Civilization And Human Rights Update

"Chile's conservative president rejected a proposal by the Roman Catholic Church for sweeping pardons of elderly and sick prisoners that would have freed military officers convicted of human rights violations during the Pinochet dictatorship.

President Sebastian Pinera announced Sunday that he will only consider case-by-case pardons on humanitarian grounds and that serious offenses related to crimes against humanity, terrorism or drug trafficking will not be considered.

Catholic Church leaders in Chile proposed pardoning prisoners who are sick, are older than 70 or have served half their sentence. But relatives of victims who were killed or vanished during Augusto Pinochet's 1973-1990 rule said such a sweeping amnesty would be a setback for basic justice and fairness." ...

Eva Vergara "Chile rejects pardons proposed by Catholic Church" Washington Post July 25, 2010

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