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Though never held accountable for murdering Chileans and other human rights abuses, Britain used a Spanish court provisional warrant to apprehend Augusto Pinochet.
He was held under house arrest for 18 months. It set a precedent. It let other heads of state and top officials know they're vulnerable.
Under Article 7 of the Charter of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg:
"The official position of defendants, whether as Head of State or responsible officials in Government departments, shall not be considered as freeing them from responsibility or mitigating punishment."
No one deserves immunity for high crimes demanding accountability. It's long past time guilty US and Israeli officials faced justice.
Those most culpable are considered hostis humani generis - enemies of mankind. War crimes are against the jus gentium - the law of nations. International law was established to address them.
The Nuremberg Charter, Tribunal and Principles determined that crimes of war and against humanity are "international crimes" too grave to ignore.
Tribunal Principles hold that "(a)ny person who commits an act which constitutes a crime under international law is responsible therefor and liable to punishment....""(C)rimes against international law are committed by men, not by abstract entities, and only by punishing individuals who commit (them) can the provisions of international law be enforced."
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