By The Numbers
No, I don't suddenly think I am TIME magazine. I hope some the the statistics I provide are more helpful than misleading. It will help me to sort out some of the facts to try to construct the basic numerical details of what I am studying and a by product will be your increased understanding. I think.
In 1973, on the doubly infamous September 11th, General Augusto Pinochet took over the Chilean government by becoming the head of the military junta that had stormed the presidential palace, La Moneda. Among other repressive branches of the armed forces in Chile, Pinochet created the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), a secret police force, for the purpose of surgical repression, detention, torture, and frecuently disappearance.
Between 1973 and 1976, the most intense repression took place. The Rettig Commission (Informe Rettig) documented approximately 3,000 cases of death at the hands of the Chilean military (allegedly 2,000 were murders, 1,000 were disappearances-no body, probably dropped in the ocean).
The dictatorship was in power until a plebiscite in 1988 decided that Pinochet was not going to continue on for another term in the presidency. 1989 brought new Presidential elections and the new President Patricio Aylwin took over in 1990. Pinochet was still Commander and Chief of the Armed Forces (until 1998) and a Senator for Life.
By 1992, Aylwin had declared that a special commission headed by Senator Rettig (The Rettig Commission) would investigate the disappearances and deaths during the dictatorship. The report confirmed that approximately 3,000 people had been disappeared or murdered by Pinochet's armed forces however it did not include legal action.
Over the course of the 1990s, judges and lawyers tried to present human rights cases to the courts however most of them were dismissed through the invocation of the Amnesty Law of 1978 which protected the armed forces from being tried and convicted of disappearance cases. Bear in mind that Pinochet was still an active political figure with lots of influence over the courts and judges.
Also during the 1990s were investigations of the National Intelligence Directorate's (DINA) involvement in international cases by international judges. These cases included carbombings and assasinations in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Washington, DC. The complicity extended to multiple countries in South America and it is well documented that high officials in Washington were aware of what became known as the Operation Condor.
In 1998, Pinochet was detained in London following the extradition request of a Spanish Judge (Balthasar Garzon) who wanted Pinochet extradited to Spain for crimes involving Spanish citizens. It is notable that extradition requests were made by numerous countries whose nationals had been in Chile during the dictatorship and been subject to repression. Eventually Pinochet was released back to Chile after British judges declared he was not fit to stand trial.
Pinochet's return to Chile was met with renewed fervor in the fight for human rights. Many more claims were made and more cases came before the courts. The exact cause and effect is complicated because there were other changes (see previous blog), like the composition of the Supreme Court, which largely affected the ability of human rights crimes to be sucessfully brought before the court.
To give a very very basic look at numbers by the end of 2005 (courtesy of FASIC.org) There were 405 cases in process at the end of the year which included 1,240 victims (many victims were in the same unique case against the same generals). There had been 600 accused army generales and militares. 115 of them have been convicted.
I am still trying to flush out the meaning of these numbers. For example, it is known that about 3,000 people were murdered or disappeared. If we are just looking at these numbers, it means that about 1/3 of the cases have been brought before the courts. However, the Valech Commission recently documented approximately 30,000 cases of torture (people held as political prisoners but not killed.) I know that it was more difficult to prosecute torture cases because they fell under the Amnesty Law of 1978 so I don't know if a new wave of convictions may come or if there are some torture cases included in the 600 accused generals. I know of torture victims who have lawyers and are in the process however I can't tell if they are the vanguard. So, as most statistics indicate, there is progress, but still so far to go.
Of course, there are many questions about what would constitute complete justice. I don't know how many people are not looking to prosecute because they need to rid themselves of the memory. I don't know whether the number of 30,000 tortured means 30,000 people testified before the committee or if by the people that testified they were able to deduce that 30,000 must be around the right number based on where people said they were and how many other prisoners were also there.
I'll try to be clearer soon.
In 1973, on the doubly infamous September 11th, General Augusto Pinochet took over the Chilean government by becoming the head of the military junta that had stormed the presidential palace, La Moneda. Among other repressive branches of the armed forces in Chile, Pinochet created the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), a secret police force, for the purpose of surgical repression, detention, torture, and frecuently disappearance.
Between 1973 and 1976, the most intense repression took place. The Rettig Commission (Informe Rettig) documented approximately 3,000 cases of death at the hands of the Chilean military (allegedly 2,000 were murders, 1,000 were disappearances-no body, probably dropped in the ocean).
The dictatorship was in power until a plebiscite in 1988 decided that Pinochet was not going to continue on for another term in the presidency. 1989 brought new Presidential elections and the new President Patricio Aylwin took over in 1990. Pinochet was still Commander and Chief of the Armed Forces (until 1998) and a Senator for Life.
By 1992, Aylwin had declared that a special commission headed by Senator Rettig (The Rettig Commission) would investigate the disappearances and deaths during the dictatorship. The report confirmed that approximately 3,000 people had been disappeared or murdered by Pinochet's armed forces however it did not include legal action.
Over the course of the 1990s, judges and lawyers tried to present human rights cases to the courts however most of them were dismissed through the invocation of the Amnesty Law of 1978 which protected the armed forces from being tried and convicted of disappearance cases. Bear in mind that Pinochet was still an active political figure with lots of influence over the courts and judges.
Also during the 1990s were investigations of the National Intelligence Directorate's (DINA) involvement in international cases by international judges. These cases included carbombings and assasinations in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Washington, DC. The complicity extended to multiple countries in South America and it is well documented that high officials in Washington were aware of what became known as the Operation Condor.
In 1998, Pinochet was detained in London following the extradition request of a Spanish Judge (Balthasar Garzon) who wanted Pinochet extradited to Spain for crimes involving Spanish citizens. It is notable that extradition requests were made by numerous countries whose nationals had been in Chile during the dictatorship and been subject to repression. Eventually Pinochet was released back to Chile after British judges declared he was not fit to stand trial.
Pinochet's return to Chile was met with renewed fervor in the fight for human rights. Many more claims were made and more cases came before the courts. The exact cause and effect is complicated because there were other changes (see previous blog), like the composition of the Supreme Court, which largely affected the ability of human rights crimes to be sucessfully brought before the court.
To give a very very basic look at numbers by the end of 2005 (courtesy of FASIC.org) There were 405 cases in process at the end of the year which included 1,240 victims (many victims were in the same unique case against the same generals). There had been 600 accused army generales and militares. 115 of them have been convicted.
I am still trying to flush out the meaning of these numbers. For example, it is known that about 3,000 people were murdered or disappeared. If we are just looking at these numbers, it means that about 1/3 of the cases have been brought before the courts. However, the Valech Commission recently documented approximately 30,000 cases of torture (people held as political prisoners but not killed.) I know that it was more difficult to prosecute torture cases because they fell under the Amnesty Law of 1978 so I don't know if a new wave of convictions may come or if there are some torture cases included in the 600 accused generals. I know of torture victims who have lawyers and are in the process however I can't tell if they are the vanguard. So, as most statistics indicate, there is progress, but still so far to go.
Of course, there are many questions about what would constitute complete justice. I don't know how many people are not looking to prosecute because they need to rid themselves of the memory. I don't know whether the number of 30,000 tortured means 30,000 people testified before the committee or if by the people that testified they were able to deduce that 30,000 must be around the right number based on where people said they were and how many other prisoners were also there.
I'll try to be clearer soon.
posted by Lauren at 12:44 PM
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