Hundreds of Chileans who served in the military under dictator Augusto Pinochet have made the Government a controversial offer. They will finally reveal the whereabouts of some victims of the dictatorship, disappeared and murdered for opposing the military- but only if they are guaranteed immunity from prosecution.
Those involved were mostly teenagers, who were drafted by the military dictatorship of 1973-1990 under the leadership of General Pinochet. The request refers specifically to the period of 1973-74, when the democratic socialist government of Salvador Allende was overthrown by a military coup, and followed by bloody repression of activists requesting a return to civilian democratic rule.
One of these, former soldier Fernando Mellado, who is acting as an unofficial spokesman for those involved, told the Associated Press that many welcome the chance to come clean about activities carried out under orders in this period. “We were executors and witnesses of many brutalities and now we’re willing to talk about them for our own personal redemption, “So if there is any opportunity in which we can testify, maybe anonymously, then we’d be happy to oblige.” Mellado estimates that of the 8,000 soldiers drafted during this early period “between 20 and 30 percent are willing to talk.”
Since the return of civilian rule in 1990 the subject of prosecution of those involved in the military and government during this period has been a polemic subject both in Chile and the wider world. This was highlighted in 1998, when Pinochet himself was arrested in the UK on the orders of a Spanish judge, facing extradition to Spain for the murder of it’s citizens during his rule. After a lengthy judicial process Pinochet was released without facing trial in 2000, on medical grounds.
The request has provoked a positive reaction from groups campaigning for justice on behalf of those killed. So far gaining closure on these events has been a difficult, drawn-out process: it is estimated that in the two decades since democracy was reinstalled, less than 8% of the remains of those “disappeared” have been salvaged.
Viviana Diaz, of campaign group The Assembly of Family Members of the Disappeared Detainees, is hoping for any sort of information to help the search for missing victims, even if this must be given anonymously: “People have come to us and all we tell them is, ‘It doesn’t matter that you don’t reveal your identity, just tell us the location, details.’”
