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CHRONOLOGY - 1990
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JANUARY 31, 1990
Forty-nine political prisoners escape from
Santiago's Public Jail. Initially using rudimentary tools such as
spoons and later fabricating a sophisticated ventilation device, political
prisoners carve a tunnel extending underneath the prison and emerging near
the Mapocho River 100 meters beyond the jail.
MARCH 11, 1990
Patricio Aylwin takes office as President.
MARCH 11, 1990
Presidential pardons benefit 47 political prisoners, convicted by the military regime. However, by the end of
1990 the situation of 230 others, many of whom had been jailed without a sentence, remains unresolved.
MARCH 12, 1990
Seventy thousand people attend a mass rally led by
President Aylwin at the National Stadium. During the event, Aylwin
announces his government's official stance in pursuit of truth, justice
and reparations with regards to past human rights violations.
APRIL 25, 1990
The National Truth and Reconciliation Commission is
created with a nine-month mandate to document what the Justice
Ministry's decree terms "the most serious human rights violations"
committed by agents of the State of Chile during the period of military
rule. Known as the Rettig Commission for its president, attorney Raul
Rettig, the eight people who comprise the group are to verify existing
denunciations and receive new ones related to cases of illegal
executions, disappearances and death as a result of torture or from acts
of political violence. They are also asked to formulate recommendations as
to what measures should be taken to ensure that human rights are never
again violated in Chile. Their responsibilities, however, do not include
investigation of the hundreds of denunciations of torture presented before
courts of law in previous years, nor is the Commission vested with
judicial authority of any kind.
JUNE 2, 1990
The remains of 19 disappeared are discovered in an
illegal burial ground in Pisagua where they were buried clandestinely
in the first years of the military regime.
AUGUST 18, 1990
Human remains are exhumed in Aguila Sur, in
Paine, where it is believed about 10 cadavers were buried in the early
days of the regime. Special Prosecutor German Hermosilla headed the
investigation. The Association of Relatives of the Disappeared had
testified to the Rettig Commission that there at least eight clandestine
cemeteries in Paine and Huelquen.
AUGUST 22, 1990
Chile ratifies the American Convention on Human
Rights and withdraws reservations noted by the former military regime
regarding the UN Convention Against Torture. The government also
recognizes the competency of the Human Rights Commission of the OAS to
hear cases governed by the International Pact on Civil and Political
Rights.
AUGUST 24, 1990
Chile's Supreme Court unanimously upholds the
constitutionality of the 1978 Amnesty Law in a decision that leads
plaintiff's attorney Alfonso Insunza Bascunan to declare that human rights
cases in Chile for events occurring pre-1978 are for all practical matters
over.
SEPTEMBER 4, 1990
Former president Salvador Allende is accorded the state funeral in Santiago's General Cemetery, that he had
been denied 17 years earlier by the military regime. Thousands turn out to pay last respects to Allende on his second burial. Allende was first buried on September 11, 1973 in a relative's tomb, in the presence only of his widow, daughter, and nephews.
SEPTEMBER 6, 1990
Pinochet becomes the center of a scandal involving Army-issued checks to his son, Augusto Pinochet, for the acquisition of the Valmolval company, which manufactures arms for the Army. More than 50 Concertacion deputies sign an official petition to be sent to the Ministry of Defense asking for more information about the checks, which total about US$3,000,000 and were dated January 4, 1989. A congressional commission is formed to investigate.
SEPTEMBER 9, 1990
The memorial to the disappeared and executed is inaugurated at the Santiago General Cemetery.
SEPTEMBER 21 - 26, 1990
Three journalists are jailed by order of the military courts for "offense to the armed forces." Charges against Juan Pablo Cardenas were eventually dropped and he was released. Juan Andres Lagos and Alfonso Stephens were released on bail. By the end of 1990, 30 journalists had been the subjects of legal actions brought by the military courts for the same offense. December 19, 1990 Civil-military tensions escalate when the Army garrisons its troops in a move the Concertacion government fears to be a replica of the Argentine troop rebellion. However, negotiations between President Aylwin and General Pinochet restore a measure of tranquillity. The Army´s actions are in response to government pressure for Pinochet's resignation in light of the check scandal involving his son. The Army also takes offense at Aylwin's veto of the promotion of two Army generals (one, a former DINA collaborator). Afterwards, the congressional committee
investigating the check scandal never calls Pinochet to testify and its report is negotiated with Army officials, who issue a statement affirming "unwavering loyalty" to their Commander-in-Chief.
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