40 years later Chile's judges apologise for their actions after coup

[malaise]

Last edited Thu Sep 5, 2013, 08:08 AM - Edit history (1)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-23967816
<snip>
The body representing judges in Chile has made an unprecedented apology for the actions of its members under military rule in the 1970s and 1980s.

It a statement, it said that the judiciary at the time had abandoned its role as protector of basic rights.

"The time has come to ask for the forgiveness of victims... and of Chilean society," said the judges.

More than 3,000 people were killed under the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet between 1973 and 1990.

The statement by the National Association of Magistrates of the Judiciary comes a week before the 40th anniversary of the coup that brought General Pinochet to power.

It said its members, and in particular the Supreme Court, had failed in its duty to protect victims of state abuse.
----------------------------------------------
Amazing how our branches of government sell us out and apologize to our dead and heartbroken decades after.

[LuvNewcastle]

1. I think 3,000 dead is a low estimate, from what I've read.

I think 3,000 were killed just during the beginning of Pinochet's dictatorship. There were likely more who died during that 17 years. If I was one of the tens of thousands who were imprisoned or had a loved one who died during that period, I don't think an apology would mean much to me.

[malaise]

3. Same here

and of course the status quo folks continue the killings and will apologize in another forty or fifty years. This madness must stop.

[bemildred]

2. +1. nt