Pinochet stripped of immunity in human rights cases

SANTIAGO, Chile - A Chilean court stripped ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet of immunity from prosecution on Wednesday so that he can face new human rights charges in 29 cases of people who disappeared during his 17-year rule and are presumed dead.

The cases are part of Operation Colombo, which involved the disappearance of 119 members of an armed revolutionary group in the mid 1970s. Their bodies have never been found.

Pinochet, 90, has been under house arrest since late November, under indictment for the disappearances of nine other people in Operation Colombo.

The new immunity ruling adds to mounting court problems for Pinochet in recent weeks. In November he was also indicted for tax fraud and other crimes related to an estimated $27 million he hid in foreign bank accounts.

In the past five years Chilean courts have thrown out three human rights cases against Pinochet because of his poor health, including mild dementia caused by frequent mini-strokes.

But recent court-ordered medical examinations determined that he is mentally fit to face trial.

Pinochet enjoys the immunity from prosecution shared by all former presidents and Chile's courts must decide the immunity issue on a case-by-case basis.

The Pinochet regime is also accused of covering up the Operation Colombo deaths by planting false news stories saying that members of the Revolutionary Leftist Movement killed each other in an internal dispute and armed confrontation.

- REUTERS