Chileans Condemn Impunity for Human Rights Violators

Santiago de Chile, May 4. -Political groups, jurists, and human rights organizations reacted with outrage to the light sentences given to Chilean former soldiers accused of crimes against humanity.

Communist Party chairman Guillermo Teillier said he was outraged about the Tuesday ruling of the Santiago Court of Appeals to release on parole six former soldiers convicted of human rights violations during the Augusto Pinochet military regime (1973-1990).

It is inconceivable that people who committed such terrible crimes should enjoy that benefit, while the perpetrators of many cases (of murders and disappearances during the dictatorship) remain unidentified, Teillier said.

Granting parole to these criminals is an aberration, and more so when they were given such light sentences for crimes against humanity, said human rights lawyer Nelson Caucoto.

Approximately 3,000 people were killed or went missing during the Pinochet dictatorship and at least 50,000 suffered torture, imprisonment and persecution. (Prensa Latina)