Chilean Officials Investigate Arms Cache (German Colony-Colonia Dignidad )

[maddezmom]

SANTIAGO, Chile - Authorities were investigating Thursday a large arms cache found earlier this week at a secretive German colony in southern Chile.


Deputy Interior Minister Jorge Correa said the arsenal found at Colonia Dignidad — Dignity Colony — was "probably the largest ever found in private hands in Chile," comprising three containers with machine-guns, automatic rifles, rocket launchers and large amounts of ammunitions. Some of the arms are around 40 years old.

The finding two days ago was a result of an investigation conducted by Judge Jorge Zepeda on reports that some among more than 1,000 dissidents, who disappeared during the 1973-90 dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, may have been buried at the enclave 245 miles south of Santiago.

Correa said the finding "may indicate that the colony also developed paramilitary activities."

~snip~
more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050616/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/chile_german_colony/nc:734;_

[Judi Lynn]

1. The link's out of service, here's the same story from the Guardian...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5079639,00.html

Also, a slightly slow-loading story:

Chile discovers cult`s weapons cache
Jun 16, 2005, 14:50 GMT

SANTIAGO, Chile (UPI) -- Chilean authorities found a secret weapons cache in a cloistered commune that included missiles and landmines.

The weapons were discovered during an investigation of the commune`s former leader Paul Schaefer, who was arrested in March, La Tercera reported Thursday.

Schafer was shipped back to Chile from Argentina, where he was living to face charges he molested more than two dozen children while living in the cloistered community, Colonia Dignidad.

The cult leader reportedly joined the isolated Chilean community in 1961 and became its leader. According to some former residents, sexual abuse and torture of political prisoners during Chile`s military dictatorship (1973-91) were regular practices at Colonia Dignidad.
(snip)

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southamerica/article_1014792.php/Chile_discovers_cult%60s_weapons_cache

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From Prensa Latina:

Chilean Private Arsenal Blows Philanthropic Facade

Santiago de Chile, Jun 16 (Prensa Latina) The Chilean government decided to realign its legal strategy with the former Colonia Dignidad after finding the largest private arsenal in national history.

Interior Undersecretary, Jorge Correa, said the authorities are thinking of enforcing the National Security Law against this German enclave that served as center of torture and missing of political opposition during the military dictatorship.

Correa told a local radio station that the finding clears all doubts that Colonia Dignidad housed an illegal organization that operated in the country as a philanthropic institution but committed serious crimes.

Three containers with weaponry found at the now Villa Baviera along with its secret records consisted of weaponry able to arm an army: high caliber submachine guns, grenades, landmines, rocket launchers, guns, M-16 rifles with laser beam, among other.
(snip)

The enclave covers a long area in the south. It was founded in 1961 by Nazi ex Corporal Paul Schaefer, now in custody at a high-security jail, along with other German citizens as a nonprofit settlement.
(snip/)

http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7B257638BC-3D67-4F97-BAA8-6B02D9F263DD%7D&language=EN

[Judi Lynn]

2. A look at the founder of this cult, Paul Schaefer.....

03/12/2005 04:21 PM ID: 46651
Ex-Nazi Cult Leader and Alleged Child Molester Captured
After 8 years of evading authorities, Chilean police have finally captured Paul Schaefer who ran Colonia Dignidad which was composed of German exiles and Chilean followers. Schaefer was a medic for the Nazis who came to Chile in 1961.
He left Germany with 70 followers after he was accused of sexually molesting boys. His colony had a school, 2 air strips, a power station, businesses that made millions and medical care. A commission says General Pinochet used his colony for torture.
Residents who left the colony say people were separated by gender and prohibited from having sexual relations. They say shocks were used on the genitals of young boys to teach them to avoid sex. Meanwhile, Schaefer allegedly sexually abused many.
(snip/)

http://www.shortnews.com/web/id/46651/u_id/56602/x_id/Ex-Nazi%20Cult%20Leader%20and%20Alleged%20Child%20Molester%20Captured/start.cfm

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German cult leader to face Chilean court

14 March 2005

BUENOS AIRES - The German cult figure who headed a controversial fundamentalist commune in Chile arrived back in Santiago on Sunday, where he will face multiple charges ranging from child abuse to abetting prisoner maltreatment under the regime of former dictator Augusto Pinochet

Paul Schaefer, an 83-year-old invalid who founded the "Colonia Dignidad" commune in 1961, arrived aboard a Chilean government jet from Argentina. He had been a fugitive for nearly eight years before his arrest outside Buenos Aires last Thursday.

Schaefer was taken to a police medical facility upon his arrival, and was to be arraigned before Judge Joaquin Billard.
Situated in rural southern Chile, Colonia Dignidad is an isolated compound still populated with German expatriates.
(snip)

Under Schaefer's control, the commune was surrounded by barbed wire and guards, although it reached out to the community by operating a free school and clinic.

Persons who fled the commune over its 44-year existence have alleged members were generally treated like slaves under a regime that emphasized discipline and cleanliness. Residents allegedly were forced to perform physical labour for no pay and prevented from leaving the facility. Families were split up, with males housed separately from females.

Although sexual abstinence was preached, Schaefer was accused of forcing himself on commune children. Last year, Schaefer was found guilty in absentia by a Chilean court of abusing 26 Chilean and German children.
(snip/...)

http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=52&story_id=17982&name=German+cult+leader+to+face+Chilean+court



Paul Schaefer, Colonia Dignidad