Repentance in the mantles

On September 5, members of the Chilean Association of Judges asked for forgiveness from the victims of the military junta, their relatives and the entire Chilean society for the fact that during the reign of General Pinochec did not provide citizens of judicial protection

The day of memory of the victims of the Pinochet regime. Valparaiso, Chile, September 5, 2013

Latin America is rich in stories of dictatorial regimes, hopeless executions, disappearance of people, torture in dungeons. So it was not only in Chile during the reign of General Pinochet (1973–1990) - this was the case in Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Paraguay and Uruguay. But Chile became the only country where members of the Association of Judges created in 1968 asked for forgiveness from their fellow citizens: a little more than 40 thousand people were recognized as victims of repression in Chile, 3 thousand of them were killed or died from torture, the fate of more than a thousand remains unknown: they disappeared without a trace. The murdered and without a trace disappeared most of all among those to whom the courts illegally refused judicial protection.

Assigning, the judges say that and this is the most important thing in their statement - that the judiciary did not actually correspond to its my main purpose, namely: the protection of a person from the arbitrariness of the state. And they call for repentance the Supreme Court of Chile, who in March 1975 became famous for his shameful statement by his chairman: he completely denied the application of torture and said that the petitions for judicial protection make it difficult to work and prevent them from working.

On September 11, the fortieth anniversary of the military coup is performed. In 1988, Pinochet lost a referendum on the extension of the deadline and in 1990 left the country's main office. President Patricio Eilvin, elected in the state, apologized to the victims of repressions: those who survived, receive € 180 per month as victims of the dictatorship of the dictatorship. But only in 2005, the Government of Ricardo Lagas was able to amend the Constitution adopted during the pinch, which secured democratic norms in it. After 40 years, the country is still split, there are discussions about how much the economic growth, which the country has reached in the late 1980s, justifies the fact of a military coup and the followed persecution of the left. Chile is heavily freed from the heritage of the junta. However, the Supreme Court today, in response to the appeal of the Association of Judges, replies that he has nothing to repent of, that if not for the Supreme Court, then the dictatorship of the Pinochet would be absolute, unlimited.

It seems that the precedent created by judge Chile is extremely important. For our country - in no means than for the countries of Latin America. For the awareness of the judges of the fact that they are not officials, but people endowed with the rights and power to protect fellow citizens from state violence are that Russia cannot get out of today's impasse.

Photo: Eliseo Fernandez/Reuters