Me Jean Gilbert ITHIER was one of the four speakers at the RAFAL’s Forum “Roadmap for a Better Mauritius” held at Royal College Curepipe on 18 November 2022. The others were: Kee Chong LI KWONG WING (Economic Development), Thierry LE BRETON (whose presentation, ‘Patrimoine’, figured in The Forum Page of Le Mauricien on 30 November 2022) and Leckraz BURTON whose presentation on ‘Education of children with special needs’ was published on 12 December 2022.
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“Civic Values”, by
Me Jean Gilbert ITHIER
Me Ithier, a Royal College Laureate in 1974, spoke of Civic Values from the point of view of a Lawyer. And, while doing so, he pointed out some of the flaws in our society and in the Justice System in particular.
Civic values are principles of conduct centered on personal relationships within a society and serve to maintain social order. Civic values include honesty, justice, modesty, trust, responsibility and equality, among others. These values help to determine and control the behavior of individuals in society. They act as criteria for the judgment of our actions, and they give focus and direction to individuals in the family and society at large.
Me Ithier emphasized that the greatest attention must be paid to two mainstays of the Justice System: “Justice delayed is Justice denied” and “Justice must not only be done but must be SEEN to be done”. Accordingly, he referred to a case that happened in 1998, when the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was ill and undergoing treatment in England.
In 1998, Pinochet travelled to the United Kingdom for medical treatment. While in London, he was arrested on 16 October 1998, under an international arrest warrant issued by a Spanish judge, and he was placed under house arrest. The charges included several counts of killings of Spanish citizens and the assassination of a Spanish diplomat in Chile. A legal battle ensued in the House of Lords. Pinochet claimed immunity from prosecution as a former Head of State under the State Immunity Act 1978. This was rejected by a majority of the Law Lords, who ruled that some international crimes, such as torture, did not grant a former Head of State immunity. After some ups and downs, the British government gave the green light for his extradition to Spain to proceed.
However, in April 1999, former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and former US President George H. W. Bush called upon the British Government to release Pinochet. They argued that Pinochet should be allowed to return to his homeland rather than be extradited to Spain. On the other hand, United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights, Mary Robinson, hailed the Law Lords’ ruling, declaring that it was a clear endorsement that torture is an international crime, subject to universal jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, questions began to emerge about Pinochet’s allegedly fragile health. After medical tests were conducted, the Home Secretary Jack Straw ruled in January 2000 that the former dictator should not be extradited to Spain. Despite protests by legal and medical experts from several countries, Jack Straw finally ruled that Pinochet had to be set free, and he authorized his return to Chile. Eventually, on 3 March 2000, Pinochet was allowed to return to his homeland.
Despite his release on grounds of ill-health, the unprecedented detention of Pinochet in a foreign country for crimes against humanity committed in his own country, without a warrant or request for extradition from his own country, marked a watershed in International Law. This is considered as one of the most important events in Legal History since the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi war criminals.
At question time, Me Ithier said that our Justice System should be revamped because many cases take much too long here. For certain cases, there is a great need for fast-track courts, as in India, where the verdicts are given after a maximum of six months. And as for our Legislative Assembly, it was agreed that there is much room for improvement.
ADDENDUM
Several nicknames were given to Augusto Pinochet. At school he was not particularly brilliant and rather lazy, so his class-mates called him el burro or borrico (Spanish for donkey) or pinocho (Spanish for « Pinocchio« ).
In adult life his supporters sometimes referred to Pinochet as my general. Another common nickname used by the younger generations was el tata, « the grandpa ». Augusto Pinochet has also been referred to sarcastically as Daniel Lopez, one of the fake identities which he used in order to deposit stolen money in the bank.
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