‘Who would dare arrest me? It’s Garzón’s fault, f***ing Communist.’ These were the first words of General Augusto Pinochet to British police on the night of his London arrest on 16 October 1998, according to Judge Baltasar Garzón. Garzón had filed the initial arrest warrant in Spain in 1996, accusing Pinochet of crimes of genocide and terrorism under the principle of universal jurisdiction. The general’s subsequent arrest marked a watershed moment in the development of international human rights law and set a new precedent for years to follow.

Garzón revealed new details of Pinochet’s arrest at the panel discussion ‘Changing the Meaning of Justice’ hosted at London’s Inner Temple in December by specialist international human rights chambers Guernica 37. For Garzón, those who suffered at the hands of Pinochet must be viewed as ‘universal victims’ because they endured ‘crimes which affect the whole international community’, such were their severity. It was for this reason that Pinochet became the first former head of state to be arrested in a foreign country for international crimes.

‘A totemic moment’

Universal jurisdiction, the legal principle which facilitated Pinochet’s arrest, allows a state or international organisation to prosecute individuals for crimes so egregious they violate international law, regardless of the location of the crimes or the nationality of the accused. Yet, until the arrest of Pinochet, universal jurisdiction had never been applied in Spain, despite its inscription in the penal code under Article 23 of the 1985 Ley Orgánica.

The arrest of Pinochet – a panel discussion by human rights jurists hosted by the American University, Washington, College of Law, October 1998, can be watched here.

Garzón noted that 1996 ‘wasn’t really the best time to try to apply this law’ as in March of the same year Spain had elected the conservative Partido Popular into power. Nonetheless, despite calls from Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Spanish government imploring the case to be dropped, the newly elected Partido Popular maintained that Spain’s judiciary was independent and they would not intervene.

But the arrest warrant filed from Spain left the British government in a difficult predicament. Pinochet had arrived in London by invitation of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who had reportedly assured her guest that there was no chance the arrest warrant would be carried out. As a sitting Life Senator in Chile, Pinochet himself allegedly believed he was entitled to diplomatic immunity.

Yet, according to Dr Devika Hovell, an international public law professor from LSE who also spoke at the panel, the UK’s Foreign Office had to call the Met Police to clarify whether or not Pinochet did have immunity. When the Met Police confirmed he did not, the British government sent the case to The House of Lords who concluded on 8 October 1999 that Pinochet should be extradited to Spain. Hovell described this as a ‘totemic moment’ based on a ‘narrow technical legal decision’.

In spite of this landmark judgement, the House of Lords also concluded that Pinochet could only be extradited for crimes committed after 8 December 1988, the date from which the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment became internationally binding. This reduced the charges against Pinochet from 4000 to just 1.

Pinochet was never extradited, after Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jack Straw released him from house arrest in January 2000 on medical grounds. Upon his return to Chile, Pinochet stood up and walked comfortably away from his wheelchair to greet his applauding supporters. And Margaret Thatcher’s parting gift to the ex-dictator? A decorated plate which celebrated British victory over the Spanish Armada, according to Dr Hovell.

‘The disappeared have become people again’

Despite Pinochet’s escape to Chile, Garzón’s successful application of universal jurisdiction changed the way international law approached human rights abuses thenceforth. Rupert Skilbeck, Director of REDRESS, a human rights organisation which provides legal support to survivors of torture, noted the ‘galvanising impact’ of the ex-dictator’s arrest. He highlighted that since October 1998, 75 Heads of State have been prosecuted globally for human rights abuses and corruption under the principle of universal jurisdiction. Skilbeck concluded that the importance of universal jurisdiction ‘changed significantly’ following the Pinochet case. 

For Dr Hovell, the legacy of Pinochet’s arrest lies in its centralising of international public law, which previous to October 1998 was only ‘peripheral’. She added that in providing a clearer definition of universal jurisdiction, genocide ‘became [a] more legal [issue]’. In doing so, ‘the noble judge’ is able to apply justice for crimes against humanity. Dr Hovell finished saying that ‘we would never have dreamt of that without Garzón’.

Another effect of Pinochet’s arrest was its energising impact on Chilean diaspora communities, especially in the UK, where some 3000 exiles settled. Speaking to The Guardian in 2023, one activist José Lavín commented, ‘when I heard the news, I jumped and shouted as if I were celebrating a football goal’. El Piquete de Londres (the London Picket) was formed to campaign for Pinochet’s extradition to Spain. Although ultimately unsuccessful, another activist, Gloria Miqueles noted that upon his return to Chile, ‘Pinochet was a finished man, a renowned criminal’.

Hundreds of opponents of Augusto Pinochet have been rallying in London, a day ahead of a House of Lords hearing  which could send the former Chilean dictator home. Video: AP Archive Jan 1999.

In 2023, 50 Years UK was set up to commemorate the work of the London Picket, with events and exhibitions around the country celebrating the solidarity and resistance of the Chilean diaspora.

Pinochet’s arrest sent ripples throughout Chile, and emboldened victims’ families and lawyers to continue the fight for justice. No longer were the perpetrators shielded by amnesty laws, but rather they became exposed and vulnerable to the force of complex international humanitarian law. Yet, for Garzón himself, a self-proclaimed small-town boy who to this day does not speak any English, the most significant reward of Pinochet’s arrest came from his conversations with the families of the victims. As a result of Pinochet’s arrest, said Garzón, families felt that ‘for the first time … the disappeared have become people again’.