As part of this most recent report, the commission examined 32,000 new claims of human rights abuses over the past year and a half. In order to be recognized as a victim during Pinochet’s rule, the person must have been: (1) detained or tortured for political reasons by agents of the state or people at its service; (2) victims of forced disappearances or been executed for political reasons by agents of the state or people at its service; (3) or been kidnapped or been the victims of assassination attempts for political reasons.

During the latter part of the Cold War, and Chile’s 1970 presidential election, the United States became more and more troubled at the prospect of a Socialist by the name of Salvador Allende who seemed likely to prevail in the upcoming election. This fear was rooted, among other things, in Allende’s economic plan, which involved the nationalization of the country’s industry, including U.S.-owned companies.

Not much of this was definitively known until 2000 when the CIA released a document entitled “CIA Activities in Chile,” which outlined the CIA’s role in trying to deter and ultimately prevent Allende from becoming Chile’s next president. Despite their effort, when the ballots were cast and counted, the CIA had failed and Salvador Allende succeeded.

On September 11th 1973 a bloody coup, supported by the United States, took place. The Chilean presidential palace, La Moneda, had been bombed and Allende had subsequently committed suicide. Shortly after the bombing, the military appeared on television with General Pinochet, the newly appointed army commander.

While a majority in Chile’s Congress supported the coup, many Chileans believed that the army would restore social and economic order and then hold democratic elections. With the backing of the army, however, Pinochet did not secure democratic elections, but a dictatorship. In short order, Congress was dissolved, political parties were banned, and opposition leaders were exiled. While many of Allende’s nationalization efforts were thwarted, most Chileans watched in horror as a democracy that stretched back to the 1930s faced a swift death at the hands of Pinochet

For seventeen years, Pinochet ruled, and the violence he let loose was unprecedented in Chile. Pinochet’s first order of business involved capturing, torturing and killing thousands of Allende supporters across Chile. Government-sponsored reports, including the National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture Report, found that 3,200 people were murdered under his dictatorship, half of them in the first year. Some 30,000 more were tortured. These reports were much more than attempts at unearthing an unsavory past, it was hoped that they would give Chile an opportunity to reach some sort of reconciliation with its past. However, reconciliation was made difficult by the fact that Pinochet, as a life long head of state, was never brought to justice.

As a result of the recently released report, survivors and victims of abuses under Pinochet will receive a lifetime pension of about $260.00 a month. Meanwhile, relatives of those killed receive about triple that amount. Victims are also entitled to health, education and housing benefits. In sum the government will have to increase its compensation by roughly $123 million a year to victims.

The report was presented to the current Chilean President, Sebastian Pinera, earlier this week at his presidential palace. Neither the details of the kind of abuses faced by the victims nor the names of the victims were released, however. These details are expected to remain confidential for the next fifty years.

This is the fourth report of its kind examining the human rights abuses under Pinochet since 1990. The report doesn’t alter the material facts known about the abuses during Pinochet’s rule, but it does change what is known about the number of abuses during this era, and it is yet another step toward accurately capturing this historical period of Chile.

While the commission has completed its work, the investigation is far from over as there are still hundreds of cases pending before Chilean courts.

For more information, please see:

Chile recognizes 9800 More Victims — August 18, 2011

Chile recognizes 9800 More Victims — August 18, 2011

Chile recognizes 9,800 more Pinochet victims – August 18, 20011

Chile recognizes 9,800 more victims of Pinochet’s rule — August, 2011

After Pinochet — December 13, 2006

Augusto Pinochet – December 13, 2006

Augusto Pinochet: The passing of a tyrant – December 13, 2006

Pinochet’s legacy to Chile: The reckoning – September 16, 1999

by Warren Popp
Impunity Watch Editor-in-Chief

NEW YORK, NY – According to several news outlets, the New York City Department of Corrections does not have an evacuation plan for the approximately 12,000 prisoners held at Rikers Island, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg clearly stated at a news conference on Friday that “We are not evacuating Rikers Island.”

These revelations have revived stories of prisoners that were not evacuated when hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana in 2005.  Solitary Watch quoted the following excerpt from an American Civil Liberties Union Report:

[A] culture of neglect was evident in the days before Katrina, when the sheriff declared that the prisoners would remain “where they belong,” despite the mayor’s decision to declare the city’s first-ever mandatory evacuation. OPP even accepted prisoners, including juveniles as young as 10, from other facilities to ride out the storm.

As floodwaters rose in the OPP buildings, power was lost, and entire buildings were plunged into darkness. Deputies left their posts wholesale, leaving behind prisoners in locked cells, some standing in sewage-tainted water up to their chests…

Prisoners went days without food, water and ventilation, and deputies admit that they received no emergency training and were entirely unaware of any evacuation plan. Even some prison guards were left locked in at their posts to fend for themselves, unable to provide assistance to prisoners in need.

Further heightening the level of concern and indignation amongst critics, the prisoners housed at Rikers Island include juveniles, a large number of mentally ill persons, and even pre-trial detainees, with the latter group not convicted of any crimes. Also adding to the concerns is that more that three-fourths of the island is built on a landfill, which is believed to be more vulnerable to natural disasters.

The Office of the Mayor has responded to criticisms by asserting that the prisoners safety is not being compromised, and that no part of Rikers Island is in Zone A (the mandatory evacuation area). The Wall Street Journal quotes the Mayor’s spokesman as saying, “[w]e are focused on the areas where real dangers exist.” However, Rikers Island is reportedly one of the only islands in the area that is not listed in any of the areas zoned for evacuation.

The Office of the Mayor reasoned that the prisoners do not need to be evacuated because the island, like other islands in New York City, does not actually touch the Atlantic Ocean.  The Mayor’s spokesperson was also quoted as saying that the jail is able to sustain itself and is “prepared to operate and care for inmates in extended emergency conditions,” with a full staff to remain on the island.

These words of reassurance have done little to satisfy those concerned about the plight of the Rikers Island prisoners.  The Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights said that “[i]t is appalling that the City administration is abandoning the men and women at Rikers even after the lessons of hurricane Katrina.”  He called on the Mayor to “take appropriate action immediately to protect the life and safety of everyone confined at Rikers Island and all vulnerable corrections facilities in New York City. Their lives should not be treated as less valuable than those of other New Yorkers.”

For more information, please see:

Center for Constitutional Rights – CCR Says NYC Must Act Immediately to Protect Prisoners at Rikers Island from Hurricane Irene – 27 August 2011

Mother Jones – Rikers Island Prisoners Left Behind to Face Irene – 27 August 2011

New York Magazine – No Evacuation for Rikers Island [Updated] – 27 August 2011

Wall Street Journal – No Evacuation Planned at Rikers Island – 27 August 2011

Solitary Watch – Locked Up and Left Behind: Hurricane Irene and the Prisoners on New York’s Rikers Island – 26 August 2011