When people think of legal redress they too often think only of monetary compensation. But that is not what redress is primarily about. Ensuring redress is not only important for the sake of healing individual victims. Truth and justice are also crucial for healing and reconciliation of societies, especially after a conflict that has ripped a country apart. Empowerment is an important component of this strong link between accountability and redress.
Victims face sometimes insuperable obstacles in seeking redress.
Because of a legal technicality, Senator Pinochet can only be prosecuted for acts committed after 1988. The decision of the House of Lords today therefore resonates not only for the victims of Pinochet's Chile, but for all victims of crimes against humanity and other violations of human rights around the world.