WHILE the eyes of the world were looking for Spanish Magistrate Baltasar Garzón, this foe of dictators, corruption and drug traffickers was in town this week on vacation to deliver a keynote speech that concluded the 20th anniversary celebration of the San José-based Inter-American Institute of Human Rights (IIHR).
Garzón’s name made headlines around the world two years ago, when he ordered the extradition from Britain of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet to face charges in Spain of crimes against humanity. On Tuesday, Chile’s Supreme Court ruled 14 to 6 to lift Pinochet’s immunity, obliging him to face trial for 134 counts of human rights violations at home in Chile.
The judge met with the local press Aug. 10 to discuss his celebrity and the state of human rights.
Garzón, a judicial expert in drug trafficking, terrorism, organized crime and human rights violations, told the press his life hasn’t changed that much since he was put in the international spotlight by the Pinochet case.
"My work style has always been to confront this case just like any other case," he said.
ALTHOUGH he would not comment specifically on this week’s Chilean Supreme Court decision nor offer his opinions on whether Pinochet will ever actually be imprisoned for alleged rights violations, Garzón admitted he is pleased that the Chilean people have taken this matter of justice into their own hands and hopes that the law will be fairly applied.
"For a long time, the only words to come out of my mouth were to recognize Chilean justice with the same grade of confidence I recognize in my own country," Garzón said. "I have no doubt that Chile has fulfilled its responsibility."
Asked whether or not he feels he has established a precedent in calling for the extradition of massive violators of human rights, Garzón said, "One case is not necessarily an example for another one, you must take each case concretely on its own."
Cited as a hero by human rights activists throughout the world, Garzón — who is famous in Spain for taking a hard stand against ETA rebels and is a professor of law — shrugged off the acclaim, saying he is only doing his job.
When the petition for a penal process against Pinochet in Spain came to his desk — and he says it could have just as easily fallen on the desk of one of his colleagues — Garzón said that his only reaction was the professional one: to investigate the charges and follow-though with the necessary process once the evidence became clear.
THE 45-year old father of three is enjoying some downtime in Costa Rica. The Spanish Embassy said that his visit officially ends Aug.11. Although he is being protected by two Spanish bodyguards and at least four armed guards from the Costa Rican security forces, Garzón says he and his family are used to this kind of personal security, which they have had since he took his position with the Fifth Branch of the Spanish National Court of Justice — responsible for questions of crimes involving terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering, genocide and massive human rights violations — in 1988.
The daily La Nación sent a photographer to follow the family on their second day in Costa Rica as they ventured to the Rainforest Aerial Tram along the Atlantic slope and had a tipico Costa Rican lunch at the Las Orquídeas Restaurant in Santo Domingo de Heredia.
THE Inter-American Court of Human Rights established the IIHR here in 1980 to promote the education and investigation of human rights in the Americas. The Institute, like the Court, is situated in the San José suburb of Los Yoses.
IIHR Executive Director Roberto Cuéllar said Garzón "gave the world a reason to believe in our children’s tranquility" and called him a "man of high ethics and value."
