Members of the former Chilean military junta

Type of liability
Personne physique

Alleged perpetrator(s)
Germán Julio BRADY ROCHE; Emilio SANDOVAL POO; Luís Joachim RAMÍREZ PINEDA; Rafael Francisco AHUMADA VALDERRAMA; Gerardo Ernesto GODOY GARCÍA; Basclay Humberto ZAPATA REYES; Miguel KRASNOFF MARTCHENKO; Marcelo Luís MOREN BRITO; Pedro Octavio ESPINOZA BRAVO; Paul SCHAEFFER SCHNEIDER; Juan Manuel Guillermo CONTRERAS SEPÚLVEDA; Enrique Lautaro ARRANCIABIA CLAVEL; Raúl Eduardo ITURRIAGA NEUMANN; José Octavio ZARA HOLGER; José Osvaldo RIVEIRO

Nationality of alleged perpetrator(s)
Chilean

Legal classification of crime(s)
Arrest
Arbitrary unlawful confinement
Torture or acts of barbarity

Source of the complaint
NGO
Victim

Ongoing proceedings
non

Regime
4 - 113 CP

Summary of facts

The case concerns crimes committed against nine French nationals who disappeared or were executed in Chile or Argentina (but as a result of acts attributable to the Chilean authorities) between September 11, 1973 (the date of the coup) and February 9, 1977.

Legal proceedings

In 1998: The families of nine French nationals who disappeared or were executed in Chile or Argentina (but as a result of acts attributable to the Chilean authorities) between September 11, 1973 and February 9, 1977 file a complaint in France for “arrests”, “unlawful confinement”, “torture and acts of barbarity”. 
Only the complaints with civil party application of the families of Alfonso Chanfreau, Jean-Yves Claudet, Georges Klein and Etienne Pesle are declared admissible by the French courts. 
In 1999: FIDH, LDH, CODEPU and the Association des ex-prisonniers politiques chilien en France join as civil parties. 
October 30, 1998: A judicial investigation is opened. 
February 21, 2007: An indictment order committing the case to the Paris Assize Court is issued. 
December 8 to 17, 2010: The Paris Assize Court convicts 13 members of the former Chilean military junta in absentia of “arrest, unlawful confinement and arbitrary detention, offenses aggravated by torture.”

Complaint

oui

Names of NGOs / Victim(s)

FIDH
LDH
CODEPU
Association des ex-prisonniers politiques chilien en France, France Amérique Latine

Legal basis for jurisdiction (article)

113-7 PC

Court of Assizes judgment

December 8 to 17, 2010: Conviction in absentia by the Paris Assize Court for “arrest, unlawful confinement and arbitrary detention, offense aggravated by torture.”

Court of Appeal ruling

n/a

Court of Cassation ruling

n/a

Sources

FIDH, « Ouverture en France du procès contre 15 responsables de la dictature chilienne : « Une grande étape pour nous tous » », 2008

Le Figaro, « Chili : la dictature Pinochet devant la justice française », 2010

Le Monde diplomatique, « La dictature du général Pinochet devant la justice à Paris », 2010