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Amnesty International Report 1996 - Chile

Military and civilian courts continued to close investigations into past human rights violations, but a number of officers, including the former director of Chile’s secret service and his deputy, had their prison sentences confirmed. A former student leader was briefly detained and charged with defamation. Cases of torture and ill-treatment by members of the security forces were reported. Five political prisoners faced possible death sentences.

The year was marked by tensions between the government and the armed forces over past human rights violations. In May the Supreme Court confirmed the seven- and six-year prison sentences imposed in 1993 on General Manuel Contreras and Brigadier Pedro Espinoza, respectively the former Director and Chief of Operations of the Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia (DINA), National Intelligence Directorate, for the 1976 car-bomb assassination of former Foreign Minister Orlando Letelier and US citizen Ronnie Moffit, in Washington dc, USA. General Contreras evaded imprisonment with military assistance for five months and was transferred only in October to the Punta Peuco prison, built especially for military personnel. Several legislative proposals were presented in the Senate to curtail judicial proceedings against the perpetrators of past human rights violations, and to restrict judges’ investigations into such cases to locating the remains of the “disappeared”; all other relevant information would remain secret. This legislation was still under debate at the end of the year.

Military and civilian courts closed investigations into “disappearances” and extrajudicial executions carried out between 1973 and 1978 by applying the 1978 Amnesty Law (see Amnesty International Reports 1993 and 1995) at an accelerated pace. During the year 14 cases were closed, involving 104 victims.

In October the Supreme Court confirmed prison sentences against 16 members of the DICOMCAR unit of the carabineros (paramilitary police) found guilty of the 1985 abduction and killing of three members of the Communist Party (see Amnesty International Reports 1986 and 1995). The then director of the carabineros, General Rodolfo Stange, who had refused to resign in 1994 over an alleged cover-up of the crime, retired from office in September.

Arturo Barrios Orteiza, a former student leader and current President of Juventud Socialista (Socialist Youth) was briefly detained and charged with defamation of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, General Augusto Pinochet, under National Security Legislation. He was a prisoner of conscience. He had stated during a Socialist Youth rally in June 1995 that the General should face criminal charges for human rights violations in Chile. In August the Supreme Court ruled that proceedings against Arturo Barrios Orteiza should continue, which prevented him from leaving the country.

Journalists and lawyers still faced charges of sedition brought against them by military courts in 1994 (see Amnesty International Report 1995).

All those detained during 1994 UN-der arrest warrants outstanding from the period of military rule were released, including Sergio Buschmann (see Amnesty International Report 1995).

There were reports of torture and ill-treatment by members of the security forces. Several trade unionists were detained by police and ill-treated. In April Juan Gutiérrez Morales was detained in Santiago by members of the investigaciones (civilian police) and interrogated at various locations about the activities of fellow officers of the Construction Workers’ Union. While he was held at the Tranqueras police station, he was beaten on the hands and feet and threatened by members of the carabineros. In May Juan Enrique Contreras Olivos, another officer of the Construction Workers’ Union, was detained in Curánilahue in viii Region. He was taken to the local police station, threatened and told to stop all his trade union activities.

There were several reports of torture and ill-treatment by members of the carabineros. Jorge Bustamente Inostroza required surgery for intestinal injuries after he was detained in February in Santiago, taken to the 1st Police Station and beaten until he lost consciousness. When he regained consciousness, he was warned not to report what had happened. Miguel Angel Vallejos Palma was detained for drunkenness in February in Santiago. His hands and legs were bound and he was severely beaten. He died later the same day after being admitted to hospital with severe abdominal pain. In March, 16-year-old Hernán Alfonso San Martín Jerez and another minor, Alex Alarcón, were detained by members of the carabineros in Santiago for “running away”. They were reportedly forced to stand still while being struck in the face and abdomen and beaten on their bare backs with a metal strip. When María Jeria Castillo, Hernán San Martín’s mother, pleaded with an officer not to beat her son, she was pushed to the ground and reportedly beaten until she lost consciousness.

At least 120 people were serving prison sentences or were in custody awaiting trial for politically motivated offences committed since the end of the military government. Five political prisoners - Jaime Pinto Agloni, Jaime Celis Adasme, Julio Prado Bravo, Patricio Gallardo Trujillo and Guillermo Ossandón Canas - continued to face possible death sentences after the Second Military Court of Santiago accepted the military prosecutor’s petition for the death penalty to be considered in their case. Their trial continued before a military court on charges of wounding a police officer resulting in his death, although the Military Appeals Court had previously suspended proceedings until earlier irregularities were resolved. They also faced trial for homicide by a civilian court.

In December Amnesty International called upon the authorities not to close court proceedings into “disappearances” and extrajudicial executions that occurred under military rule.