Published on Tuesday, July 31, 2001 by Reuters

Chile Court OKs Kissinger Queries in 'Missing' Case





SANTIAGO, Chile - Chile's highest court on Monday gave the green light to a judge wanting to question former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger about the 1973 killing in Chile of a U.S. journalist.

Charles Horman, made famous in the 1982 film ``Missing,'' was seized by troops in his home days after Chile's September 1973 military coup that brought dictator Augusto Pinochet to power. His bullet-ridden body turned up at the morgue weeks later.

Also See:

Chileans Call on Kissinger for Answers About Killing

Guardian of London 7/6/01

U.S. Victims of Chile's Coup: The Uncensored File



by Diana Jean Schemo, New York Times 2/13/00





Horman's family believes that Kissinger and U.S. Embassy officials in Chile knew of his detention but did nothing to obtain his release.

Chile's Supreme Court said it would send a list of written questions to Kissinger about the case through diplomatic channels to U.S. legal authorities.

Chilean investigating judge Juan Guzman had asked the court to pass on the questions.

``We order that the list of questions be sent to the ministry of foreign affairs for delivery to the corresponding court in the United States of America,'' a Supreme Court resolution said.

Sources close to the investigation said the questionnaire aims to gather more details about the lines of communication within the U.S. government on Chilean affairs in 1973.

Horman's widow, Joyce Horman, has filed a lawsuit in Chile against Pinochet and several other Army officers in connection with the killing. She filed a civil suit in the United States against Kissinger in the late 1970s, which was dismissed for lack of evidence.

State Department reports declassified last year show that U.S. intelligence officials may have tacitly helped in Horman's abduction.

Horman was held in Chile's National Stadium, which became a makeshift detention center for thousands of suspected leftists rounded up by Pinochet's troops in the days following the coup.

Pinochet is not likely to be prosecuted in the Horman case since a Chilean court ruled earlier this month that he was mentally unfit to stand trial, effectively blocking efforts to hold him responsible for crimes committed during his 17-year rule.

Kissinger, secretary of state between 1973-1977, in May refused a request by a French judge to answer questions about the disappearances or killings of French citizens under Pinochet.

Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited.