Index on Censorship 1/1999 [antikvár]

EDITORIALTurning pointsime and again, political considerations have taken precedence over justice.We had good reason to think they would again. This time, despite accusations of naivety or piety levelled at the humán rights world, it was different. The UK law lords may have overturned their first judgement that General Pinochet has no immunity against charges of torture, hostage-taking and conspiracy to murder, but somé things have changed for ever. Previous heads of state responsible for gross violations of humán rights are going to make more cautious travel plans in future. There will be pressure to change the law on immunity if Pinochet is returned to Chile; to seek an earlier ratification of the International Criminal Court; to create a new climate of accountability for crimes against humanity.We were told repeatedly by the likes of Norman Lamont, Margaret Thatcher and Chris Pattén how bizarre that attitudes to Pinochet should have taken such crudely party political lines in the UK that his arrest would have catastrophic consequences for democracy in Chile. Others, within that country, say that, on the contrary, it could be the making of what is still a precarious and inconclusive political compromise. Dávid Lehman describes Chile today as 'a postmodern nightmare school psychologists routinely adminster the drug Ritalin to class room troublemakers by which is meant anyone who asks questions too often the poor and the rich barely cross paths at all the Chilean constitution is in many ways a mockery'.The issues of truth and reconciliation in Chile have been left unresolved: suppressed memories and deep, unhealed wounds leave a legacy of unease and fear (Index 5/1996). Those who argue that the Pinochet case should never have been brought are simply arguing for more papering over of the cracks. Democracies that do not properly confront their past become crippled.But legacies of unease deriving from concealment have other sources too. This issue of Index looks at the return of Macau to China and, with it, the end of the last historic European empire. Portugál sowed a strange species of self doubt in its colonies: united by language, many of them adopted neo-colonial governments that complied with western realities and took on a received identity that had little to do with their own cultures or peoples. Our Brazilian country filé reflects this - a country at pains to present itself as a colour-blind democracy while in reality still struggling with the legacy of slavery.