MISSING IN CHILE
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BORIS WEISFEILER |
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Declassified U.S. documents tell a different story. According to an informant, Weisfeiler was detained by Augusto Pinochet's soldiers, presumed to be a Russian or Jewish spy, and taken to the mysterious German colony Colonia Dignidad. The declassified U.S. documents show that the U.S. Embassy personnel did not do enough to ascertain the fate of Weisfeiler, the only missing U.S. citizen in Chile. As consul Jayne Kobliska stated more than a year after Weisfeiler's disappearance in a memo from April 1986, "the real danger in this case is that we will delay action until it is too late to either save Weisfeiler's life or to determine the true circumstances of his death."
The investigation of the disappearance of Boris Weisfeiler in Chile was judicially reopen in January 2000 by the Chilean lawyer Hernand Fernandez who is working on the behalf of the Boris' family. On April 1, 2000, the State Department demanded that the Chilean government mount "a vigorous and thorough investigation aimed at uncovering the facts, and in accordance with Chilean law, prosecuting those responsible." In October 2000 Judge Juan Guzman, the special prosecutor in charge of bringing Augusto Pinochet to justice, assumed responsibility for the Weisfeiler investigation. The Weisfeiler case officially becomes Complaint Number 169 brought against Augusto Pinochet in Chile.
Weisfeiler's family remains dissatisfied with the slow progress in Boris' case, and continues to seek the truth and accountability about his fate, wondering if after 15 long years, he is still alive and being held captive in Chile. Below are links and texts of some of the recent publications and documents related to the case.
On October 14, 2002 the Chilean Supreme Court announced that it is taking some cases from Judge Guzmán Tapia to be investigated by other judges as the progress in 90 group cases which were under Guzmán' responsibility is minimal. The minister of law of the Santiago Court of Appeals Alejandro Solis Muñoz was named to investigate seven cases, including the disappearance of Boris Weisfeiler. The Supreme Court states that these judges were receiving Guzmán's cases must proceed with 'maximum speed' in the investigations.
Recent developments:
2004:
Listen to the radio program about the disappearance of Boris Weisfeiler (by BBC for NPR)
¿Ha visto a este hombre?
Did you see this man?
Olga Weisfeile's Trip to Chile 2004
