A Chilean exile tortured during the dictatorship of
Gen Augusto Pinochet has won a landmark legal
battle for compensation from the Chilean state.
Leopoldo Garcia Lucero sought moral damages through
the Costa Rica-based Inter-American Court of Human
Rights.
Mr Garcia, a UK resident, claimed that the Chilean state
was responsible for forcing him into exile in 1975.
It is the first time the court has ruled on a living
survivor of human rights abuses from the Pinochet era.
Lawyers say it could have implications for the the
many other Chileans who fled Gen Pinochet's rule.
Atacama camp
Mr Garcia, now 80, was a Socialist who was arrested for
his political beliefs in September 1973, five days after
the coup that brought Gen Pinochet to power.
He was detained for over a year-and-a-half and
tortured, leaving him permanently disabled due to
spinal damage.
"I'm alive," he told the BBC's world affairs
correspondent Caroline Hawley. "But it feels like a living
death."
Mr Garcia, who was held at the notorious Chacabuco
concentration camp in the Atacama desert after his
torture, says that the worst moment was when soldiers
threatened to shoot his six-year-old daughter in the
back, and then kill him.
His front teeth are missing, he requires a hearing aid,
his face bears the scar from where he was hit on the
forehead with a rifle butt, and he is in constant pain
from the beatings he endured.
In 1975, he was expelled from Chile by ministerial
decree, and has lived in Britain ever since.
Before his arrest, Mr Garcia was a bon viveur who
worked at the race track
Mr Garcia claimed that the Chilean state was
responsible for forcing him into exile and therefore it
should compensate him.
He said his Chilean pension - arising from the fact he
lost his job during the dictatorship - was insufficient to
cover his needs in exile, and that he and his family
have been unable to benefit from the health and
education benefits that are available to torture victims
who live in Chile.
In a Spanish-language news release concerning the
ruling , the Inter-American Court of Human Rights said
it had found that here had been an excessive delay of
over 16 years by the Chilean state in investigating Mr
Garcia's case, which had violated his rights.
It ordered Chile to complete its investigation in
reasonable time and pay compensation for moral
damages.
This is the first time that the court has ruled in the case
of a living survivor of human rights abuses from the
Pinochet era, says the BBC's Gideon Long in Santiago.
Lawyers say it could have implications for the
estimated 200,000 Chileans who fled General
Pinochet's rule.
Gen Augusto Pinochet has won a landmark legal
battle for compensation from the Chilean state.
Leopoldo Garcia Lucero sought moral damages through
the Costa Rica-based Inter-American Court of Human
Rights.
Mr Garcia, a UK resident, claimed that the Chilean state
was responsible for forcing him into exile in 1975.
It is the first time the court has ruled on a living
survivor of human rights abuses from the Pinochet era.
Lawyers say it could have implications for the the
many other Chileans who fled Gen Pinochet's rule.
Atacama camp
Mr Garcia, now 80, was a Socialist who was arrested for
his political beliefs in September 1973, five days after
the coup that brought Gen Pinochet to power.
He was detained for over a year-and-a-half and
tortured, leaving him permanently disabled due to
spinal damage.
"I'm alive," he told the BBC's world affairs
correspondent Caroline Hawley. "But it feels like a living
death."
Mr Garcia, who was held at the notorious Chacabuco
concentration camp in the Atacama desert after his
torture, says that the worst moment was when soldiers
threatened to shoot his six-year-old daughter in the
back, and then kill him.
His front teeth are missing, he requires a hearing aid,
his face bears the scar from where he was hit on the
forehead with a rifle butt, and he is in constant pain
from the beatings he endured.
In 1975, he was expelled from Chile by ministerial
decree, and has lived in Britain ever since.
Before his arrest, Mr Garcia was a bon viveur who
worked at the race track
Mr Garcia claimed that the Chilean state was
responsible for forcing him into exile and therefore it
should compensate him.
He said his Chilean pension - arising from the fact he
lost his job during the dictatorship - was insufficient to
cover his needs in exile, and that he and his family
have been unable to benefit from the health and
education benefits that are available to torture victims
who live in Chile.
In a Spanish-language news release concerning the
ruling , the Inter-American Court of Human Rights said
it had found that here had been an excessive delay of
over 16 years by the Chilean state in investigating Mr
Garcia's case, which had violated his rights.
It ordered Chile to complete its investigation in
reasonable time and pay compensation for moral
damages.
This is the first time that the court has ruled in the case
of a living survivor of human rights abuses from the
Pinochet era, says the BBC's Gideon Long in Santiago.
Lawyers say it could have implications for the
estimated 200,000 Chileans who fled General
Pinochet's rule.
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