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MEMORY POLITICS AND TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE
Series Editors
Jasna Dragovic-Soso
Goldsmiths University of London
London, UK
Jelena Subotic
Georgia State University
Atlanta, GA, USA
Tsveta Petrova
Columbia University
New York, NY, USA
The interdisciplinary fields of Memory Studies and Transitional Justice have largely
developed in parallel to one another despite both focusing on efforts of societies
to confront and (re—)appropriate their past. While scholars working on memory
have come mostly from historical, literary, sociological, or anthropological tradi-
tions, transitional justice has attracted primarily scholarship from political science
and the law. This series bridges this divide: it promotes work that combines a deep
understanding of the contexts that have allowed for injustice to occur with an
analysis of how legacies of such injustice in political and historical memory influ-
ence contemporary projects of redress, acknowledgment, or new cycles of denial.
The titles in the series are of interest not only to academics and students but also
practitioners in the related fields.
The Memory Politics and Transitional Justice series promotes critical dialogue
among different theoretical and methodological approaches and among scholar-
ship on different regions. The editors welcome submissions from a variety of dis-
ciplines—including political science, history, sociology, anthropology, and cultural
studies—that confront critical questions at the intersection of memory politics and
transitional justice in national, comparative, and global perspective.
This series is indexed in Scopus.
Memory Politics and Transitional Justice Book Series (Palgrave)
Co-editors: Jasna Dragovic-Soso (Goldsmiths, University of London), Jelena
Subotic (Georgia State University), Tsveta Petrova (Columbia University)
Editorial Board:
Paige Arthur, New York University Center on International Cooperation
Alejandro Baer, University of Minnesota
Orli Fridman, Singidunum University Belgrade
Carol Gluck, Columbia University
Katherine Hite, Vassar College
Alexander Karn, Colgate University
Jan Kubik, Rutgers University and School of Slavonic and East European Studies,
University College London
Bronwyn Leebaw, University of California, Riverside
Jan-Werner Mueller, Princeton University
Jeffrey Olick, University of Virginia
Kathy Powers, University of New Mexico
Joanna R. Quinn, Western University
Jeremy Sarkin, University of South Africa
Leslie Vinjamuri, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
Sarah Wagner, George Washington University
Human Rights
and Transitional
Justice in Chile
Hugo Rojas Miriam Shaftoe
Alberto Hurtado University University of Ottawa
Santiago, Chile Ottawa, ON, Canada
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2022
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,
electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the pub-
lisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the
material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The
publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institu-
tional affiliations.
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface
v
vi PREFACE
imposed under Pinochet and this has resulted in the privatization of social
services like healthcare and education. This has generated significant
inequality and economic precarity for many Chileans. Since the return to
democracy, the governing elites have failed to respond to citizens’ demands
to reform the economic model and replace the Constitution. The growing
sense of injustice, frustration, and political disillusionment within the pop-
ulation ultimately reached a boiling point when citizens took to the streets
on 2019.
However, these recent events have also highlighted some of the prog-
ress that has been made over the years to create sustainable systems of
human rights protection. Chilean civil society activists and human rights
experts reacted swiftly during the crisis to prevent human rights violations
from continuing and to demand accountability. The National Institute of
Human Rights (INDH), an independent state-funded institution, has
become a powerful human rights observer, promoter, and defender.
Protesters were able to register and report state violence much more rap-
idly than in the past, and many of the abuses committed during the recent
unrest are currently being investigated by the INDH, prosecutors, and
courts. As of July 2020, the INDH had filed 2066 criminal complaints in
the context of the social crisis, 77.5% of which correspond to acts of tor-
ture and inhuman or degrading treatment. Meanwhile, the government
has filed legal actions against 3274 civilians in relation to the protests, for
crimes such as public disorder (18.6%), fires (4.9%), and attacks on mem-
bers of the police and armed forces (3.6%) (Weibel, 2020).
The concept of Never Again is taking on renewed force in Chile while
new generations of human rights advocates recognize that accounts with
the past have not been fully settled. The recent social insurrection and
violence revealed to Chileans the fragility of their institutions, and the
sustained protest movement has provided an opportunity to finally address
some of the dictatorship’s lasting institutional legacies and renew the
social contract. As an escape valve against social pressure, on October 25,
2020, a plebiscite took place in which Chileans voted in favor of the cre-
ation of a new Constitution, to be developed through a constituent assem-
bly whose members were elected in May 2021. This dynamic political
context provides an important occasion to reflect on the lessons the
Chilean experience of transitional justice offers about the process of tran-
sitioning from a violent dictatorship toward a fully realized democracy.
Thirty years after the return to democracy, this book seeks to look back
and offer a comprehensive overview of the achievements and challenges of
PREFACE vii
References
Matus, J. (2020, July 18). Fiscalía cifra en 8.827 las víctimas de violencia institu-
cional en la crisis. La Tercera, p. 19.
Weibel, M. (2020, July 15). Balance penal del estallido: Fiscalía investiga a 466
agentes del Estado y gobierno acusa a 3.274 personas de cometer actos violen-
tos. Ciper Chile, available at https://ciperchile.cl/2020/07/15/balance-
penal-del-estallido-fiscalia-investiga-a-466-agentes-del-estado-y-gobierno-
acusa-a-3-274-personas-de-cometer-actos-violentos/?fbclid=IwAR0w8pMGZ
p3F7AMPtTPdnBli1TPnnj0uQ4sWuE3sQDZ20XPHC3NzAT8sxAI
Acknowledgments
During the second semester of 2019, while discussing the previous drafts
of the different chapters of this book on how Chilean society had been
confronting the gross and systematic human rights violations committed
during Pinochet’s dictatorship, we were witness to Chile reliving an expe-
rience of state violence it had thought had been overcome. Our reflections
about how the past is understood in the present were transformed. Our
focus moved to what was happening in an extremely violent present and
its undeniable links to the issues we had been discussing.
Conversations with our colleagues and friends have been deeply mean-
ingful to the beginning of this book, and its pages reflect that it has been
the result of a collaborative, interdisciplinary, and transnational effort. We
particularly appreciate the contributions of Alan Angell, Macarena
Bonhomme, Silvia Borzutzky, Simón Escoffier, María Angélica Garrido,
Elizabeth Lira, Brian Loveman, Tomás Pascual, and Leigh A. Payne. We
also thank Christine Cervenak, Denis Galligan, Solimar García, Pumla
Gobodo-Madikizela, Valentina Infante, Jeff Kelly Lowenstein, María
Belén Lagos, Mariana Lagos, Elena Maffioletti, Soledad Matus, Juan René
Maureira, Florencia Olivares, Darío Páez, and Camila Villegas for the sug-
gestions they made to the previous drafts.
We take this opportunity to thank the Millennium Institute on Violence
and Democracy for funding this work (ANID, Millennium Science
Initiative, ICS2019_025). We are also thankful of the stimulating discus-
sions with academics and researchers of the Catholic University of Chile,
ix
x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
“Hugo Rojas and Miriam Shaftoe’s analysis of the human rights abuses of the
Pinochet dictatorship and the transitional justice policies that have been imple-
mented in Chile, in the past thirty years, sheds light on both the successes and
failures of these policies and their implications for Chilean politics and society. By
connecting the evolution of human rights to the power of Chile’s multiple political
actors, the authors are able to provide an in-depth and detailed analysis of both the
policies and the forces behind those policies. This book is essential to understand
not only the human rights abuses of the Pinochet dictatorship and the policies that
followed, but also the difficulties in achieving any substantial policy changes and
success in a divided society.”
—Silvia Borzutzky, Professor of Political Science at Carnegie Mellon University
Contents
xv
xvi Contents
Final Remarks175
Bibliography183
Index203
About the Authors
xvii
Abbreviations
xix
xx ABBREVIATIONS
xxi
CHAPTER 1
While societies have long grappled with how to navigate political transi-
tions and recover from atrocities, the study of this topic as we know it
today began to consolidate into an interdisciplinary field of academic study
under the umbrella of “transitional justice” in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Chile was among the Latin American, African, and post-Soviet bloc coun-
tries whose experiences navigating massive human rights violations and
political transitions from violent authoritarian regimes at the end of the
Cold War shaped the field of transitional justice (Teitel, 2003; Kritz,
1995). Dealing with the atrocities committed during the Pinochet dicta-
torship has been a long and contested process in Chile. As we will detail
throughout this book, numerous transitional justice measures have been
implemented in Chile, including significant achievements such as two sep-
arate truth commissions, a wide-ranging reparations program, the estab-
lishment of numerous sites of memory, persecution of perpetrators
through the erosion of blanket amnesties, and the establishment of new
human rights institutions. Yet the Chilean experience of transitional jus-
tice has also been marked by exclusions, and sometimes reversals in its
course. Progress has been propelled by contestations and innovations
from diverse local, national, and international actors, and human rights
issues left unaddressed have periodically resurfaced with intensity. Due to
this long, complex trajectory, the Chilean case is one of the most debated
and discussed in transitional justice literature.
I n a brief time the confusion spread over the entire assembly. Ned
ran to his friend and the players of both teams swarmed upon the
field. Even the spectators shared in the prevailing excitement and
were standing looking interestedly at the group which by this time
had surrounded Dan.
Among the first to reach his side was Gus Kiggins. “Honestly, Dan,
I didn’t mean to do it,” he said excitedly. “I thought you saw me! I’m
sorry! I’m——”
“Get away, will you!” broke in Ned savagely. Thrusting aside the
player who had been the cause of the trouble, Ned examined the
arm which already was showing the effect of the blow. “Does it hurt
much, Dan?” he inquired anxiously.
The young pitcher smiled faintly and did not reply, though the
paleness of his face fully answered his friend’s query.
“Let me rub it,” suggested Hodge.
“Get some water—hot water,” added Smith, every boy being
anxious to do something for the relief of Dan.
“Can you go on with the game?” asked Ned.
“I’ll try,” answered Dan by an effort. “Let me see if I can throw.”
Taking the ball from the umpire’s hand Dan swung his arm, but
quickly dropped the ball. “No use,” he said slowly. “My arm won’t
work.”
The members of the nine glanced helplessly at one another and
then glared at Gus, the source of all the trouble.
“I told you I didn’t mean to do it,” Gus growled. “I thought he saw
me. We were all passing the ball——”
“Gus, do you think a dose of ipecac would help him?” said Ned in
a low voice to his first-baseman. There was almost a glitter in the
eyes of the young captain, he was so angry. Nor did his feeling find
relief when Gus Kiggins growled, “What’s the matter with you?” But
he did not reply to the question.
The delay continued five minutes and then the game was resumed
with Gus taking Dan’s place in the pitcher’s box, Walter going to
short-stop, and Sam Ventnor playing first base. Dan, who was taken
to the dressing-room to receive the attention of a physician, who was
found among the spectators, in a brief time returned to the field and
seated himself on the players’ bench, there to watch the game in
which he was to have no further part. The glances of sympathy
which were given him as he had walked in front of the grand stand
on his way to the bench had not soothed his feelings and to the three
substitute players who were sitting beside him he barely spoke in
reply to their anxious questions.
“Does your arm hurt?” asked Snell, the first substitute.
“That’s a fine question,” answered Dan somewhat tartly. “What did
you think? Would it make my pitching arm feel good to hit it with a
ball?”
“Of course. I understand,” said Snell lamely. “All I meant was to
find out if you thought you’d get in the game again.”
“Not this game. What’s the score? How is it going?”
“The Military Academy fellows made a run last inning.”
“This is the fifth inning.”
“No. It’s the sixth.”
“How is Gus doing?”
“Pretty well. They’re hitting him some, though. There! Look at that,
will you!” Snell added abruptly. “A three-bagger!”
At the moment a shout that came almost with the sharpness of the
report of a gun arose from the seats occupied by the friends of the
academy nine. Two men were on bases when their heaviest hitter
came to bat and when his long hit was made the two players before
him raced home with their tallies.
“Dan, you’ll have to go back to the pitcher’s box!” exclaimed Snell
as the cheering of the opposing section was renewed when the
runner on third came in with the third run of the inning, after the
batter had sent a long fly to left field which Smith captured.
“I wish I could,” said Dan quietly.
“You must. That makes the score four to two. We can’t stand that.
They’re hammering Gus! They’ll drive him out of the box.”
“That doesn’t look as if they would,” suggested Dan as the next
player struck out.
“Three in one inning,” muttered Snell hopelessly.
“The game is young.”
“If it is that bad when it’s young, what will it be when it is older?”
“Better for us, I hope.”
The school players came toward the bench, every one looking
anxiously at Dan and eagerly inquiring concerning his hurt. The
glances of anger at Gus when it became manifest that Dan was out
of the present game were frequent and unmistakable. The substitute
pitcher, however, apparently was giving slight heed to the looks of
his comrades. His face was streaming with perspiration, while his
jaws were working as if every second of time had its special value.
Between Gus and the other members of the nine sat Walter, his
face still betraying the sickness he had suffered and his bearing
showing that he was far from feeling at ease at the moment. He
glanced repeatedly at Dan, who was the center of a group, but he
did not speak.
“Brace up, fellows!” said Ned anxiously as he faced his fellow
players. “Now is the time to show the stuff you’re made of! We
mustn’t let a little thing like a lead of three runs scare us. Do your
best!”
The encouraging words of the young captain did not avail,
however. The lanky Ingersoll seemed to have acquired an additional
power in his wirelike arms and his body went through contortions
that made his earlier efforts appear like child’s play. Walter struck
out. Sam Ventnor sent a little fly to the first-baseman. Gus Kiggins
indeed made a hit, but it counted for nothing, as the batter that
followed him was easily thrown out at first.
The Military Academy nine, however, did no better when their turn
to bat came and neither of the following innings was productive of a
run for either side.
“We’ve just got to do something now,” said Ned desperately as he
turned to his companions a moment before he advanced to the plate
to begin the Tait School’s half of the eighth inning.
“Set us a good example, Neddie boy,” said Hodge encouragingly.
Ned’s face was grim with determination as he faced the opposing
pitcher. He was deliberate and cool and waited until two strikes and
two balls had been called before he attempted to strike. Then hitting
savagely, he sent the ball on a low line far into center field.
It was now the turn of the Tait School to express its feelings in a
long shout. The wild cries redoubled as Ned gained third and then
with a burst of speed turned and raced for the home-plate. The ball
was fielded well and now was in the hands of the second-baseman,
but the nerve-racking strain was too great. In his attempt to throw
quickly the ball went far over the head of the catcher and Ned was
safe.
“Five to three! Five to three! Five to three!” came as a monotonous
chant from the seats of the academy contingent. The cry could be
heard above the wild shouts of the Tait School supporters, who still
were shouting wildly over the hit and the run of their captain.
“Remember the example Ned set,” said Smith as Hodge stepped
forward with his bat. “Keep it up, you midget!”
The spectators were silent once more as all excitedly watched the
batter. The powerful Hodge made a lunge at the first ball pitched and
sent it just over the head of the third-baseman.
“A hit!” “You’ve got them on the run now!” “Keep it up! Keep it up!”
were the rejoicing calls that greeted Gus as his turn to bat came.
This time the young giant for some reason was more responsive to
his orders and instead of exerting all his strength he did his utmost to
make a sacrifice hit, but the ball rolled to second base, was hastily
seized by the baseman, who touched his base, and then hurled the
ball to first just in time to catch Gus.
“Double play!” “Two down!” “This fellow is easy!” roared some of
the enthusiasts in the academy section. “Strike him out!” “Don’t let
him hit it!” “Careful!” “Careful!” were among the encouraging words
shouted to the tall pitcher.
Apparently Ingersoll responded to the appeal, for he struck out the
next player and the side was out.
As all were aware that the incoming inning was the last for each
nine, the excitement became more intense. When the Military
Academy nine made a run the delight of their supporters became still
greater, and though the confidence of the academy contingent was
strong, nevertheless they were all anxious when the Tait School
hitters came to bat for what was likely to be the last time in the
game.
Every player was cautious now and if in his anxiety he did not
become overanxious the score was not likely to be changed. Ned
was slapping his players on the back and urging everyone to do his
utmost. The last opportunity to score ought not to be lost.
“Up in the air!” shouted Smith, who was on the coaching line near
first base when Walter, the first player to face Ingersoll, was given his
base on balls. In his delight Smith leaned over and pulled grass with
each hand as he continued his wild shouts.
The academy, however, responded vociferously when the next
man struck out, and their shouts were prolonged and wilder when
the following batter sent up a fly which was caught by the nimble
player in right field.
“All over but the shouting!” called one hilarious supporter of the
academy.
“Is it?” called Smith derisively, as the runner he was coaching
started swiftly for second base, and out of the cloud of dust that was
stirred up as he threw himself forward the decision “safe” was heard.
To the delight of the nine Walter boldly started, at the first ball
pitched, for third base, and when it was seen that his steal had been
successful the shouts and calls redoubled. A hit now would mean
another run, and if the batter gained his base another run which
would tie the score was not impossible. The wild calls died away a
brief moment and then burst forth in redoubled power when the
batter drove a sharp grounder between first and second and Walter
made “home” with another run. The brief rejoicing hushed when Ned
lifted a high fly into left field. The fielder first ran back, then turned
and raced forward, and then stopped, awaiting the coming of the
ball. A deathlike silence fell over the field and benches alike. Every
face was turned toward the young fielder. Gus ran forward from the
bench and crouched low as he watched the ball. Apparently it
seemed to be falling slowly. The fielder stood motionless. Suddenly
he put up his hands and caught it. The nine of the Military Academy
had won the first game of the interschool series by a score of five to
four.
A noisy cheer greeted the catch and then in comparative silence
the assembled spectators began to move from the seats toward the
waiting automobiles and carriages. The crowd halted a moment to
listen to the cheers which the victorious nine gave as they
assembled and then to the cheers of the Tait School nine.
The latter stood close together, every player resting his hands on
the shoulders of a teammate. The cheer rose with a great volume of
sound, but in it there was to be detected something of the
disappointment everyone felt. The game had been well played, but
defeat was still defeat.
“Too bad, Ned,” said Dan as his friend walked beside him. “We’ll
try to do better next time. It’s early in the season yet, you know.”
“How is your arm?” asked Ned abruptly.
“Sore.”
“That’s the way we all feel,” snapped Ned. “If you had kept on we’d
have won the game.”
“That’s something no man knows.”
“It’s what everybody here knows!”
“Never mind. Perhaps being beaten in the first game will make us
all the better for the series. Isn’t the Military Academy nine about the
strongest in the league?”
“It isn’t so strong as ours when you pitch. What do you think, Dan;
did Gus do that on purpose?”
“He says he didn’t.”
“No one believes him.”
Dan did not reply and at that moment Carlton Hall came running to
the side of the young pitcher. “O Dan!” he exclaimed. “Wasn’t it too
bad? Didn’t you see Gus Kiggins when he threw that ball?”
“It wouldn’t have hit me if I had.”
“Some of the fellows say he did it on purpose just the same as he
tried to get you out of the game by making you sick beforehand.”
“Who says so?” demanded Dan sharply. “You mustn’t listen——”
Dan stopped abruptly as Walter and Gus at that moment joined
the three boys. Had Carlton’s words been heard? Dan was unable to
determine from the expression on the face of the player who had
taken his place in the pitcher’s box. Even the thought, however, was
forgotten in the words which Gus spoke.
CHAPTER XXIX
THE ANGER OF THE NINE