Appeal from Chile

[Thomas Kruse]

>X-POP3-Rcpt: tkruse at albatros.cnb.net
>Return-Path: <toplab at mindspring.com>
>X-Sender: toplab at pop.mindspring.com
>Date: Fri, 06 Nov 1998 11:26:23
>To: toplab at mindspring.com
>From: Bill Koehnlein <toplab at mindspring.com>
>Subject: Appeal from Chile
>
>PLEASE FORWARD OR REPOST
>
>New York Ad Hoc Committee on Chile
>122 West 27 Street 10 floor
>New York, New York 10001-6281
>toplab at mindspring.com
>
>
>Since 1996, Maria Helena Moreira Alves, her husband
>Jose Valentin Palacios Vilches, and several hundred
>prominent labor, human rights and political activists
>in Chile have been harassed and received serious death
>threats by right-wing elements aligned with former
>dictator Augusto Pinochet. Since the recent arrest and
>detention of Pinochet in London these threats have
>escalated and become more vehement; indeed, several
>people have been beaten, two have been the victims of
>kidnap attempts, and houses of activists have been
>stoned and ransacked.
>
>Although there is no solid evidence to implicate
>specific individuals or groups, a key agenda of the
>right-wing is to maintain Chile's transitional
>neoliberal economic policies and to preserve the 1978
>Law of Amnesty, which guarantees impunity to the
>Chilean military, police, and others who were complicit
>with the program of torture, disappearances, and
>repression committed during the Pinochet years. This
>Law of Amnesty proscribes any trials or punishment of,
>or accountability by, the apparatus of the Pinochet
>regime in Chile.
>
>Chilean human rights organizations have long opposed
>the Law of Amnesty. This law, which was written and
>enacted under Pinochet and remains on the books, has
>been challenged in the courts by human rights advocates
>and others. Simultaneously, the right-wing seeks to
>continue Pinochet's economic program, a paradigm that
>has become the neoliberal model for all of Latin
>America (and, indeed, the world) and which is opposed
>by Chile's trade unions, popular organizations, and
>progressive political movements.
>
>On October 16, 1998 Augusto Pinochet, who overthrew the
>democratically-elected government of Salvador Allende
>in 1973, was arrested in London, where he went
>ostensibly for medical treatment. (It has since become
>known that he was also in England as an official
>representative of the Chilean government. His mission
>was to buy weapons for the military.) Pinochet's arrest
>occurred at the request of Judges Baltazar Garzon and
>Manuel Garcia-Castellon of Spain's National High Court
>(Audiencia Nacional), which is seeking to interrogate
>him, under the provisions of the Geneva Treaty, for
>genocide and crimes against humanity, based on the
>murder in Chile of ninety-four Spanish citizens during
>his years in power. Once Pinochet was arrested in
>England, the right-wing in Chile reacted angrily by
>rioting for several days and attacking the embassies of
>Spain and Great Britain. It intensified a campaign of
>persecution, including death threats, aimed at members
>of human rights groups, community leaders,
>environmentalists, and elected officials who have
>advocated and defended progressive policies and values.
>
>Two of the right-wing's targets are Maria Helena Alves
>and her husband, Jose Valentin Palacios Vilches. Maria
>Alves is known to many people in the left and
>progressive community of North America. Author of
>_State and Opposition in Military Brazil_, she is a
>founder and prominent member of the Brazilian Workers'
>Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores). Since 1992 she has
>been living in Chile.
>
>Jose Valentin Palacios Vilches, former president of the
>automobile workers union in Los Andes, Chile, was
>forced into exile to Brazil during the Pinochet years.
>He entered Brazil under the protection of the United
>Nations High Commission for Refugees and remained there
>until 1992, when he returned to Chile. Today, he serves
>as an elected member of the City Council of Rinconada
>de los Andes, about sixty kilometers from Santiago.
>
>Because of their political involvement and activities,
>Maria Alves and Jose Valentin Palacios have been
>harassed and persecuted continually. In 1996, their
>home was ransacked and almost destroyed two times. In
>1997, they were forced to close a small restaurant they
>had opened in 1995 due to police harassment of both
>them and their customers. This harassment included
>random beatings and arrests of the restaurant's
>clientele.
>
>In recent months, the harassment and persecution of
>Maria Alves and Jose Palacios has increased, and the
>death threats have intensified dramatically. In August
>1998 one of their dogs was shot in the spine and left
>for dead. A note attached to the animal's body read
>"This is to show we can get near you." Since the arrest
>of Augusto Pinochet the threats and harassment have
>been a daily occurrence. Recently, another dog was
>poisoned in their garden, followed by a telephone call
>in which the caller said that "what happened to the dog
>can happen to you."
>
>A similar series of threats has been directed at Mario
>Gustavo Mendez Allendes, director of the Environmental
>Department of the city of Los Andes. His home was
>recently stoned and the perpetrators left a note
>stating that he and his family would all be
>disemboweled and executed as revenge for the arrest of
>Pinochet.
>
>All three--Maria Alves, Jose Palacios, and Mario
>Mendez--have appealed to the criminal court of Los
>Andes for orders of protection. So far, there has been
>no response from the court.
>
>Another recent victim of serious harassment and death
>threats is Carmen Soria, the daughter of Carmelo Soria,
>who was Spain's Ambassador to Chile during the Allende
>years of 1970 to 1973 and who was tortured and murdered
>by the Pinochet regime. Carmen Soria, who holds both
>Chilean and Spanish citizenships, attempted to bring
>Pinochet to trial in Chile for the murder of her
>father. After several attempts, which were unsuccessful
>because of the Law of Amnesty, she brought suit in
>Spain. This suit was accepted by the Spanish court; it
>prompted Judge Baltazar Garzon to issue the current
>warrant for the arrest and extradition to Spain of
>Augusto Pinochet. The death threats aimed at Ms. Soria
>are very serious; she too has applied for an order of
>protection from the court. This order was granted and
>issued. Ms. Soria is a leader of Agrupacion de los
>Familiares de los Detenidos y Desaparecidos, a
>coalition of families whose relatives had disappeared
>(to this day, many are still missing; whether they are
>alive or dead remains unknown) or had been arrested and
>tortured by the Pinochet regime.
>
>Other people who have been victimized by the right-wing
>include Cecilia Mack, Carlos Ominami, Jose Bolnes and
>Gladys Marin.
>
>The house of Cecilia Mack, president of the local
>branch of the National Commission on Human Rights, was
>ransacked and stoned on October 27 and destroyed on
>October 31. She has also received death threats.
>
>Carlos Ominami, Senator from the Socialist Party for
>the Fifth political district, has received death
>threats because of his outspoken support for human
>rights. Senator Ominami has been a strong defender of
>Maria Helena Alves, Jose Valentin Palacios, and Mario
>Gustavo Mendez.
>
>Jose Bolnes, a well-known Chilean artist, received
>death threats, as did Gladys Marin, the General
>Secretary of the Communist Party of Chile, which is now
>a legal political party. Ms. Marin is the Communist
>Party's candidate for President. She was also the
>victim of an attempted kidnapping following Pinochet's
>arrest. This attempt failed because numerous local
>citizens, who witnessed the abduction in broad
>daylight, intervened by chasing and surrounding the
>getaway car, allowing Ms. Marin to escape.
>
>What all of these people have in common is that they
>are staunch defenders of human rights and outspoken
>supporters of progressive political and economic
>policies. The legacy of Pinochet remains alive
>throughout Chile. Pinochet has been granted the
>position of "Senator for Life" and his former military
>and police operatives remain active, frequently holding
>positions of power or influence, unpunishable under the
>terms of the 1978 Law of Amnesty. They have threatened
>hundreds of people; the increase since Pinochet's
>arrest in the number of incidents of serious
>intimidation and harassment demands a concerted
>international response.
>
>What you can do:
>
>Write to the following officials (a sample letter
>follows) expressing your concern for the human rights
>violations, death threats, and acts of harassment and
>intimidation directed against activists in Chile. Your
>letter should be brief and to the point, and it should
>not be confrontational or belligerent in tone. It is a
>good idea to mention the names of the people noted
>above. If you hold a professional degree it is helpful
>to note your title next to your signature. Similarly,
>if you are a college or university professor it helps
>to send a letter on college stationary. Include your
>full academic title, along with your degree, under your
>signature. Letters should be sent to:
>
>President Eduardo Frei
>Santiago, Chile
>
>Ministerio de Exterior Jose Manuel Insulzo
>Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriors
>Alameda Bernardo O'Higgins
>Santiago, Chile
>
>Gobernador Luis Henriquez Leiva
>Gobernacion Provincial de los Andes
>Santa Rosa #280
>Los Andes, Chile
>
>Ambassador Juan Somavia
>Ambassador of Chile to the United Nations
>Chilean Mission to the United Nations
>809 United Nations Plaza
>New York, New York 10017
>Fax: (212) 832-8714
>
>Consulate General of Chile*
>866 United Nations Plaza
>New York, New York 10017**
>Fax: (212) 888-5288
>[*Note: the new Consul does not assume this positions
>until November 16 and the Government of Chile has not
>yet publicly released the name of the person who will
>fill this position. **Further note: Most countries have
>Consulates in major cities of the United States and
>Canada. If you live outside of the New York area find
>out if there is a Chilean Consulate in a city near you
>and send a letter to that office, in addition to the
>Consulate in New York.]
>
>Ms. Sadako Ogata
>United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
>United Nations, New York 10017 [get correct zip]
>Fax: (212) 963-0074
>
>Sample letter:
>
>Dear ______________:
>
>I have recently learned that people residing in the
>area of Los Andes, Chile, including Maria Helena
>Moreira Alves, Jose Valentin Palacios Vilches, Mario
>Gustavo Mendez Allendes, Carmen Soria, Cecilia Mack,
>Senator Carlos Ominami, Jose Bolnas, and Presidential
>candidate Gladys Marin, along with others, have been
>the victims of death threats, as well as physical and
>psychological intimidation and harassment. In some
>cases their homes were vandalized and ransacked, and
>their animals were killed and mutilated.
>
>Since the election of 1990, Chile has been solidly on
>the road to the restoration of democracy. It therefore
>disturbs me greatly to learn that human rights
>violations are continuing to occur within the country.
>>From information I have received it is apparent that
>local police are at least partly responsible for these
>human rights violations. Some of the victims have
>appealed for judicial orders of protection.
>
>As a person who strongly supports human rights for all
>people everywhere, and as a believer in the ideas
>expressed in the United Nations Declaration of Human
>Rights and the various Geneva conventions and treaties
>I am requesting that the national government of Chile,
>as well as the local provincial government of Los Andes
>issue and enforce orders of protection for the above-
>mentioned individuals, as well as locate, arrest, and
>punish the persons who have committed criminal acts
>against them. Further, I am requesting that the
>national and local governments take whatever measures
>are necessary to ensure the safety of people involved
>in trade union, environmental, religious, and
>progressive social movements, and to ensure that such
>criminal acts will not be committed against them in the
>future.
>
>Thank you for your attention to this matter.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>
>Please send copies of any letters you send or receive
>to the New York Ad Hoc Committee on Chile, 122 West 27
>Street, 10 floor, New York, New York 10001-6281.
>
>In addition, please alert local media, community
>associations, human rights and religious groups, trade
>unions, political organizations and others to the
>situation. Governments, especially those that are
>trying to remold their international images, as Chile
>is doing, are often responsive to international
>pressure. The arrest of Pinochet has focused world
>attention on Chile once again; it is a type of scrutiny
>that country would prefer not to undergo. This is an
>opportune moment to examine the human rights situation
>in Chile and begin to act to ensure that basic rights
>are fully restored.
>
>//30
>