In Chile, the daughter of former dictator Augusto Pinochet has announced her father is willing to meet with the families of victims tortured or disappeared under his rule.

Lucia Pinochet: “He feels very pained for this, and he has told me that he feels that if he would be able to meet with these people, he would express to them a profound apology. And this is the truth, because he has not announced this, he told me this in private.”

The daughter, Lucia Pinochet, went on to say Pinochet is not willing to seek a national pardon. Her comments come two weeks after Pinochet was put under house arrest for overseeing kidnapping, murder and torture at the secret prison of Villa Grimaldi. Lorena Pizarro, president of the Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared Group, dismissed the overture.

Lorena Pizarro: “This is not important to us. We are not these poor little relatives that have gone through so much, as I think Lucia Pinochet made out. I think that Pinochet must once and for all go to the tribunals and to speak and to take responsibility for these crimes. We do not have anything to talk about with this dictator. What we want is that the dictator is condemned—judged and condemned—for the crimes for which he is responsible.”

Meanwhile, some leading human rights lawyers believe Pinochet’s reported comments may undermine the former dictator’s repeated defense to avoid being brought to court. Pinochet has faced several charges in recent years but has succeeded in having most dismissed on grounds he is mentally unfit to stand trial.