DATE=1/14/2000 TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP TITLE=GENERAL PINOCHET'S REPRIEVE NUMBER=6-11634 BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE DATELINE=WASHINGTON EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS TELEPHONE=619-3335 CONTENT= INTRO: The British Home Office has ruled former Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet, too ill to stand trial in Spain, where he is wanted for human rights violations. The 84-year old general has been held by British authorities for more than a year pending a series of legal rulings on and challenges to Spain's extradition request. The US press appears to favor the way Britain has handled the Pinochet case. We get a sampling of these views now from ___________ in today's U-S Opinion Roundup. TEXT: General Augusto Pinochet came to power in Chile after the 1973 military coup against the democratically-elected socialist government of Salvador Allende. During his 17 year-rule thousands of people who opposed to General Pinochet disappeared. Human rights groups inside and outside the country accused his government of torture and murder. To many in Chile, however, the general was and is a hero who saved the country from a communist takeover, and eventually prepared it for the democracy and free market economy it now enjoys. The current international legal controversy began in October 1998, when General Pinochet traveled to Britain for surgery. He was detained on an international arrest warranted, in which Spain claimed Spanish citizens in Chile had been targeted and killed during the general's rule. The case is considered a groundbreaking in how the international community treats despotic rulers in the future. We begin our sampling with the Boston Globe, which is pleased with the outcome. VOICE: The majesty of the law was on display ... when Britain found Chile's erstwhile dictator, General Augusto Pinochet, medically unfit to stand trial in Spain for crimes against humanity. ... two significant principles were affirmed in the dramatic case of [General] Pinochet. Britain's highest judicial authority, the Law Lords of the House of Lords, ruled that [Mr.] Pinochet could not be exempt from prosecution for crimes against humanity merely because he had acted as a head of state. In this way the British legal system established a Pinochet precedent: there is no such thing as sovereign immunity for crimes against humanity. ... Perhaps even more telling is the emblematic meaning of the due process accorded [Mr.] Pinochet in Britain. ... At the end of a meticulously fair process, he received a mercy that is inherent in the law. There was no such mercy for the men and women who were tortured and killed while [General] Pinochet ruled Chile. TEXT: In northern New Jersey, The [Bergen County] Record is also pleased at the broader implications of the Pinochet case, whatever actually happens to the man. VOICE: ... even if Mr. Pinochet goes free, as expected, a great legal precedent has been set. As the extradition case made its way through the British courts, the legal principle of "universal jurisdiction" was established. Mr. Pinochet never denied the charges against him, but claimed that since the acts were committed while he was head of state, he was immune from prosecution. That claim was thrown out by Britain's highest court, which ruled that being a head of state does not excuse crimes against humanity. The ruling opens up new international powers for those seeking justice for human rights abuses, no matter where they occurred. TEXT: In California, The Los Angeles Times is somewhat concerned about how this latest development may reverberate back in Chile. VOICE: We hope ... the news of [General] Pinochet's probable release won't affect Chile's presidential election this Sunday. He is not being sent home to revive his fascist regime but to await a natural death, an opportunity that his regime denied to thousands in the democratic opposition. If [Mr.] Pinochet has any decency left, he will immediately resign as senator-for- life and forsake politics. If he is unfit to be tried for the crimes of which he's accused, surely he is unfit to serve in the Chilean Senate. TEXT: The Miami Herald also says the principle established by this case is more important than the fate of an aging Latin despot. VOICE: Britain's decision may offer little solace to today's victims. But it may comfort the many, left and right, in Chile who have long demanded that Mr. Pinochet be freed. Even his political foes have argued that Chile, now a thriving democracy, has a right to solve its internal problems internally. It does. Yet this case reflects another, growing view: That some crimes are so heinous as to be crimes against humanity. The perpetrators of these crimes must be held accountable by global standards, in any lawful court with a nexus to the victims and willing to take on their complaints. TEXT: Taking an even harder line than most other U-S dailies, The Milwaukee Journal wants to show General Pinochet no mercy. VOICE: If [General] Pinochet is too ill to stand trial now, let him remain in the comfortable detention of the mansion where he resides until such time as he is able to answer for his crimes. And if he dies before then, few will mourn his passing. TEXT: And lastly, from The San Francisco Chronicle. VOICE: ... [General] Pinochet may never see the inside of [a] jail cell, much less sleep on the floor of a soccer stadium for weeks like many of his imprisoned foes. Nor will Spain get a chance to haul him before the dock. Human rights advocates believe he may have an easier time answering for his bloody conduct in Chile, where his case has stirred deep divisions over his behavior. It will be worth seeing which way a close election for Chilean president will go with the news of [Mr.] Pinochet's possible return. ... The British government tempered justice with mercy by clearing the way for the aging, defeated general to go home. The decision shows more mercy than [Mr.] Pinochet ever did. TEXT: With those thoughts from Northern California's major daily, we conclude this sampling of U-S editorial comment on the fate of former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet. NEB/ANG/JO 14-Jan-2000 15:21 PM EDT (14-Jan-2000 2021 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .