SANTIAGO, Chile - Chile's Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that murder and kidnapping charges against Augusto Pinochet can move forward, a decision that brings the ex-dictator one step closer to trial in a major human rights case.

The Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision to throw out a defense motion that argued Pinochet, 89, is not mentally alert enough to defend himself. However, the defense will still have other opportunities to block the trial.

The high-court's five-judge criminal panel voted 3-2 in the ruling against Pinochet, who has never been put on trial for human rights violations under his 1973-1990 rule, despite several high-profile cases against him.

The court rejected the defense's request for an injunction and ruled that the criminal charges filed against Pinochet had not violated his right to due process, Carlos Meneses, secretary for the Supreme Court, told reporters on the steps of Santiago's main courthouse.

The court decision could lead to an order of house arrest against Pinochet.

Judge Juan Guzman formally charged Pinochet in December with nine kidnappings and one murder in the case of 10 Chilean leftists who disappeared or were killed outside of Chile in the 1970s.

Tuesday's high court ruling marks a shift. In 2002, the same criminal panel of the Supreme Court threw out charges in a previous human rights case against Pinochet when it agreed with the retired general's defense that he was not in condition to stand trial, because of his mild dementia.

Pinochet's health has been a key issue for the courts. In December he was hospitalized for four days after suffering a stroke.

The new ruling is not a definitive sign that the case will continue to move forward, because under Chile's legal system the defense will have room for more maneuvers.

The defense motion that was thrown out on Tuesday asked for an injunction on technical arguments that Pinochet's right to due process had been violated when he was charged.

The defense has not yet appealed the underlying charges in the case, which is known as Operation Condor, a joint effort by South America's military dictators in the 1970s to help each other wipe out political opponents.

More than 3,000 people died in political violence and more than 27,000 were tortured, mostly in the early years of Pinochet's dictatorship.