Juan Salvador Guzmán Tapia, the retired Chilean judge who was the first to prosecute former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet on human rights charges, spoke to a packed Moot Court at the Faculty of Law, discussing the case and its significance for the Chilean people.
Hosted by the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism (CHRLP), the event also included a film screening (The Judge and the General) and discussion moderated by Professor Frédéric Mégret the evening before.
The documentary follows Guzmán’s trajectory from Pinochet supporter in 1973 to judge assigned to the case against the General in 1998, along with Guzmán’s eventually introspective take on his own role in the coup, which resulted in thousands of Chileans being killed or “disappeared” in the name of an anti-Communist campaign. In the filmmakers’ description, The Judge and the General serves as “a cautionary tale about violating human rights in the name of ‘higher ideals.'”
The CHRLP recorded the talk and will be posting the recording soon. To listen and to find out about other events at the Centre, click here.
 Professor René Provost introduced Justice Guzmán in front of a packed Maxwell Cohen Moot Court. |
 Justice Guzmán started his remarks by explaining Chile’s political history and social context. |
Photos: Lysanne Larose
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