MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Navy and Carabineros accept “individual excesses”

Carabineros, Chile's militarized police acknowledged that its members carried out human rights violations during the 1973-1990 dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and condemned the repressive acts.

In a statement released this week Carabineros assessed the recent cathartic Chilean government's "Report on Torture and Political Imprisonment", which compiled the testimonies of 27,255 people who suffered torture and other abuses under the military regime. "Carabineros of Chile judges as sound the work conducted by the (government) commission, with which it collaborated by delivering information and records whenever they were requested" states the release. Carabineros also deplored the acts of political repression carried out by its members under the Pinocher regime. "Today - after 30 years and with the perspective granted by time- Carabineros takes responsibility for its past and considers that political repression, imprisonment and torture described in the report should have never been committed, because (such acts) are contrary to the Institution's essence and mission". "The institution sympathizes with the victims of political imprisonment and torture and their families and shares ... with (the rest of) Chilean society a general feeling of contempt regarding these painful deeds". Further on Carabineros reiterates its commitment to advance with determination towards national reconciliation where solidarity, truth and social peace should be above all. The statement concludes saying that current police training methods and protocol correspond to deep convictions that the institution's legacy must be one of "respect for human rights and personal dignity". This week also the Chilean Navy admitted that the training tall mast "Esmeralda" was used as a torture site during a certain period and acknowledged as "truthful" the testimonies included in the Commission's report. However the Navy stopped short of adopting an "institutional responsibility" for repressive acts committed by its members under Pinochet -as the Army did last month- underlining that accountability for atrocities are on "strictly personal" level.

Air Force acknowledges "institutional responsibility"

Chile's Air Force on Wednesday acknowledged its role in the widespread use of torture during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and pledged to help ensure that human rights violations "never occur again." "The Air Force High Command assumes this painful truth and reiterates its commitment to ensure that acts of this sort never occur again". The press release states that "responsibility always befalls on those in command, who have the moral and legal duty to ensure that the institution never veers from the ends for which it was created". The Air Force is the second service behind the Chilean Army in acknowledging that massive torture of political prisoners during the 1973-90 Pinochet dictatorship was a matter of institutional policy. This contrast with the Navy and Carabineros (the four services were represented in the military Junta that ousted elected president Salvador Allende in 1973) who have avoided a mea culpa, attributing human rights violations to "individual excesses". Navy and Carabineros have stated they regret and condemn acts of torture committed by "some officers" in their ranks. The Armed Forces and Carabineros reactions follow the release Sunday of the government's Report on Torture and Political Imprisonment, which compiled the testimonies of 27,255 persons who suffered torture and other abuses under the military regime of General Pinochet. The Air Force in its statement said it "has taken specific steps, within the sphere of its activities, to contribute to the reconciliation of Chilean society". Navy Commander in Chief Admiral Miguel Angel Vergara, acknowledged Tuesday that the training ship "Esmeralda" had been used as a jail and torture centre after the 1973 coup, but emphasized that those in charge of the vessel at the time were "outsiders".