http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Chile-puts-a-price-on-Pinochets-regime-of-torture/2004/11/30/1101577486955.html?oneclick=true
Chile puts a price on Pinochet's regime of torture December 1, 2004 The Chilean Government is to compensate 28,000 victims of torture after a comprehensive report concluded that Augusto Pinochet's military junta orchestrated a state policy of terror. Addressing the nation, President Ricardo Lagos spoke of "the magnitude of the suffering, the insanity of the intense cruelty, the immensity of the pain" detailed in the findings of the national commission on political detention and torture. The commission, led by the archbishop emeritus of Santiago, Sergio Valech, published its report on Monday. The year-long commission heard from 35,000 people who were tortured during the Pinochet military dictatorship of 1973 to 1990. Mr Lagos revealed that 94 per cent of those detained had been tortured and that, of the 3400 women who gave evidence, almost all had been victims of sexual violence. "How can we explain such horror?" Mr Lagos asked. "I do not have an answer." He called the report "an experience without precedent in the world" and said it presented Chileans with "an inescapable reality: political detention and torture constituted an institutional practice of the state". He acknowledged the armed forces had been the instruments of state-sponsored repression. He said the report should "heal the wounds, not reopen them" and concluded with the words nunca mas - never again. The phrase has been daubed on walls throughout Chile. Mr Lagos called on Chileans to unite in a rejection of torture and oppression "in order that we never again live through it, never again deny it". He said the principal act of "moral reparation" was the publication of the report itself, but he accepted the commission's recommendations of a life pension for every victim of torture. He will send a bill to Congress that will also seek free education and health care for victims and their families. The commission believes it heard 28,000 genuine accounts of torture. The pensions would be worth 112,000 pesos ($246) a month, which is about half the average income, and would cost the state about $87 million a year. There are fears that a glut of claims could strain the budget. The Education Minister, Sergio Bitar, the youngest member of the Allende government overthrown by a US-backed coup in 1973, who was tortured in a concentration camp, yesterday passed up his pension entitlement and called on others who were financially secure to do the same. The 1200-page report contains details of torture centres and identifies the 14 main techniques of torture, including rape, the use of animals, electric shocks, mock executions and child abuse. It is by far the most exhaustive of the three official studies of the desecration of human rights under Pinochet. Last month, Chile's most senior soldier, General Juan Emilio Cheyre, issued an "institutional" admission of guilt for offences by the army. The report also found that the Supreme Court had abdicated its responsibility to uphold the constitution and "washed its hands" of abuses committed by military courts which tried those who fell foul of the Pinochet regime. A judge is due to rule this month whether General Pinochet, 89, is mentally fit to face trial for the murder of 19 dissidents in the 1970s. The Guardian [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Posting: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
