Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet is suffering from brain damage, a Spanish newspaper reported today, breaking the conditions of "strict confidentiality" under which his medical report was released to four countries.
Doctors judged the Pinochet was physically fit enough to stand trial on torture charges, but said the 84-year-old "would not at the present be mentally capable of meaningful participation in a trial," according to a leaked copy of the report published by two Spanish newspapers this morning.
The report, handed over to Spain, Belgium, France and Switzerland by home secretary Jack Straw yesterday, said that Pinochet's two main medical problems were diabetes and "recently progressive cerebrovascular brain damage".
It judged that "further deterioration in both physical and mental condition is likely," particularly with any "situational stress" brought on by a trial on torture charges.
But the four doctors who compiled the report noted that Pinochet has "shown notable personal abilities in managing stress" in the past. Given this, they concluded: "We therefore do not feel able to express any useful opinion on the possible effects on his health of undergoing trial."
The complete text of the medical report's conclusions was published on Spain's ABC newspaper's website, despite the insistence of Lord Justice Simon Brown in the high court yesterday that "fairness demanded" the report should be disclosed only under conditions of "strict confidentiality" to Belgium, France and Switzerland.
The Home Office announced it would ask Spain to investigate the leaking of the report.
"Because the court stressed that the medical report was only to receive limited dissemination, we have asked the Spanish authorities, through the Crown Prosecution Service, their legal representatives, for any information they can supply about how the conclusions of the report came to be disclosed," it said in a statement.
Lord Lamont, a prominent pro-Pinochet campaigner, condemned the publication of the confidential medical details: "What has happened is quite disgusting and entirely predictable from our Spanish friends - it's only happened 24 hours quicker than I expected.
"We are making complete fools of ourselves and we are just being played with by a lot of unscrupulous people," Lord Lamont added.
Pinochet underwent six hours of medical tests at Northwick Park Hospital on 5 January.
The resulting report, which led to Mr Straw saying he was "minded" to let Pinochet return to Chile without trial, was signed by Sir John Grimley Evans, professor of clinical geratology at Oxford University, Dr Michael Denham, a consultant physician in geriatric medicine at Northwick Park Hospital, London, and Andrew Lees, professor of neurology at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London.
A fourth expert, Dr Maria Wyke, conducted a neuropsychological assessment of Pinochet in Spanish. "He was a person of superior intelligence and at present is functioning within the low average/average range," she said, concluding there was "no evidence that General Pinochet is attempting to fake disability".
The report revealed that the examining doctors believed there were four mental impediments to Pinochet facing torture charges in court:
· Memory deficit for both recent and remote events;
· Limited ability to understand complex sentences and questions owing to memory impairment and consequent inability to process verbal information appropriately;
· Impaired ability to express himself audibly, succinctly and relevantly;
· Easy fatiguability.
The doctors also offered an insight into the life of the ailing former dictator in the fifteen months he has spent under house arrest in Surrey.
"In recent months he has lost interest in former activities," the report said. "He used to read and use the computer but now tends to sit watching television and says he has forgotten how to use the computer."
"Recently he has developed difficulty in shaving without cutting himself," it added.
Media reports at the weekend suggested that Pinochet's medical condition had since deteriorated further and members of his family were poised to fly to Britain from Chile to visit him on the exclusive Wentworth Estate.
Spain, Belgium, France and Switzerland now have until 5pm next Tuesday to make representations to the home secretary in the light of the report.
