Chile: Cover-ups of Human Rights Violations Denounced

Santiago, Chile, Jan 16. -Representatives of human rights denounced cover-ups of crimes against humankind during the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990).The president of the Association of Relatives of Victims of Political Executed, Alicia Lira referred to the case known as "the 19 executed in Lara", occurred in the Bio Bio region on September 18, 1973, five days after the cup against the Salvador Allende government (1970-1973).

Lira's statements came after last week's revelations about the massacre by the Center for Investigative Reporting (Ciper Chile).

The Laja victims were employees of Compañia Manufacturera de Papeles y Cartones, which, according to unpublished information, was linked to crime by providing employees' names who were killed later, as well as providing transport and alcohol to its victimizers.

The investigation reported by Ciper Chile reveals that the police tortured the 19 employees of the factory, along with two teachers and three high-school students, and then shot them all in the back in the woods, after forcing them to dig a trench where they were buried.

Despite of their relatives' harrowing search, what happened that day was unknown until August 2011, when a Chilean judge ordered the arrest of 14 alleged perpetrators of the collective crime.

Ciper Chile informed that although nine police officers were charged with homicide and covering-up on August 2011, all perpetrators were released after paying bail.

In this regard, human rights lawyers Roberto Celedon and Hector Salazar recalled on Saturday that crimes against humankind do not prescribe and those criminals cannot be pardoned. (Prensa Latina)