The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson, has welcomed the decision in London to commit Gen Pinochet for extradition as a signal of hope to those fighting for justice for victims of human rights violations.
"The message of a year of proceedings in the Pinochet case and of today's historic ruling is clear: those who commit, order or tolerate torture can no longer be sure of a peaceful retirement", she said.
The decision, she said, confirmed the view that torture was an international crime subject to universal jurisdiction. The House of Lords had ruled on March 24th that the allegations for which Gen Pinochet could be extradited were torture and conspiracy to torture after December 8th, 1988, when the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment took effect in the country.
"Survivors of human rights abuses the world over can take heart in knowing that impunity for torture and other human rights violations is no longer the norm, even when those responsible are the highest representatives of the state."
The Pinochet case reinforced the need for states to ratify the Statute of the International Criminal Court, Mrs Robinson said.
Dr Sheila Cassidy, who was tortured in Chile in the 1970s, welcomed the ruling on Gen Pinochet's extradition as a victory for human rights. Dr Cassidy was tortured under the Pinochet regime when she travelled to South America to gain surgical experience.
The English doctor said she hoped it would put some kind of a curb on future dictators in other countries if they saw Gen Pinochet brought before a court.