PART THREE
Chapter Two (C)

1974 through August 1977 (continued)

3. REACTIONS OF MAJOR SECTORS OF SOCIETY TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS THAT OCCURRED BETWEEN 1974 AND 1977
   
   
   1. THE ATTITUDE OF CHILEAN SOCIETY
      
      As the reasons for the disruption of public life that took place during the initial period began to subside, various sectors of society gradually began to make at least feeble efforts toward defending human rights as the instances of people arrested, tortured, executed, or disappeared gradually became known. This initial response was inadequate, and the normal channels of expression for the citizenry had been dismantled. Consequently, this reaction was unorganized, and by itself it had no practical results.
      
      In any case this period saw a slow rebirth of the social network of solidarity (labor unions, professional associations, political parties, neighborhood associations, and so forth) that would later constitute the platform from which society as a whole would be able to react to the longstanding situation of human rights violations in the country.
      
      However, any critical stance toward the regime, especially with regard to human rights, encountered further obstacles after the DINA was established on June 18, 1974. Its methods of repression-in using them it often bypassed government officials-made it very difficult to raise a critical voice and prevent acts that violated human rights.
      
      
   2. THE ATTITUDE OF THOSE MAKING UP THE NEW REGIME
      
      In this period there was no significant institutional criticism within the regime on the issue of human rights. The civilian and military sectors of society who made it up had no public reaction to the human rights violations that were taking place, either because they were unaware of their real scope and circumstances or because they tolerated or approved them. Nonetheless, some civilians who were part of the regime or close to it and were concerned about such violations privately made significant efforts. They even tried to neutralize the all-encompassing powers granted to the DINA.
      
      These efforts, combined with other parallel circumstances, such as pressure from the U.S. State Department over the murder of Orlando Letelier and Ronnie Moffit in Washington, D.C., led the government to dissolve the DINA in August 1977. That event marks the close of this period. These questions are further discussed in Part Two, Chapter One of this report.
      
      
   3. THE REACTION OF THE CHURCHES
      
      During this period church efforts in defense of human rights were primarily those undertaken by the Catholic church. The salient feature of this work was that of protest. It was expressed on three main fronts: teaching, primarily through statements of the Permanent Committee of the Bishops; concrete help and support for human rights victims, carried out primarily by the Committee for Peace and later by the Vicariate of Solidarity; and the ministry of priests, especially those working in poor areas.
      
      
      1. Teaching activity of the Catholic church
         
         The following quotations and observations from documents reflect that important effort:
         
         
         • Statement and accompanying request to his honor, the head of state, from the Permanent Committee of the bishops (August 23, 1974). The document requested that "the state of war be ended and that for the sake of mercy and equity, the state authority grant a pardon as it sees fit, to all those in prison who have suffered the situations of political and social disorder through which our country has passed and which have obviously been so serious that the blame cannot be exclusively theirs...We also think that the road would be made considerably smoother if the trials that have been held during this period were reviewed in the ordinary justice system..."
           
           
         • Chilean Bishops Christmas message (December 17, 1975). In this message the bishops noted "we respectfully request the supreme governor to grant a generous amnesty to those political prisoners who might be eligible for one because there is not enough evidence against them, because they have already been held in jail for a long time without being brought to trial, or because it is urgent that they return to fill the void created in their families."
           
           
         • Statement of the Permanent Committee of the Bishops on the expulsion of the two lawyers Jaime Castillo and Eugenio Velasco (August 16, 1976). The document stated that "an essential condition for the common good is that all members of a community have the absolute assurance that their opinions will be respected and that they will not be punished for their actions except as the result of a sentence in which an impartial and free judge arrives at a guilty verdict."
           
           
         • Statement of the Permanent Committee of the Bishops on demonstrations in Pudahuel against three Chilean bishops arrested in Ecuador (August 17, 1976). In their document the bishops said, "We indignantly protest what occurred at the airport in Pudahuel, when a massive organized demonstration carrying slogans which insulted three Chilean bishops was allowed to take place with direct participation by known DINA members. The mission of any government is to zealously guard the freedom and honor of its citizens and not besmirch it."
           
           
         • Statement of the Permanent Committee of the Bishops, "Our Life in Common as a Nation" (March 25, 1977). This document was extremely important and raised very important issues in the following areas: the judiciary and the disappeared; freedom of expression; the Constitution and legislation. The document also stated that unless the fate of each one of those persons alleged to be disappeared was clarified once and for all, "families will not have peace, there will not be peace in our country, nor will Chile's image outside the country be unblemished. If abuses and arbitrary actions, which are sometimes inevitable, have been committed, it is better to acknowledge them and work out measures to avoid their recurrence."
           
           
      2. Specific action by the churches to aid and protect the victims of human rights violations
         
         
         1. Committee for Peace and the Vicariate of Solidarity
            
            During this period the Committee for Peace had to intensify its activity. The state of siege continued and the DINA's activity brought an enormous increase in the number of arrests, and in the practice of torture and disappearance. Because the Committee was now operating in a public and institutional manner and was being accused of undermining the reputation of the military regime outside the country, the government became increasingly hostile toward this agency. This situation was aggravated by particular incidents connected with the Catholic church. The most notable of these were the publication in the newspapers of certain statements by the secretary of the Chilean bishops council, Bishop Camus, the church's granting of asylum to members of the MIR who were wanted by the law and whose lives were in danger, and events at the house of the Columban fathers which led to the arrest of the British doctor Sheila Cassidy and the death of a housekeeper.
            
            Between September and November 1975, ten employees of the Committee were arrested in what seemed to be a policy of persecution against it. On October 3, 1975 the Lutheran pastor and co-president of the Committee Helmut Frenz was prohibited from returning to Chile. Because of the difficult situation churches were facing due to the government's attitude, some of the remaining Protestants who had formed the Committee withdrew. The situation came to its most critical point in November 1975. General Pinochet sent the cardinal archbishop of Santiago a letter on November 11 asking that the Committee for Peace be disbanded. The reason he gave was that "Marxist-Leninists are taking advantage of it to create problems that are disturbing the civic tranquility and necessary calm, the maintenance of which is my primary duty as a ruler."
            
            Although he stated that he opposed such a step and disagreed with the reasons given, the cardinal ceded to the request and dissolved the Committee for Peace as of December 31, 1975. The statistical summary of the Committee for Peace's work indicates that it had provided legal advice on a total of 6,994 cases of political persecution in Santiago; 1,908 cases of political persecution in the provinces; 6,411 cases of people fired for political reasons; and that 16,992 people had benefitted from its health care program.
            
            The Bishops Vicariate of Solidarity was set up by means of Decree No. 5 of the archdiocese dated January 1, 1976. Its objectives were similar to those originally conceived for the Committee for Peace; the church could not close its doors to those who were being persecuted. The church's commitment to the newly created Vicariate of Solidarity was evident. A representative of the archdiocese was named to head the institution, and its offices were set up alongside the cathedral in Santiago. Under the direction of the same person who had been heading the Committee for Peace, Father Cristián Precht, the Vicariate also became a highly professional and efficient agency. At this stage and throughout its existence it engaged in firm action to defend human rights and to protest their violation.
            
            Relations with the church reached a crisis point again when one of the Vicariate's main lawyers was arrested, and when the already mentioned August 1976 demonstrations were organized against three Chilean bishops, and they were accused of being leftists and of meddling in politics when they arrived back from a meeting in Riobamba. It should also be mentioned that the government made efforts to prevent or hinder the arrival of funds for the Vicariate, but was not successful. Despite these difficulties, the Vicariate of Solidarity continued to develop and intensify its efforts.
            
            
         2. The creation of FASIC (Christian Churches Foundation for Social Welfare)
            
            FASIC was started by pastor Helmut Frenz of the Evangelical Lutheran church, and officially came into being on April 1, 1975 as an ecumenical institution committed to the everyday practice of human rights. Its purpose was to aid those serving time in jail, especially by helping them make requests to have their prison term changed to exile as authorized by Supreme Decree No. 504 of 1975. From this starting point, the agency expanded its help to include political prisoners and their families. FASIC's activity expanded yet further to include other victims of repression. It set up a program to provide medical and psychiatric help to torture victims, former political prisoners, and the relatives of those who had been killed and of those who disappeared after arrest or imprisonment.
            
            It should also be noted that FASIC acted as a representative of the refugee service of the World Council of Churches, and as a specialized agency of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in its program of family reunification. FASIC continued to do important work throughout the whole period of military government, and it maintained its ecumenical character as a program of the Methodist Corporation.
            
            
      3. Ministry of priests and pastors
         
         We should highlight the work of many priests and pastors who exercised their ministry in poor areas, and significantly directed their efforts toward promoting and defending human rights in both theory and practice. This work, especially by Catholic priests, helped to channel the reaction of these sectors to human rights violations toward peaceful protest, and so to avoid generating a spiral of violence.
         
         
   4. THE ATTITUDE OF THE MEDIA
      
      A climate of insecurity and fear within the media and those working in them during this period led to an attitude of self-censorship, which became the most common means of control. Even so, certain measures like prior censorship or the withdrawal of particular issues from circulation were sometimes used against those media that officials regarded as less sympathetic to the regime. In any case, the incipient degree of independence entailed in this situation made it possible to reprint in Chile what had been published elsewhere about human rights violations committed by the Chilean regime. That is what happened with regard to the case of the murder of General Prats and his wife and the crime committed against Orlando Letelier and Ronnie Moffit in Washington, D.C., thereby fueling speculation linking Chilean intelligence services to these crimes. The public could thus begin to draw its own conclusions.
      
      It likewise made it possible toward the end of this period to start publications critical of the military regime, such as the weeklies Hoy and Apsi, as well as the Vicariate's newsletter, Solidaridad, which had a more limited circulation. These augmented the work that Mensaje had been doing in discussing and defending human rights. All of these helped strengthen the activity of providing news and opinion independent of the government. This was true even though during this period officials took measures against freedom of information, such as the initially temporary and then final closure of Radio Balmaceda, and other measures mentioned below.
      
      Nevertheless, as a rule the media continued to offer the regime virtually unqualified support, either because they were under constraint, or constrained themselves, or did so spontaneously. They did not raise questions about the human rights situation in Chile. The press generally presented the official accounts of events connected to disappeared prisoners that were intended to hide the responsibility of agents of the Chilean government. Those accounts were presented as "the truth" about what had happened, even when there were often very good reasons for doubting them. For example, they gave wide circulation to accounts from the Argentinean magazine Lea and the Brazilian newspaper O Dia which reported that 119 Chileans whom human rights agencies said had been killed by or disappeared at the hands of the military government had been killed in alleged shootouts with fellow leftists.
      
      The radio stations that continued to operate after the change of government acted in a way similar to that of the newspapers, since with rare but important exceptions, they spontaneously opted to go along with a degree of ignorance of, or tolerance for, what was happening in the realm of human rights violations and refrained from protesting them. Television stations remained under complete state control; directly, in the case of National Television, or as a result of government control over the universities to which they belonged.
      
      In short, the media during this period generally maintained an attitude of tolerance toward human rights violations and refrained from using their influence to try to halt them. Some significant events related to the media and freedom of information during this period include the following:
      
      
      • In 1974 the newspaper La Prensa disappeared due to economic problems;
        
        
      • In 1975 the newspaper Tribuna disappeared as a result of the National party's decision to disband;
        
        
      • That same year what had been the Horizonte publishing house and had published the Communist party daily El Siglo became a workers cooperative;
        
        
      • In 1976 Radio Balmaceda was ordered to close temporarily, and the weekly magazine Ercilla, edited by Emilio Filippi, was seized and closed for a week;
        
        
      • In 1976 the newsletter (later a magazine) Apsi and the newsletter Solidaridad of the Vicariate of Solidarity of the Archdiocese of Santiago began publication;
        
        
      • In 1977 Radio Balmaceda was closed for good, the newspaper La Tercera was suspended for a day, and the magazines Hoy and Análisis began publication.
        
        
   5. THE ATTITUDE OF POLITICAL PARTIES
      
      This period was generally similar to the previous period. Hence the political parties did not react in an organized or institutional way to the human rights situation in Chile, but rather some of their representatives reacted individually in a manner that more or less reflected the stance of their parties.
      
      In any case we may note that perhaps the only organized reaction of a party during this period was what happened in mid-1974 when Radio Balmaceda, which represented the Christian Democrat party, was censored. In response, the party registered a complaint before the Interior Ministry, mentioning human rights violations in the country. The stance taken by the Christian Democrat party prompted a decision to prohibit Bernardo Leighton from entering the country in October 1974, followed by a number of arrests and expulsions of party figures and the closing of Radio Balmaceda.
      
      In general during this period political party activity was diffused and politicians were disregarded. In 1977 the situation came to its most critical point when Decree Law No. 1697 ordered all parties not yet disbanded to be disbanded. Their property was confiscated, and all activity connected to political parties was prohibited. This measure, in conjunction with the previous closing of congress and the canceling of the electoral rolls and even their physical destruction, all contributed to the weakening of any stance of the political parties on human rights, and prevented them from taking a stance of open protest. These points are also discussed in Part Two, Chapter One of this report ("Political Framework").
      
      
   6. THE ATTITUDE OF PROFESSIONAL PEOPLE AND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS
      
      As had been the case previously, during this period professional people did not react to human rights violations in any organized or institutional way. Professional associations could not do so, nor were they able to monitor the ethical behavior of their members. Hence as far as is known, reactions were limited to the individual behavior of particular professional people, who basically took one of the following attitudes.
      
      
      • Partly as a result of the atmosphere of disinformation there was a degree of tolerance among some persons who, given their training, profession and position in society, might have been expected to become aware of what was happening and to act accordingly.
        
        
      • Other professional people, however, assumed or maintained a critical position toward the human rights violations that were taking place. Among them we should single out those lawyers who were willing to defend the victims before the courts, administrative officials, and the government, and those doctors, social workers and other professional people who provided their professional services to the victims and their families. They did so despite the risks involved, both in terms of their own personal security and the discredit such activities might bring upon them in their social or professional circles.
        
        
      In a presentation to the military junta, the Supreme Court, and the bar association in February 1975, twelve highly respected lawyers expressed their concern over the situation of systematic human rights violation in which the country was living, and especially over the way the law was observed in politically significant trials. In mid-1976 at the Sixth Assembly of the OAS (Organization of American States), four well known lawyers presented to all the participating foreign ministers, including Chile's, a document protesting the human rights violations being committed in the country. Shortly thereafter, two of them were expelled from the country.
      
      
   7. THE REACTION OF VICTIMS AND THEIR RELATIVES AND OF HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS
      
      
      1. Organizations of victims and victims' relatives
         
         The Committee for Peace worked to unite groups of victims of human rights violations and their relatives in order to help them to work together and in coordination. These groups were first formed as Christian reflection groups and later were organized into working committees according to the abuses suffered: the disappeared, those arrested, political prisoners, and so forth.
         
         The first group that was formed and maintained a stable organization for a period of years was that of the Relatives of Persons Disappeared After Arrest, which was made up of women, and began to operate in late 1974 with twenty members. In March 1975 it had 75 members, and then in June the number rose to 270 and reached 323 members by the end of 1975. That figure represents a high percentage of all those affected, since it is estimated that around 1,000 people had disappeared in Santiago, and some of the women in the organization had lost more than one relative.
         
         This organization was one of the first of its kind in Latin America. Its experiences and methods of protest served as an example for similar groups in Chile and other countries. The women involved in it became convinced that looking for their family members individually was not achieving anything, and so they decided to begin a series of peaceful demonstrations such as hunger strikes, street protests, and so forth in order to attract public attention. In doing so they were putting themselves in great danger. With a few men, and carrying photographs of their husbands, sons, daughters, and grandchildren they decided to break what they called "the circle of silence" surrounding the cases of their disappeared relatives. At that time there were practically no demonstrations against the regime, nor were there alternative sources of information. Thus the relatives of the disappeared were officially ignored, and they were harassed and repeatedly jailed. As time went on, the Relatives of Persons Disappeared after Arrest became organized in many parts of the country.
         
         
      2. Human rights organizations
         
         Other organizations gradually began to join the work of promoting and defending human rights carried out initially by institutions that had arisen in church circles, mainly the Committee for Peace and the Vicariate of Solidarity.
         
         SERPAJ (Service for Justice and Peace)
         
         SERPAJ was officially set up in Chile in November 1977. It defines itself as a body of Christian, ecumenical, and humanist inspiration, which promotes non-violence and the building of a society that will be democratic, will live in solidarity, and will respect human rights. It sought to organize educational programs for peace, democracy, and respect for human rights, to carry out actions of solidarity aimed at supporting the victims of repression and to participate in various campaigns to denounce human rights violations and promote human rights.
         
         
   8. THE ATTITUDE OF OTHER MEDIATING INSTITUTIONS WHICH PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THE AREA OF HUMAN RIGHTS DURING THIS PERIOD
      
      During this period special laws prohibited the most important mediating institutions (labor unions, and student and community organizations) from democratically electing their own officers. The stance of their leaders was one of ignoring human rights violations. Accordingly during this period these organizations offered no public or official critical reaction to human rights violations, often because they had been completely dismantled.
      
      
   9. THE REACTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
      
      During the first two years of the military government, many Chileans left the country for political reasons. The number cannot be exactly determined, but it is estimated that the figure cannot be less than 20,000. Foreign governments accepted most of these people as refugees. Relations with many countries continued to deteriorate as a result of the problem of human rights in Chile. Thus in January 1975, Australia decided to suspend wheat shipments to Chile. In February Great Britain demanded improvements in the human rights situation as a condition for continuing to renegotiate the country's foreign debt.
      
      Relations with the United States nonetheless remained relatively normal. During the Nixon and Ford administrations, the United States helped Chile renegotiate its foreign debt, and U.S. economic aid during 1974-1976 was several times what it was in 1971-1973. Agreements with the U.S. companies that owned the large copper operations that the previous government had nationalized were improved.
      
      Both the election of President Carter, whose administration showed a particular concern for human rights in Chile, and the investigations into the killing of the former foreign minister Orlando Letelier and his co-worker Ronnie Moffit in Washington, D.C., in which DINA agents were involved, had a major impact on the military regime's repressive policies. The 1976 visit of the Treasury Secretary, William Simon, also had an impact, and led to the freeing of 49 political prisoners, including important leaders from the Allende government. By November 1976 the number of political prisoners had notably declined. In December 1976, the leader Luis Corvalán was exchanged for the Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukosky and in June 1977 Jorge Montes, another Communist leader, was exchanged for several prisoners in East Germany. The closing of the prison camps and the end of the DINA are regarded as partly due to United States pressure. In August 1977 the undersecretary of state for Latin American affairs, Terrence Todman, travelled to Chile. His arrival coincided with the announcement that the DINA was being disbanded and replaced by the CNI (National Center for Information).
      
      We may note the following about international human rights organizations:
      
      
      1. The Organization of American States
         
         The Interamerican Human Rights Commission of the Organization of American States maintained its concern for the lot of victims of the regime as evidenced in its periodic reports and its visits to the country.
         
         
      2. The United Nations
         
         Beginning in 1974 the United Nations Human Rights Commission issued special reports on the human rights situation in Chile. This body played a very important role through these reports, resolutions in the General Assembly and in the Human Rights Commission, and the appointment of an ad hoc working group on Chile, as this chronology shows:
         
         
         • Resolution of the General Assembly, November 1974 asking the government of Chile to fully respect the Declaration of Human Rights. It was approved by a majority of 90 votes in favor, 8 against, and 26 abstentions.
           
           
         • Creation of the special ad hoc working group to investigate and draw up a report on the human rights situation in Chile, February 1975. The Chilean government authorized the visit, but when the members of the group arrived, that permission was revoked (July 4, 1975). The group finished its report in December 1975.
           
           
         • Resolution of the General Assembly, December 1975, approving the report and condemning the Chilean government for human rights violation, and likewise requesting that it adopt the necessary measures to protect basic human rights and fundamental liberties. The resolution was approved with 95 votes in favor, 11 against, and 23 abstentions.
           
           
         • Resolution of the Human Rights Commission, February 1976, expressing its concern over human rights violations. It was approved by a vote of 26 votes in favor, 2 against, and 4 abstentions.
           
           
         • Report of the special ad hoc working group, December 1976.
           
           
         • Resolution of the General Assembly, December 16, 1976, which approved that report, took note of human rights violations in Chile, and requested that the military government take a number of measures in this regard. It was approved by a majority of 95 votes in favor, 12 against, and 25 abstentions.
           
           
         • Resolution of the Human Rights Commission, March 1977, condemning the Chilean government for proven human rights violations.
           
           
         • Report of the special ad hoc working group, December, 1977.
           
           
         • Resolution of the General Assembly, December 16, 1977, which approved that report, condemned the Chilean government and proposed recommendations. It was approved by a majority of 96 votes in favor, 14 against, and 25 abstentions.
           
           
      3. Other organizations
         
         Non-governmental international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, the International Commission of Jurists, and the International Association of Democratic Jurists, maintained a posture of ongoing concern for the pattern of human rights violations in Chile, and engaged in activities aimed at halting such violations.
         
         

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Posted by USIP Library on: October 4 2002
Source: Report of the Chilean National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation
(Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1993), vol. II/II, Part Three, Chapter Two (C), 625-633.
Note: Digitized and posted by permission of the University of Notre Dame Press, February 22, 2000.