Read
Why It Happened!
Dime's
Worth of Difference:
Beyond the
Lesser of Two Evils
Order Here!
Today's
Stories
December
2, 2004
Saul
Landau
The Assassination of Danilo Anderson
December
1, 2004
Phillip
Cryan
Associated with Whom? Rightist Bias
in Wire Coverage of Colombia
Dave
Zirin
What's the Matter with "Leon"?:
Budweiser's Racist Commercial
Ghali
Hassan
Iraq's Health Care Under the Occupation:
200 Children Die Every Day
Donna
J. Volatile
Beware Western Nations Threatening "Democracy"
Patrick
Cockburn
How Saddam Tried to Arm the Insurgency
Nick
Meo
Chemical War Over Afghanistan
Mike
Ferner
The Battle of Toledo
Mokhiber
/ Weissman
Shame and Determination on Global AIDS Day: 40 Million and Rising
Kathy
Kelly
Looking the Other Way: the Real Crimes
of the UN in Iraq
November
30, 2004
Jennifer
Van Bergen
The Veil of Secrecy
Toni
Nelson Herrera
Meeting Kurtz: When Art is a Crime
Paul
Craig Roberts
The Bush Delusions: Successful at Incompetence
Patrick
Cockburn
The Insurgency Strikes Back: There Are No Safe Havens in Iraq
Chuck
Munson
WTO Protests Five Years Later: Seattle Weekly Trashes Anti-Globalization
Movement
Adam
Williams
Citizenship Sold: Back to Business in Indiana
Gregory
Elich
A Dangerous Turn in the US Plans for
North Korea
Website
of the Day
Read Lynne Cheney's Lesbian Novel Online!
November
29, 2004
Dave
Lindorff
Blowback in Ukraine: The Hand of
the CIA?
Omar
Barghouti
"The Pianist" of Palestine:
Roadblock Concerto at Gunpoint
Mike
Whitney
The US Media and Fallujah: How to
Market a Siege
Uri
Avnery
The Abu Mazen Style: "Give Me
Some Credit!"
Matt
Vidal
Globalization and Economic Inequality: a Look at the Numbers
Patrick
Cockburn
An Interview with Iraq's Foreign
Minister
Alan
Farago
Sex Change and Salvation: God, Girly Men and Endocrine Disrupters
Justin
Huggler
Bhopal 20 Years Later
Antony
Loewenstein
How Australia Reported Arafat's Death and Legacy
Gary
Leupp
Ukraine: Poll Results Aren't the Real
Issue
Website
of the Day
Mosul: Images from a Kill Zone
November
27 / 28, 2004
Peter
Linebaugh
Torture & Neo-Liberalism with
Sycorax in Iraq
Alexander
Cockburn
What Happened to O'Reilly's Loofa?
Fred
Gardner
Ashcroft v. Raich: Medical Marijuana and the Supreme Court
Kathy
Kelly
What We Can Control
Diane
Christian
The Other Cheek: "Empire Doesn't Analyze, It Acts"
Gary
Leupp
One More Neocon Target: South (Yes, South) Korea
Lenni
Brenner
Equality and Rights of Return: Jefferson Instructs the New York
Times
Ron
Jacobs
Death Squads and Iraq's Elections: the Mysterious Murders of
the AMS Clerics
Joshua
Frank
An Interview with Kevin Zeese on Nader, Kerry and the ABB Crowd
Toni
Solo
The Murder of Danilo Anderson
Saul
Landau
Fallujah, the 21st Century Guernica
JoAnn
Wypijewski
Matthew Shepard Case 6 Years Later: Why Hate Crimes Laws are
No Cure for Homophobia
Justin
Taylor
Empire's Lawless Opportunities
Amos
Harel
The Case of Captain R.
Walter
A. Davis
Tabloid Justice
Stephen
Hendricks
God's Kind of Men
Poets'
Basement
Albert, LaMorticella and Ford
November
26, 2004
Peter
Feng
Gavin Newsom: Man or Machine?
Greg
Moses
It's the White Vote, Stupid
Liaquat
Ali Khan
The Devil's Work: Bush's Minority Appointments
Michael
Mandel / Gail Davidson
Why Bush Should Be Banned from Canada: a Memo to the Ministry
of Immigration
Dave
Lindorff
Nation of Sheep, Turkey of an Election: Urkrainians Show the
Way
Gary
Corseri
When Black Friday Comes...
Paul
Craig Roberts
Whatever Happened to Conservatives?
Website
of the Day
Iraq Pipeline Watch
November
25, 2004
Willliam
Loren Katz
Giving Thanks to Whom?: "Thanks
to God We Sent 600 Heathen Souls to Hell Today"
Mitchel
Cohen
Why I Hate Thanksgiving
Mike
Ferner
An Uncommon Mom
November
24, 2004
Gila
Svirsky
License to Kill: the Example of Violence
is Set by the State
Winslow
T. Wheeler
The
Other Mess in Congress
Christopher
Brauchli
The Company He Keeps: the Syndicate of Tom Delay
Dave
Lindorff
Double Standards on Exit Polls: Hypocrisy Sans Irony
Ron
Jacobs
The Occupation of Iraq is the Root of t he Problem
Ken
Sengupta
Witnesses: War Crimes in Fallujah
Diana
Barahona
The Final Holocaust or Why I Voted for Ralph Nader
John
L. Hess
Safire the Shameless
Jason
Leopold
Did Harvard Hire (Another) War Criminal?
Jeffrey
St. Clair
The Mark of McCain: the Senator Most Likely to Start a Nuclear
War
Map
of the Day
Now and Then: 2004 v. 1860
November
23, 2004
Forrest
Hylton
Bush and Uribe at the Beach
November
22, 2004
Dave
Zirin
Fight Night in the NBA: Selective Outrage
in Detroit
Paul
Craig Roberts
On to Iran: We Won't Get Fooled Again?
Michael
Mandel / Gail Davidson
Why Bush Should be Banned from Canada
Kathie
Helmkamp
Our Son: a Marine Who Won't Kill
Ken
Sengupta
The Triangle of Death: "This is Now the Most Dangerous Place
in Iraq"
Mike
Whitney
Greenspan's Hammer
Roger
Burbach
Why They Hate Bush in Chile
Website
of the Day
Fed Up with Government Lies and Corporate Spin?
November
20 / 21, 2004
Alexander
Cockburn
The Poisoned Chalice
Todd
May
Religion, the Election and the Politics of Fear
Abbas
Ahmed Ibrahim
The Horrors of Fallujah: a First-Hand Account
Kevin
Zeese
Mishandling Nader
Landau
/ Hassen
After Arafat
Tom
Barry
The Vulcans Consolidate Power: The Rise of Stephen Hadley
Fred
Gardner
Pot Shots: Ask Dr. Todd
Justin
E.H. Smith
Triumph of the Will: the Sequel
Carl
Estabrook
Where We Are Now
Gary
Leupp
Imperial History-Making vs. Reality-Based Thought: a Dialogue
Dave
Lindorff
Apocalypse Soon
Jenna
Michelle Liut
Plans Colombia and Patriota: Wanton Wastes of Money, Manpower
and Lives
Mickey
Z.
The Granma Moses of Radical Writing: an Interview with William
Blum
Greg
Moses
The Same Old Struggle Against Imperial America
Sharon
Smith
Abortion Rights and the Election: What Now?
Ron
Jacobs
Sandwiches and Car Bombs
Ben
Tripp
Raising d'Etre: Finding Money in Hollywood These Days
Richard
Oxman
Basketbrawl Two Pointer: Iraq Rules!
Gilad
Atzmon
Politics and Jazz
Poets'
Basement
LaMorticella, Albert, Ford, & Anon.
Website
of the Day
Voice of the Forest
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante
Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click
Here for More Stories.
|
December 2, 2004
No Justice
in Chile
I'm
a Torture Survivor in a Country Where Torturers Still Run Free
By
TITO TRICOT
No one can really understand what being
tortured means until that fateful moment when you find yourself
naked, blindfolded and tied up at the mercy of your captors.
Your entire life is confined to that fragile moment when darkness
becomes your enemy; yet at the same time the dark is your only
ally, a refuge from madness. There is neither past nor future,
only the present of screams, fury and impotence when you find
yourself defenceless at the mercy of the torturer's rage and
coldness. You never know when he is going to hit, shout, kick,
hang, electrocute or kill you. You wait in darkness, disoriented,
trying to guess where the next blow will come from, your heart
escaping through your dry mouth hoping that your bones will resist
the incessant pounding. You just try to stay alive, breathe madly
after every electric shock, because you scream so much and so
loudly that you feel that even the earth's entire air supply
will not be enough for you. But you keep on screaming amidst
an explosion of a thousand colours that burn your flesh and shake
you body. You can't control electricity, you can't tame electricity,
but amidst the bewildering storm of sparks and death rattles
you can dream of green unicorns and the first time you made love
right by the sea. Then it becomes somewhat easier to dream of
the day when no human being would ever torture another human
being just because he thinks differently.
Unfortunately today, 30 years later, I'm not sure this will never
happen again in my homeland. Because, although for the first
time in three decades it has been officially recognized that
thousands of Chileans were tortured by the military dictatorship,
not a word has been said about bringing those torturers to justice.
So, what will prevent them from doing it again?
After a year's work, a special
commission set up by the Chilean government, after pressure from
human rights organizations, issued a report about Torture and
Political Prison in Chile during the dictatorship that ruled
the country between 1973 and 1990. The truth is that it was an
open secret that at least 300 thousand Chileans had been detained
and tortured during that period, the report only makes official
such a reality, although only 35 thousand people came forward
to testify before the commission. Many of those who did not testify
are still afraid of their memories or simply did not believe
in the commission's work.
The names of thirty-five thousand people tortured have been consigned
in the report, but not a single name of any of the torturers
is included. We know their names; we know the places where they
tortured; we know which branch of the armed forces they belong
to--therefore, there is no valid reason whatsoever to withhold
their names. It is an offence to the victims of the repression,
to all those defenceless men and women, to the 90 children who
were tortured, to those who died under torture and to those of
us who survived, to keep silent while the torturers laugh while
they read the report. Because there is no doubt that they enjoyed
what they did, they rejoiced at human suffering, they enjoyed
beating people up, frightening people, executing people. No one
told me this, I was there, I know they loved crushing bones and
raping women of all ages. They loved the power they held over
other human beings for 17 years.
The horror of the torture chamber will never go away, the military
did not only torture individuals, but also the very soul of our
nation. They did not only torture somebody for a few hours or
a few days, they destroyed their life forever. It was a crime
against mankind and those responsible for this crime must be
brought to justice, anything else simply amounts to impunity.
It is not enough for the military to admit for the first time
that they did indeed torture, because we already knew that. It
is not enough either for them to express their sorrow for what
happened or ask for forgiveness - which they have never done
for the only acceptable path is for justice to be done.
Each and every one of those who tortured must be tried and sentenced
to prison.
The government has stated that they value the army's courage
for admitting that torture constituted an institutional practice.
How can it be courageous to admit the obvious after 30 years
of lies? It is shameful on the part of president Ricardo Lagos
to issue such a statement. It is also shameful that the government
has proposed to compensate torture victims with a life pension
of merely 180 dollars a month. Pain cannot be measured in monetary
terms, however, the meagre figure offends rather than compensates
for 30 years of suffering. It is even more offensive for the
minister for finance to point out that these pensions will cost
the government 60 million dollars a year and this will imply
"painful budget readjustments". Or, as the president
did, to state that with this amount of resources in 10 years
the government could build a brand new highway. So, not only
were we tortured, but we are made to feel guilty of the fact
that we will receive money depriving our countrymen of a new
highway!
Why not compare these 60 million dollars a year with the military
budget? The Navy is acquiring 5 new warships from Holland; the
Air Force is getting new F-16 from the United States. Are these
war machines more important than helping torture victims whose
lives were destroyed by the same people that will use them?
The fact is that the report loses a substantial and fundamental
part of its historical validity if it reduces compensation to
financial help, even if the announced pensions are eventually
raised by parliament. The only true and acceptable compensation
for torture victims is justice.
Tito Tricot is a Sociologist and Director of Center For
Intercultural Studies (ILWEN) in Santiago, Chile. He can be reached
at: tricot@ilwen.cl
Weekend Edition
Features for November
27 / 28, 2004
Peter
Linebaugh
Torture & Neo-Liberalism with
Sycorax in Iraq
Alexander
Cockburn
What Happened to O'Reilly's Loofa?
Fred
Gardner
Ashcroft v. Raich: Medical Marijuana and the Supreme Court
Kathy
Kelly
What We Can Control
Diane
Christian
The Other Cheek: "Empire Doesn't Analyze, It Acts"
Gary
Leupp
One More Neocon Target: South (Yes, South) Korea
Lenni
Brenner
Equality and Rights of Return: Jefferson Instructs the New York
Times
Ron
Jacobs
Death Squads and Iraq's Elections: the Mysterious Murders of
the AMS Clerics
Joshua
Frank
An Interview with Kevin Zeese on Nader, Kerry and the ABB Crowd
Toni
Solo
The Murder of Danilo Anderson
Saul
Landau
Fallujah, the 21st Century Guernica
JoAnn
Wypijewski
Matthew Shepard Case 6 Years Later: Why Hate Crimes Laws are
No Cure for Homophobia
Justin
Taylor
Empire's Lawless Opportunities
Amos
Harel
The Case of Captain R.
Walter
A. Davis
Tabloid Justice
Stephen
Hendricks
God's Kind of Men
Poets'
Basement
Albert, LaMorticella and Ford
|