|
Declaration of the Chilean community of Toronto regarding death of former dictator Augusto Pinochet
Former brutal dictator of Chile Augusto Pinochet Ugarte died Sunday December 10, 2006 in Chile; he died before the numerous legal processes related to his human rights abuses, fraud and theft during his brutal regime could come to final conclusions, as a result justice was not served for his victims. On the occasion of Pinochet’s death the members of the Chilean community residing in Toronto would like to state the following:
We represent some of the Chileans who were persecuted, jailed or tortured in Pinochet’s concentration camps or who had members of our families killed or made disappeared by Pinochet. Some of us were forced to leave Chile for just sharing the dream of the democratically elected president Salvador Allende of building a better society and were persecuted by Pinochet and forced to live in exile.
We have asked and continue asking for true and justice.
The sinister and brutal dictatorship of Pinochet has been denounced by democratic governments around the world: Sweden, Spain, France, England, the US, Italy, Argentina and Canada to cite a few. All these countries cite Pinochet’s violations of human rights- nationally and internationally-as determined by the Human Rights United Nations Convention and the brutal persecution and systematic killing of more than three thousand Chileans and hundreds of citizens of other countries.
Pinochet’s disregard for life was clearly demonstrated with his allowing the impunity for the assassins of Rene Schneider and for planning of the killing of Carlos Prats and his wife, both constitution abiding generals who led the Chilean Armed Forces prior to the coup. Pinochet's henchmen later planned an attempt to kill Christian Democrat former Senator Bernardo Leighton and his wife in Italy and planned the assassination of Orlando Letelier - a former diplomat during Salvador Allende’s government, in the US.
Pinochet will not only be known as a brutal dictator but also as a thief: The international banking system investigated and reported secret bank accounts in the US, Europe and the Caribbean totaling over one hundred million dollars. These fraudulent funds were accumulated by Pinochet during his dictatorship.
The death of Augusto Pinochet brings to our minds the names and the faces of his victims, the thousands of men, women and even children he ordered to be killed , for them and their families, Pinochet’s death means that they will never see justice served.
We pay tribute to the disappeared, the tortured, the jailed during Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship we pay tribute to their contribution in helping to open the wide alamedas to give way to the freed men and women helping to build a better world for all - now and for the future generations.
Signed by
Coalition of Chilean Organizations of Toronto
Contact person: Patricio Bascuñán
(416-894-8171 or 416-653-9006)
| 
