Proponents of Pinochet Extradition Win Right to Access of Medical Reports

On February 8, 2000, six human rights groups and the Belgian Government successfully challenged the refusal by British home secretary Jack Straw to make public the medical reports of an examination of General Augusto Pinochet in January 2000 by four British doctors, on which Straw based his decision that the 84-year general was not able to withstand the rigors of extradition to Spain and a trial there on torture charges. The week before High Court Judge Maurice Kay ruled that Mr. Straw’s decision to keep the medical records confidential was lawful, fair and rational. The three-judge court decision of February 8 overturned Judge Kay’s decision, finding the complainants had “an arguable case”…[more]