Dick Spring
Ceist:26 Mr. Spring asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has expressed any view to his British counterpart on the extradition proceedings in London relating to General Augusto Pinochet. [27515/98]
Written Answers. - Pinochet Extradition.
Michael Creed
Ceist:69 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the EU General Affairs Council considered the Pinochet extradition request; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27747/98]
Trevor Sargent
Ceist:112 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the intervention of the United States of America in the international contretemps relating to the Spanish Government's request to the United Kingdom authorities for the extradition of the United States sponsored former Chilean Dictator General Augusto Pinochet to face charges of genocide, abduction and murder; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27298/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 26, 69 and 112 together.
It would not have been appropriate for me to seek to intervene in the proceedings arising from the request for the extradation of General Pinochet, as the matter was entirely within the sole competence of the British Home Secretary, Mr. Straw.
It will be appreciated also that, for similar reasons, the matter has not been raised at the General Affairs Council. I understand that the approach followed by the United States Government has been broadly similar.
Following Mr. Straw's decision, the question of General Pinochet's extradition is now once again in the domain of the British courts.
As I stated in my reply to a question on this issue on 5 November, abuses of human rights in any country are of concern to the entire international community. Throughout the years of the Pinochet dictatorship, Ireland strongly condemned the violations of human rights carried out by the regime. We expressed sympathy with the victims of those violations and we accepted Chilean refugees into Ireland. While I believe that the perpetrators of all human rights abuses should be brought to justice, this can only be done in accordance with the jurisdiction and laws of the countries concerned, or within the framework of specific international legal instruments.