Chiles Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Hamid Zayar
Chile is one of the States that have sought transitional justice by revealing the truth to achieve national reconciliation. inviting President-elect Ailwin Patricio, who followed the dictatorships rule, By presidential decree of 25 April 1990, an official commission was formed to investigate the painful past suffered by the Chilean people during Pinochis rule. and to uncover the truth awaited by the people, in particular the victims and their families, since knowledge of the truth contributes to reconciliation in order to achieve justice. The Commission was called the "Truth and Reconciliation Commission", which was mandated to investigate the historical period 1973 to 11 March 1990, in particular the disappearance, extrajudicial abuse, torture and deaths associated with such violations resulting from practices committed on political grounds.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in accordance with article III of the 335 Decree establishing this Commission, consists of eight members with different affiliations and orientations. from President Raúl Rettig Jessen, who had diplomatic responsibilities - Ambassador - under the rule of Salvador Allende and counsel, the oldest of whom, Some of them suffered exile and detention under the military rule, José Zalakit Dahir, a human rights man. s most famous experts on transitional justice, and others who have assumed different responsibilities are: Jaime Castillo Velasco, José Luis Siea Iganya, Monica Jiménez, Laura Novoa Vázquez, José Zalakit Dahir, Cardo Martin Diaz, Gonzalo Vial Correa. At the gender level, we find two women on the committee, Monica Jiménez and Laura Nova Vázquez, as opposed to six men.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was ordered to investigate more than 2,000 killings under military rule, as well as disappearances and displaced persons.

Specific objectives for the Commissions work have been identified and can be reduced to the following points:
Monitor, to the extent possible, serious violations of human rights.
Collect all evidence that will help to draw up a list of victims names, fate and whereabouts.
Recommend compensation for victims families.
Recommend that legal and administrative measures be taken to allow such violations not to be repeated in the future.
Article IV of the founding decree sets out the tasks entrusted to it.
Receive evidence submitted to it by the alleged victims, their representatives or relatives within the time limit set.
Collect and value information from Chilean and international human rights organizations, governmental or non-governmental, both on their own initiatives and upon receipt of a request within their competence.
Carry out the greatest investigation as it may determine what is appropriate for the fulfilment of its mission, including requesting reports, documents or evidence from the Government and the authorities.

To prepare a report based on evidence gathered as an expression of the Committees conclusions in conformity with the sincerity of its conscience and that of the members of the Committee.

The Committee shall automatically disassociate itself after the submission of its report to the Chairman, who shall in turn submit it to the people, and adopt the resolutions and initiatives it deems appropriate, thereby bringing the Committees task to an end.

The Committee worked for nine months and issued its report, which became famous as the first report on enforced disappearances issued by a national commission of inquiry and, although it is a key testimony on the scale of violations and a historical document, its preliminary findings have remained the subject of special reservations on the part of victims and their families. s experience, especially as the enduring pursuit of the prosecution of perpetrators continued to imprint Chilean experience, which I considered to present a partial fact and does not amount to a desire to know the circumstances of the violations with regard to the principle of compensation for victims and their families The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has proposed three types of reparations in its recommendations:
Symbolic compensation aimed at rehabilitation.
Compensation of a legal and administrative nature for the resolution of death-related cases (inheritance, on behalf of minors, children of victims).
Compensation for assistance, social rehabilitation, health care and education.
The Commission has not stood there but has continued its work to investigate violations and to develop standards of compensation for victims. This is what was mandated by the enactment of a second law establishing a national body called the "National Institution for Reparation", whose functions, according to the law of its formation, have focused on the following:
Coordination and operationalization of the recommendations of the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Locating the disappearance of abducted persons whose bodies have not been found.
Investigate cases of persons whose situations have not been resolved by the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission and thus address them.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commissions official report centred its work on two main objectives, namely, truth and reconciliation, and its work was to reach a comprehensive understanding of what had happened in that period, because it was necessary to do so to uncover the truth in order to achieve reconciliation among Chileans.

Through its general report to the Government authorities, the Committee identified 2,279 victims, divided between 2115 victims of human rights and 164 victims of political violence, 641 of the outstanding cases were registered, and 508 cases were excluded, not commensurate with the Commissions mandate. The following form shows us the final decisions approved by the Committee.

The Committee also considered that many killings could be classified as terrorist acts because of the placement of explosives in public places or indiscriminate attacks on citizens. The methods of killing were numerous and varied, including the use of unjustified force to kill, the abuse of power that could lead to death, torture leading to murder, and other situations such as attacks on citizens private lives.

There have also been many killings due to political motives or political ideas aimed at leaders of political parties, trade unions, university students, high schools and then neighbourhood organizations. All of them were members of political parties or sympathizers of Salvador Allende, who espoused socialist ideas.

A preliminary reading of the victims statement according to political affiliations shows that Pinochis dictatorial regime targeted the majority of political parties And thats a message to civil-political life that theres one force that doesnt go above it: the military establishment, A second observation can also be made that the most targeted parties are those that carry socialist ideology. This posed a threat to the dictators regime at a time when Latin America was aware of the spread of the socialist tide in the context of the bilateral conflict between the capitalist and socialist camps, a major challenge for the United States of America inside its castle. Statistics indicate that the largest number of victims has been recorded in three parties, namely, the Socialist Gazb with 450 dead, the Revolutionary Left Party with 384 dead and the Communist Party with 353 dead. There are a large number of victims of murder who have no political affiliation.

According to the family situation, 960 victims were registered without marriage by 42.1%, 1,172 married by 51.5%, 12 widows by 0.5%, and unidentified victims by 135 by 5.9%.

According to age, the report indicated that the largest age group targeted was between 21 and 40 years of age, with a total of 1,356 victims at a percentage rate of 67.4%. Even children have not been extradited from the military regimes dictatorship, with 318 victims at a percentage rate of 13.9%, in addition to religious elders over 75 years of age, and there are cases of unknown age.

In terms of victims by nationality, the Commission recorded in its report approximately 20 nationalities (20 nationalities) whose victims were killed over Chilean territory during the military dictatorship. If Chile alone recorded 2228 cases with a total of 97 .76%, the rest is distributed especially among the States of Spain, Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay, North America, Brazil, Bolivia and Venezuela...

By sex, victims were generally identified in males as 2,153% 94.5% and females as 126% 5.5%. The total number of victims as recognized by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is 2,279, and the following form shows us the victims statistics by sex.

These were the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions conclusions on the victims of grave violations of human rights in Chile from 11/09/1973 to 11/03/1990 during the absolute military rule. for study and report, with a view to uncovering the truth human spiritual cleansing of the individual and society, They constitute an element of deterrence and response to violations, and this fact can be translated through several formulas, the most important of which is testimony. The aim is to rehabilitate victims, contribute to the promotion of transitional justice and work to provide the foundations of national reconciliation for the transition to a democratic State with constitutional institutions.

However, with regard to enforced disappearances, Chile has officially recognized only 3,179 cases of enforced disappearance, including the statistics of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as well as those of the National Institution for Reparation and Reconciliation, which has recognized 123 cases of enforced disappearance and 776 cases considered to be extrajudicial executions. On compensation, the National Reparation and Reconciliation Authority called for a compensation pension in the form of a monthly grant to the victims relatives (wife, mother, children under 25 years of age or with disabilities).

Chile, along with Argentina, is one of the most successful experiences in implementing reparation programmes through comprehensive measures. Financial compensation has focused on the health-care system for survivors of torture and their families, where reparations have generously improved victims lives and addressed some of them from the effects of such violations.

Chile has invested about US 3.2 billion in compensation and has included approximately 2,253 victims of enforced disappearance and murder and 38.245 victims of political imprisonment and torture and a large number of victims of political dismissal from the civil service or public corporations. [31] Reparation is a recognition of responsibility and thus constitutes one of the transitional justice mechanisms that Chile aspires to achieve through reconciliation between the State and society.

To uphold the principle of reparations, President Ailwin Patricio promulgated Law No. 19/123, through which the assistance approved by the Foundation for Reparations and Reconciliation was defined and divided as follows:
40% of salary (215) for couples.
30% or 161 for the victims mother or father in her absence.
15 % 80 for each of the victims children up to the age of 25 or for life if they are disabled.
15% 80 to the father or mother of any of the victims children in customary marriage until the children reach the age of 25 or for life if they are disabled.

The compensation applied in the light of the report constituted acceptance and satisfaction by the components of Chilean society, but this alone is insufficient to achieve the countrys transitional justice and internal reconciliation as long as a series of files remain pending and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is not resolved and its report is thus limited.

* Researcher in public law and political science and member of the Moroccan Center for Transitional Justice