[JURIST] A Chilean appeals court ruled Wednesday that former dictator Augusto Pinochet [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] is healthy enough to stand trial for alleged human rights abuses stemming from the 1975 Operation Colombo [Wikipedia backgrounder] massacre. The ruling, one of several concerning whether Pinochet will stand trial for abuses committed during his regime, clears the way for prosecutors to bring Pinochet to trial on accusations that he was involved in the killings of 119 political dissidents during the 1975 massacre. In addition to corruption and tax evasion charges [JURIST reports], Chile's courts have been considering whether to lift Pinochet's immunity and whether he is competent to stand trial on charges in multiple rights cases, including alleged torture at Villa Grimaldi, crimes committed as part of the so-called Caravan of Death and alleged kidnappings during Operation Condor [JURIST reports]. Pinochet, who suffers from mild dementia, diabetes, and arthritis, claims that the dissidents who disappeared in 1975 were killed during armed combat between rival factions who opposed his regime. AFP has more.