Juan
Garcés is a Spanish lawyer who worked for many years to bring Chilean dictator,
General Pinochet to justice for his crimes against humanity. Juan Garcés was advisor
to Salvador Allende, the president of Chile from 1970-73, when General Pinochet
led a coup to take over the country. Pinochet bombed the presidential palace and
Juan Garcés was the only political advisor that survived the coup. Garcés fled
back to Spain and then to France where he worked as an adviser to the UNESCO Director
General. During this time he wrote books and articles about his experience. His
book, "Allende and the Chilean Experience," published in 1976 was translated into
five languages and brought worldwide attention to the atrocities committed by
General Pinochet. When a Spanish law was passed in 1985 that allowed victims of
injustice to seek justice in Spanish courts even if they didn't take place in
Spain, Juan Garcés filed two suits against Pinochet. One was for 'crimes against
humanity' and the other was a civil suit on behalf of the families of the victims
who were killed during the dictator's regime. Juan Garcés' efforts were significant
because they helped convince the general public that heads of state can and should
be held accountable for crimes against humanity. In 1999, Juan Garcés received
the Right Livelihood Award (often referred to as the Alternative Nobel Prize)
"...for his long-standing efforts to end the impunity of dictators.”
