A Chilean judge refused to extradite ten Chileans convicted in absentia in France for the torture and disappearance of four French nationals during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, in a ruling seen Monday.

"It is Chilean courts that are responsible for trying and prosecuting the lawbreakers for which extradition is requested," Judge Rosa Maria Maggi said in her ruling, emphasizing that the events "were situated within the territory of our country."

Maggi said the cases are being investigated in Chilean courts, adding that "there are currently a multiplicity of legal processes underway in Chile aimed at establishing the existence of violations of fundamental rights and identifying those responsible."

At the time of the French convictions, in December 2010, the Paris prosecutor defended the legitimacy of the proceedings, arguing it had been 37 years since the alleged crimes.

The trial "should send a clear reminder" that such crimes "should trigger demands for justice anytime and anywhere," the prosecutor, Francois Falletti, said.

The ten retired officers for whom extradition was requested were sentenced in France to prison terms ranging from 15 years to life.

Two others convicted in French courts have since died, while the founder of the National Intelligence Directorate and his number two are both serving life sentences in Chile.

The charges against the men were kidnapping, arbitrary detention, torture and barbarous acts.

They were convicted for the disappearance of George Klein, an advisor to ex-president Salvador Allende, overthrown in the September 11, 1973 military coup that brought Pinochet to power.

They were also convicted in the cases of a former priest, Etienne Pesle, who worked on land reform issues, Alphonse Chanreau, leader of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR) and Jean-Yves Claudet-Fernandez, a MIR member. The three disappeared between 1973 and 1975.

More than 3,200 people were killed or "disappeared" during the 1973-1990 Pinochet dictatorship, and 28,000 underwent torture.