London - Human rights groups yesterday welcomed a ruling in the High Court in London directing the British Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, to disclose to interested parties Gen. Augusto Pinochet's medical report on which he based his declaration that he was "minded" to send the former dictator back to Chile, Rachel Donnelly reports.
The medical report has been handed over to representatives of four countries seeking Gen. Pinochet's extradition - Spain, Belgium, France and Switzerland - and they have until 5 p.m. on February 22nd to make any representations to the Home Secretary on its contents.
It is expected that Mr Straw will make a decision on Gen. Pinochet's fate shortly afterwards, but although he has indicated he will give 24 hours' notice of that decision, the legal battle to prevent his return to Chile is unlikely to end there.
The court's ruling was hailed by Amnesty International yesterday as "a significant step forward".