TEXAS, WHERE "THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS" SAYS THE FORMER CHILEAN LEADER MADE A BIG MISTAKE ADDING -- DICTATORS SHOULD NOT LEAVE HOME -- PERIOD! VOICE: /// OPT /// AUGUSTO PINOCHET ... IS USED TO PLAYING BY HIS OWN RULES. SO HE MUST HAVE BEEN SHOCKED BY BRITAIN'S DECISION TO ARREST HIM AT THE REQUEST OF A SPANISH JUDGE, WHO WANTS HIM TO STAND TRIAL IN SPAIN ON MURDER AND TORTURE CHARGES. AFTER ALL, HAD NOT CHILE GIVEN AMNESTY TO THE FORMER GENERAL IN RETURN FOR HIS HANDING POWER TO ELECTED CIVILIANS IN 1989? AND WERE NOT THE MURDERS OF SPANISH CITIZENS COVERED BY THAT AMNESTY? /// END OPT /// ... EITHER MR. PINOCHET WAS TOO ARROGANT TO GRASP THAT HE WAS VULNERABLE OUTSIDE CHILE OR NO ONE TOLD HIM THAT THERE IS NOTHING INHERENT ABOUT HOLDING A DIPLOMATIC PASSPORT OR BEING A SENATOR THAT PROTECTS ONE FROM PROSECUTION ELSEWHERE. ... MR. PINOCHET'S BIG MISTAKE WAS TO LEAVE CHILE. HE ERRED ALSO IN VISITING A COUNTRY WITH AN INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY. ... [HE] SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE CAREFUL. TEXT: "THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE" CALLS THE ARREST A VICTORY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES, BUT SUGGESTS THE SERIOUS QUESTIONS ABOUT INTERNATIONAL LAW AND DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY MAKES THE EVENTUAL OUTCOME UNCLEAR. NEVERTHELESS: VOICE: THERE IS NO DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY FOR GENOCIDE -- AND THERE SHOULD NEVER BE. ... U-N SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN APPLAUDED [MR.] PINOCHET'S ARREST AS EVIDENCE THAT HUMAN RIGHTS LAWS ARE COMING INTO THEIR OWN AND HIDING PLACES ARE GROWING SCARCE. TEXT: "THE WASHINGTON TIMES" SAYS THE END IN THIS CASE DOES NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS: VOICE: THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY OUGHT TO TREAD VERY SOFTLY IN THIS AREA. THE ARREST ... OF MR. PINOCHET ... WILL GO DOWN AS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF FOOL-HARDY INTERVENTION. MR. PINOCHET IS A COMPLICATED MAN: A DICTATOR WHO WOULD BROOK NO DISSENT, BUT ALSO A MAN WHO PREVENTED A COMMUNIST REVOLUTION IN CHILE; AN AUTHORITARIAN, BUT A MAN WHO CORRECTLY SAW IN FREE MARKETS THE BEST HOPE FOR CHILEAN PROGRESS; A STRONGMAN, BUT A MAN WHO ULTIMATELY RELINQUISHED HIS POWER. /// OPT /// CHILEANS THEMSELVES ARE HARDLY INDIFFERENT TO MR. PINOCHET; MANY HATE HIM, MANY REGARD HIM AS A NATIONAL SAVIOR, MANY THINK HIS LEGACY EXISTS ONLY IN SHADES OF GRAY. /// END OPT /// ... IN ... GENERAL PINOCHET'S ... CASE ... THE COMPLEXITY OF THE PAST IS DUE A LITTLE DEFERENCE FOR THE SAKE OF THE FUTURE. TEXT: "THE DENVER POST" IS PLEASED, HOWEVER, AND SAYS THE LEGAL PRECEDENT IS NEEDED VOICE: /// OPT /// THE ARREST ... RAISES NEW AND OLD QUESTIONS THAT BEG ANSWERS. AMONG THEM IS WHETHER THE ARREST WILL INSPIRE NEW EFFORTS AMONG MANY NATIONS STILL REELING FROM THE EFFECTS OF FORMER DESPOTS ... TO MAKE THEM ANSWER TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY. WE HOPE IT WILL. ... SPAIN IS TO BE COMMENDED FOR WADING INTO INTERNATIONAL WATERS IN QUEST OF JUSTICE FOR ONE OF ITS CITIZENS. SO IS BRITAIN FOR HONORING SPAIN'S CASE AND DETAINING [MR.] PINOCHET. /// END OPT /// ... IF THE RULE OF LAW IS TO TRIUMPH OVER THE REIGN OF TERROR, BUTCHERS AND FANATICS LIKE [GENERAL] PINOCHET MUST AT LAST ANSWER TO A RESPONSIBLE INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL. TEXT: BUTCHER? FANATIC? HARDLY, SAYS "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL." THE BIG BUSINESS DAILY REMINDS READERS OF WHAT IT DESCRIBES AS THE NEAR CHAOS OF THE ALLENDE REGIME, AS CHILE HEADED TOWARD A MARXIST ECONOMY PUNCTUATED BY VIOLENT STRIKES AND DEMONSTRATIONS BY BOTH PRO AND ANTI-ALLENDE SUPPORTERS, AND FOOD LINES. REGARDING GROUNDS FOR HIS ARREST, "THE JOURNAL," WONDERS, IF BRITAIN CAN ARREST GENERAL PINOCHET AT SPAIN'S REQUEST, WHY DOES NOT SPAIN ARREST CUBA'S FIDEL CASTRO WHO IS VISITING THERE TODAY. ADDS "THE JOURNAL:" VOICE: HIS [CASTRO'S] KILLING AND HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS DWARF THE MOST EXAGGERATED ACCUSATIONS AGAINST GENERAL PINOCHET. INDEED, [MR.] CASTRO'S PROGRAM FOR SUBVERTING LATIN AMERICA WAS THE REAL ROOT OF THE BRUTALITY THAT SWEPT THE REGION IN THE 1970S. HIS ATTEMPTS TO SPREAD REVOLUTION GAVE LIFE TO THE BRUTAL MILITARY DICTATORSHIPS THAT ONCE MARRED THE LATIN SCENE. ... FOR THE PAST QUARTER-CENTURY MARXIST ROMANTICS HAVE BEEN SEEKING REVENGE IN PARTICULAR AGAINST GENERAL PINOCHET, THE MAN WHO PROBABLY DID MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE IN LATIN AMERICA TO ROLL BACK THEIR REVOLUTION. /// OPT /// TEXT: IN BALTIMORE, "THE SUN" SEES BOTH PROMISE AND PROBLEMS IN THE ARREST. VOICE: BY RECOGNIZING [THE] ... ARREST WARRANT, BRITISH AUTHORITIES SEEM TO HAVE DETERMINED THAT CHARGES OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANY DIPLOMATIC STATUS A SUSPECT MAY HAVE OBTAINED FROM HIS OWN GOVERNMENT. IF THIS PRECEDENT BECOMES AN ACCEPTED STANDARD IN INTERNATIONAL LAW, TYRANTS EVERYWHERE WILL BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE MORE EASILY. ... HOWEVER, THE PINOCHET PRINCIPLE COULD UPSET THE WHOLE DELICATELY CONSTRUCTED SYSTEM OF IMMUNITY ... THAT ... GIVES PROTECTION TO INTERNATIONAL ENVOYS. /// END OPT /// TEXT: IN PHILADELPHIA, "THE INQUIRER" SAYS -- THIS FORMER DICTATOR DESERVES A TRIP TO SPAIN TO ANSWER FOR HIS CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, WHILE "THE LOS ANGELES TIMES" WORRIES ABOUT WHAT IT CALLS A THICKET OF LEGALITIES IN THE CASE LEADING TO AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE FOR THE SPANISH QUEST. "THE WASHINGTON POST" BELIEVES -- IF IT IS CARRIED THROUGH, THE ARREST ... WILL BE A MODEL FOR EXTENDING POLITICAL ACCOUNTABILITY INTERNATIONALLY. "THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE" CONCURS. VOICE: ... WHEN HE FINALLY SURRENDERED THE LAST OF HIS POWER EARLIER THIS YEAR, HIS PRICE WAS A LIFETIME POST IN THE CHILEAN SENATE -- WHICH GAVE HIM PERMANENT IMMUNITY FROM PROSECUTION. TO GAIN DEMOCRACY, CHILEANS HAD TO FORFEIT JUSTICE -- A BITTER COMPROMISE, THOUGH A NECESSARY ONE. BUT JUSTICE MAY YET HAVE ITS DAY. ... AS A MATTER OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, THE ACTION AGAINST [MR.] PINOCHET LOOKS PLAUSIBLE. AS DICTATORS GO, [MR.] PINOCHET HAD MUCH TO RECOMMEND HIM ... BUT THOSE VERY REAL ACHIEVEMENTS DO NOT EXCUSE A RECORD OF TORTURE AND MURDER. TYRANTS MAY FIND WAYS TO ESCAPE JUSTICE IN THEIR OWN COUNTRIES. [GENERAL] PINOCHET'S ARREST PUTS THEM ON NOTICE THAT ONCE THEY CROSS THE BORDER, THEY MAY HAVE TO ANSWER FOR THEIR CRIMES. TEXT: ON THAT NOTE, WE CONCLUDE THIS SAMPLING OF THE U-S PRESS ON THE ARREST IN BRITAIN, OF FORMER CHILEAN DICTATOR AUGUSTO PINOCHET. NEB/ANG/RAE 20-Oct-98 1:43 PM EDT (1743 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .