SANTIAGO, Chile -- Both supporters of Gen. Augusto Pinochet and family members of the "disappeared" expressed mostly muted enthusiasm for the British legal ruling that upheld the detention of the former dictator while throwing out all but three of the 30 charges against him.
The complex ambiguities of the decision by the Law Lords, who constitute England's highest court, reduced the size and intensity of demonstrations by human rights groups and Pinochet supporters that occurred throughout the day. No arrests were reported even though the Communist Party and other groups held demonstrations without permits and slowed traffic.But the complete absence of violence and the moderate tones of the political debate reflected how Pinochet and his legal problems have receded in importance since his arrest five months ago.
Chilean human rights groups cheered that the panel of the House of Lords agreed with their position that Pinochet did not have immunity as a former head of state and is still eligible for extradition to Spain. But Pinochet's supporters said they thought that they could eventually win his release on appeal since the two primary remaining charges -- that he was involved in the torture of a single prisoner and in a conspiracy to torture others after 1988 -- would not stand up to judicial scrutiny.
In a brief address to the nation Wednesday evening, President Eduardo Frei praised the British decision, saying it followed the arguments of his government's lawyers that it was up to Chilean courts to judge the acts of Chilean leaders.
"This judgment recognizes the sovereignty of Chile," he said. "Now it is up to the British interior minister to decide whether to allow an extradition based on such reduced charges."
When Chilean television broadcasted live the court's proceedings, the initial responses at offices of opposing organizations, the Group of the Families of the Detained and Disappeared and the Pinochet Foundation, were strangely identical.
"Pinochet remains a prisoner," exclaimed Sola Sierra, president of the leading human rights group, to a cheering group of people who had pictures of their missing relatives pinned to their chests. "They'll keep looking for arguments to free him, but this decision shows that the international community believes no one has the right to assassinate."