Outcry as Chile seeks to include Pinochet human rights abusers in jail release
Outcry as Chile seeks to include Pinochet human rights abusers in jail release
Group of senators tries to sneak dictatorship-era military agents on to bill to release prisoners to slow coronavirus spread
John Bartlett in Santiago
Mon 13 Apr 2020 11.32 EDT
Former Chilean military agents convicted of serious human rights violations under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet could be freed by a controversial new ruling that seeks to halt the spread of the coronavirus among the country’s prison population.
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But 14 government senators have argued that should also apply to inmates at the infamous Punta Peuco prison – a comfortable facility housing about 70 inmates convicted of dictatorship-era human rights violations.
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According to a 2018 report by Chile’s national human rights institute, the private cells in Punta Peuco are spacious and well-lit, each with a private bathroom, and inmates had access to satellite television, computers, tennis courts and shaded barbecue areas.
This situation is very different from that of other prison facilities in the country, which are overcrowded and often lack basic provisions.
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A 1991 report by Chile’s National Truth and Reconciliation Commission detailed 3,428 cases of forced disappearance, killing, torture and kidnapping under the 17-year dictatorship. The whereabouts of many of the “disappeared” remain unknown, and many perpetrators have refused to reveal how bodies were disposed of.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/13/chile-coronavirus-pinochet-dictatorship-prisons