By Stephen Brown
Harare, 10 December (ENI)--A senior official of the World Council of Churches has hailed as a "cause for celebration" the British government's decision not to stand in the way of the extradition of former Chilean president General Augusto Pinochet.

Dr Janice Love, moderator of the WCC's Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, told a press conference today at the WCC's eighth assembly that the decision announced yesterday 9 December was a "profound moment for the people of Latin America who suffered under such extreme brutality".

"This doesn't mean that every dictator with every violation will now be held accountable, but without question it is a profound step forward in recognition by a government that [it] will abide by the international laws and standards," Love said.

General Pinochet was arrested in October while a patient at a London hospital, following an official request by Spanish judges investigating the deaths of Spanish citizens during his dictatorship in Chile from 1973 to 1980, during which thousands of people were killed, tortured or "disappeared".

Since his arrest Pinochet has been caught in a legal battle in Britain over moves for his extradition. Britain's highest legal authority, the House of Lords, had already ruled that Pinochet could in principle be extradited to Spain, but the ruling was only confirmed on 9 December by Britain's Home Secretary, Jack Straw.

Straw's decision, announced on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, does not mean that Pinochet will be extradited immediately to Spain. Instead it allows further legal argument which could last for up to two years, during which time Pinochet must remain in Britain.

 To mark the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the WCC assembly issued a declaration remembering "the victims of human rights violations" and paying tribute particularly to "those Christians and people of other faiths and convictions around the world who have suffered persecution and martyrdom in defence of human rights".

According to the WCC declaration: "As Christians, we believe that God created every person infinitely precious and endowed with equal dignity and rights. Yet we confess that we have often failed to respect such equality, even in our own midst. We have not always stood up courageously for those whose rights and human dignity are threatened or violated by discrimination, intolerance, prejudice and hatred. Indeed Christians have sometimes been agents of such injustice.

"The World Council of Churches has affirmed that human rights, including the right to religious freedom, are not to be claimed by any religion, nation or group as an exclusive privilege, but rather that the enjoyment of these rights is essential in order to serve the whole of humanity."

In Geneva, Dr Ishmael Noko, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, has issued a statement describing the Universal Declaration as the "founding instrument of modern international human rights law".

"Wherever people are suffering, being detained, enduring torture, being denied good health, or experiencing discrimination, the church is suffering, being detained, enduring torture, being denied good health, or experiencing discrimination," Dr Noko said.

He paid tribute to the successful conclusion of the international conference on the establishment of an international criminal court, and the ruling by the House of Lords that former heads of state do not automatically enjoy immunity from prosecution for human rights violations.

"These two events indicate a welcome evolution of international law which may help to reduce the phenomenon of impunity and to promote justice for the victims of human rights violations. It is fitting that they should have occurred in this year, which marks the end of a productive 50-year period of standard-setting, and the beginning of a period in which the emphasis must be on implementation and enforcement." [645 words]

Photographs of the assembly are available from Photo Oikoumene

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