José ''"Pepe"'' Zalaquett Daher (10 March 1942 – 15 February 2020) was a
Chilean lawyer, renowned for his work in the defence of
human rights during the ''
de facto''
regime that governed Chile under
General Augusto Pinochet from 1973 to 1990.
The coup d'état and the Pro Paz Committee
José Zalaquett graduated from the law school of the
University of Chile in 1967.
Following the
coup d'état of 11 September 1973, he became involved with the , a
non-governmental organization for human rights established by various Christian churches and other religious organizations
on the initiative of
Roman Catholic Cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
Raúl Silva Henríquez
Raúl Silva Henríquez SDB (27 September 1907 – 9 April 1999) was a Chilean prelate of the Catholic Church, a cardinal from 1962. He served as Archbishop of Santiago de Chile from 1961 to 1983 and as Bishop of Valparaíso from 1959 to 1961. ...
. Serving as the director of its legal department from late 1973 until the committee was wound up in December 1975, his job was to direct and coordinate the efforts of internal and external lawyers in defending human rights. This entailed work in three broad areas:
* Serving as counsel for defendants accused by the military courts ''(
consejos de guerra)''.
* Filing for constitutional relief and
habeas corpus remedies ''(
amparo)'' on behalf of detainees held by the military.
* Attempting to conduct investigations into the whereabouts of detainees.
On 15 November 1975, agents of the
National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) arrested José Zalaquett and took him to the
Tres Álamos detention centre. He was released on 30 January 1976, arrested again on 5 April, and sent into exile on 12 April. He did not return to Chile until 1986.
During his years abroad, he served as the head of the international executive committee of
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
from 1979 to 1982.
Restoration of democracy
During
Chile's transition to democracy
The Chilean transition to democracy is the name given to the process of restoration of democracy carried out in Chile after the end of the military dictatorship of Pinochet, in 1990, and particularly to the first two democratic terms that suc ...
, Zalaquett was appointed by
President Patricio Aylwin to serve on the
National Truth and Reconciliation Commission
The Rettig Report, officially The National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation Report, is a 1991 report by a commission designated by Chilean President Patricio Aylwin (from the ''Concertación'') detailing human rights abuses resulting in de ...
, a
truth commission
A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state act ...
set up in 1990 to investigate
human rights violations committed by the military regime. In 1999 and 2000 he served on the dialogue panel ''(mesa de diálogo)'' on human rights between members of the
armed forces
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
and human rights lawyers.
From 2002 to 2005 he served as a member of the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the IACHR or, in the three other official languages Spanish, French, and Portuguese CIDH, ''Comisión Interamericana de los Derechos Humanos'', ''Commission Interaméricaine des Droits de l'Homme'', ...
, including a stint as its president in 2004-05.
Academic work and awards
José Zalaquett taught law at the University of Chile and lectured there in international human rights law and in ethics and government. He held ''Honoris Causa'' doctorates in law from the
University of Notre Dame and
City University of New York
The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...
(United States). He was a member of the
Geneva-based
International Commission of Jurists
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is an international human rights non-governmental organization. It is a standing group of 60 eminent jurists—including senior judges, attorneys and academics—who work to develop national and inte ...
and member of the board of the
International Centre for Transitional Justice
The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) was founded in 2001 as a non-profit organization dedicated to pursuing accountability for mass atrocity and human rights abuse through transitional justice mechanisms.
ICTJ officially ope ...
.
Along with
Cecilia Medina
Cecilia Medina Quiroga (born 1935 in Concepción, Chile, Concepción) is a Chilean jurist.
Biography
Cecilia Medina studied legal and social sciences at the University of Chile in Santiago de Chile, Santiago and earned a doctorate in law at the ...
, a Chilean judge on the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR or IACtHR) is an international court based in San José, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it was formed by the American Convention on Human Rights, a huma ...
, Zalaquett directed the Human Rights Centre at the University of Chile's law school.
In 1994
UNESCO awarded him that year's
Prize for Human Rights Education The UNESCO/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights, created in 1978 as the UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education to mark the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, serves to honour the ef ...
.
In 2003 he was awarded Chile's
National Prize for Humanities and Social Sciences for his "contribution to the protection of the rights of individuals and of ethics in politics". In August 2006, Santiago's
Alberto Hurtado University
Alberto Hurtado University ( es, Universidad Alberto Hurtado – UAH) is a Jesuit university located in Santiago, Chile. Established in 1997, the university was created from the merger of three separate institutes: Instituto Latinoamericano de Do ...
gave him the
San Alberto Hurtado Medal in recognition of his human rights work. He was patron of the
Media Legal Defence Initiative
Media Defence (registered company name: Media Legal Defense Initiative) is a non-governmental organization established in 2008 to provide legal assistance to journalists, citizen journalists and independent media institutions. It also supports trai ...
.
On 12 November 2009, in a ceremony at the
Palacio de la Moneda he was given "The Notre Dame Prize", from the
University of Notre Dame, that recognizes "the efforts of visionary leaders in Latin America to promote the welfare of the region by strengthening democracy and improving the quality of life of its citizens ".
From 2014, he conducted free online courses on Human Rights at the MOOC Chile project,
MOOC Chile, free Human Rights courses online
/ref> from the Ford Foundation and the Universidad Diego Portales
Diego Portales University ( es, Universidad Diego Portales, UDP) is one of the first private universities founded in Chile and is named after the Chilean statesman Diego Portales.
UDP has campuses in the Barrio Universitario de SantiagoA litera ...
.
Publications
* ''The Human Rights Issue and The Human Rights Movement.'' World Council of Churches, Geneva. (1982)
* ''Derechos Humanos y Limitaciones Politicas en las Transiciones Democraticas del Conosur.'' Colección Estudios Cieplan, Santiago. (1991)
* "Moral Reconstruction in the Wake of Human Rights Violations and War Crimes". In: ''Hard Choices: Moral Dilemmas Relating to Humanitarian Intervention.'' Edited by Jonathan Moore of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, University of Harvard, and sponsored by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, USA. (1998)
* ''Los Límites de la Tolerancia. Libertad de Expresion y Debate Publico en Chile.'' LOM Ediciones, Santiago de Chile. (1998)
* "Truth, Justice and Reconciliation: Lessons For The International Community". In: ''Comparative Peace Processes In Latin America''. José Zalaquett Daher. Cynthia Arnson. Woodrow Wilson Center Press/Stanford University Press, Washington, D.C. (1999)
*
Procesos de Transición a la Democracia y Políticas de Derechos Humanos en América Latina
' (1998)
*
La reconstrucción de la unidad nacional y el legado de violaciones de los derechos humanos.
' (1999)
*
' (2000)
* '' ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070322133043/http://www.cepchile.cl/dms/lang_1/doc_3227.html "No hay mañana sin ayer”: Análisis de la propuesta del presidente Lagos sobre Derechos Humanos.' (2003)
*
Transparencia, rendición de cuentas y lucha contra la corrupción en América 2004.
' (2004)
References
Sources
:The earliest version of this article was translated, with minor adaptations, from th
corresponding article
on the Spanish-language Wikipedia.
External links
Human Rights Centre, Law Faculty, University of Chile
Brief biography of Prof. Zalaquett
(International Center for Transitional Justice)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zalaquett Daher, Jose
1942 births
2020 deaths
Chilean human rights activists
Chilean people of Palestinian descent
University of Notre Dame people
MacArthur Fellows
20th-century Chilean lawyers
21st-century Chilean lawyers