|
|
UNDER THE DICTATORSHIP
|
The Under the Dictatorship pages look at the human rights situation in Chile during the 17-year military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, from 1973 to 1990.
Background
On September 11, 1973, the Chilean Armed Forces staged a military coup to overthrow the constitutionally elected Popular Unity (UP) government of Salvador Allende, which proposed a peaceful transition to socialism. President Allende died in the La Moneda presidential palace, and his ministers and collaborators were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Many of them were later killed or made to disappear. Through Decree Law No. 5, announced September 12, 1973, the Armed Forces declared the existence of an "internal war" in the country.
Thus began 17 years of dictatorship which ended March 11, 1990. Within a few hours, the social conflict which had permeated Chilean society immediately before the coup was defined as a "war" and the concept of the "enemy within" as well as the National Security Doctrine were imposed throughout the nation. The enemy within was the Communist, the Marxist, the Socialist, the revolutionary, the subversive, indeed, anyone perceived by the military to constitute a challenge to the new established order.
A state of siege was declared throughout Chile and was extended, except for brief periods, until 1987. This meant that all legal cases involving infractions of State of Siege regulations were transferred from the civilian courts to war-time military institutions.
These military concepts were used to justify the repression and killing unleashed upon Chile’s population. The repression was not limited to one part of Chile, nor was it limited by social class, gender, profession, civil status or age.
Thousands of people were detained throughout Chile on the day of the coup and the days which followed. According to Amnesty International and the United Nations’ Human Rights Committee, 250,000 Chileans had been detained for political reasons by the end of 1973. Summary executions, disappearances and killings in false armed confrontations became the norm. Neighbors, colleagues and others began denouncing each other, a practice encouraged by the military Junta and which became part of Chilean society at the beginning of the dictatorship.
On June 14, 1975, the regime officially created the DINA secret police agency. This organization already existed before Decree law No. 521 made it a legal entity. In August 1977, the DINA was dissolved and was replaced by the CNI secret police "to gather information and safeguard internal security." The CNI carried out its task until democracy in Chile was restored. The CNI ceased to legally exist in February 1990.
At the start of the dictatorship, the military Junta closed down the National Congress and Constitutional Tribunal. It declared all left-wing political parties dissolved and considered them to be illicit associations. Other political parties were declared to be in recess while the voter registration rolls were incinerated and the functions of mayors and city councilors annulled.
Parallel to these measures during the military regime, numerous organizations developed to protect the persecuted, denounce human rights violations and conduct legal follow-ups to make known the abuses of the government. The Catholic Church and the relatives of the direct victims played a leading role in creating organizations and associations for the defense of human rights. The Comite para la Paz, the Vicaria de la Solidaridad, the Association of Relatives of the Disappeared and the Association of Victims of Political Executions are but a few examples of these. Similarly, other organizations were set up to promote human rights, such as the Committee for the Defense of the People’s Rights (CODEPU), the Christian Churches Social Assistance Foundation (FASIC) and the Foundation for the Protection of Children Damaged by States of Emergency (PIDEE).
During this period, despite the heavy repression, there always existed an opposition movement to the regime. This opposition adapted its struggle to the conditions that the dictatorship established. In the 1980´s, it began to openly protest against the regime in large nationwide demonstrations. The government responded with massive, indiscriminate repression, particularly in poblaciones where many victims without any political affiliation died.
In 1988, after a period of negotiations with some sectors of the opposition to the dictatorship, the regime called a plebiscite as planned in the 1980 Constitution. In the plebiscite, the head of the regime and of the Army, General Augusto Pinochet, proposed the continuation of his government and of his leadership. Pinochet lost the plebiscite, which meant he was obliged to call presidential elections. Patricio Aylwin, a Christian Democrat, won these elections and on March 11, 1990, was sworn in as president, thus initiating a new period of transition to democracy in Chile. The after-effects of the prolonged violation of human rights became one of the greatest conflicts which the new democratic governments have had to confront.
How the information is organized
In the Victims section, you will find information on victims of human rights violations, with "victims" broadly defined as individuals, families, social and political organizations and society as a whole. The page characterizes the types of victims according to different chronological periods, and outlines the repression against specific target groups and these groups' methods of resistance and organization.
The Perpetrators section is under construction. It will contain information on the individuals and institutions that perpetrated the human rights violations under the dictatorship.
The Judiciary page takes a hard look at the role of the Chilean judicial system’s role with regards to the continual human rights violations during the dictatorship as well as legislation affecting human rights cases.
The International section is under construction. It will contain information on the reaction of the international community to the human rights situation in Chile and also activities of the DINA secret police and other security agencies abroad, the 1976 assassination of Orlando Letelier in Washington, D.C. for example.
|
|