Pinochet's secret police chief sentenced

[Judi Lynn]

Tuesday, November 15, 2005 · Last updated 8:14 p.m. PT

Pinochet's secret police chief sentenced

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SANTIAGO, Chile -- The head of Chile's secret police under Gen. Augusto Pinochet was sentenced to three years in prison for the killing of a teacher opposed to the dictator's regime.

Retired Gen. Manuel Contreras, who is already serving a 12-year term for a political killing, was sentenced Monday for the 1976 killing of Julia Retamal. Retamal was arrested in August 1976 and was last seen at a detention and torture center used by Contreras' feared secret police force.

Contreras, 79, served an eight-year prison term ending in 2003 for the 1976 bombing death in Washington of Orlando Letelier, a prominent opponent of Pinochet.

In January, he returned to prison after being convicted in the 1976 disappearance of another dissident.
(snip/...)

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1102AP_Chile_General_Sentenced.html



Contreras and Pinochet
with Kissinger's blessings

[Demeter]

1. Three Whole Years for Murder! Gee, Throw the Book At Him!

I must be out of my mind thinking justice will someday prevail. Somewhere.

[Say_What]

2. One case after another should keep this POS in jail for the remainder

of his life. Check the photo below where he's being being pelted while coming out of court. Next up, Pinochet and Contreras's pal Kissinger. May they all live long lives and suffer much for their heinous crimes.

<clips>

Villa Grimaldi Torturers Indicted in Chile

Judge Alejando Solís brought a lawsuit Monday against nine former Chilean Secret Police (DINA) agents, accused of torturing 22 people at Villa Grimaldi – the most notorious of the dictatorship’s torture centers. Former head of Augusto Pinochet’s secret police Manuel Contreras is among those being charged by Solís. Contreras is currently serving a life sentence for a number of murders and kidnappings, and he previously served seven years in jail for the 1976 car-bomb assassination of former Chilean Foreign Affairs Minister Orlando Letelier. Full Story

TRC Analysis:
Chile (Country Profile) has yet to put to rest its egregious history of brutal torture of dissidents under General Augusto Pinochet. This is most recently underscored by two key developments: Judge Alejando Solis' lawsuit against nine DINA agents and Pinochet's conveniently deteriorating and improving health. These two issues leave Chile's future unclear; however, a new presidential contender with an unusual twist has surfaced – she's female.

The nine DINA agents – Chile's secret police – were stationed at the notorious Villa Grimaldi torture chamber. Among the agents is Manuel Contreras who, among other heinous acts, assassinated Chilean Foreign Affairs Minister Orlando Letelier with a remote detonated car bomb in Washington DC's stately Embassy Row (Terrorist Incident) in 1976 and kidnapped activist Miguel Angel Sandoval in 1975 (Terrorist Incident forthcoming). Contreras created the DINA upon Pinochet's behest after a failed coup in 1973. By the time he was removed from his position in 1977, he had been responsible for hundreds – if not thousands – of cases of abduction, torture, and execution. Another of the agents is Marcelo Moren Brito, who was the head of Villa Grimaldi and was also involved in Sandoval's disappearance. According to Solis, these agents "knowingly and on the orders of the director of (DINA), Juan Manuel Contreras, … captured and ordered the capture of militants or those affiliated to political parties, weakening them with physical torture of different kinds, with the objective of making them hand over information on other leftists so they could be captured." Those who were held at Grimaldi, "were kept tied up at all times, with sub-standard hygiene conditions and little food," he said. Further, captives were placed in "the Tower" (a 2 meter by 70 cm by 70 cm box), "Chile houses" (dresser-sized boxes for solitary confinement), and "Corvi houses" (small wooden boxes). While the case is seemingly air-tight, the 1978 Chilean Amnesty Law, which was created by Pinochet's coterie to clear human rights violators, could free these deplorable men, as it has five other DINA agents who were accused of kidnapping Diana Aron (Terrorist Incident forthcoming) in 1973. According to La Tercera, Villa Grimaldi, modeled on the Nazi death camps, was the death of some 4,500 insurgent dissidents.

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