The Latinamerica Press
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Head of Colonia Dignidad captured |
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Pascale Bonnefoy. Paul Schäfer could get long prison sentence for sexual
abuse and human rights violations. After eight years as a fugitive, the
former leader of Colonia Dignidad, Paul Schäfer, was arrested March 10 in Schäfer fled to |
Colonia Dignidad, an apparently peaceful German agricultural community in
southern
Schäfer arrived in
Torture center
Due to its ideological sympathy with local right-wing and nationalist groups
and military officials, after the military coup by former president Augusto
Pinochet (1973-1990), Colonia Dignidad offered its installations to the
Directorate of National Intelligence (DINA), the repressive organ of the
dictatorship, to train its agents and hold and torture more than 100 political
prisoners who were transferred there from different parts of the country. Most
of them disappeared but the survivors have succeeded in providing detailed
testimonies of what happened in Colonia Dignidad and the torture that they endured.
The former head of security of Colonia Dignidad, Gerhard Mücke,
was the first member of the colony charged with a human rights crime: the
disappearance in 1974 of Álvaro Vallejos
Villagrán, a militant of the Leftist Revolutionary
Movement (MIR) - the case cited in issuing the international arrest order
against Schäfer. Nevertheless, Mücke and 21 others
-12 of them from the top hierarchy of Colonia Dignidad- in November were
convicted and sentenced for covering up and being accomplices of the sexual abuses
by Schäfer.
In his first appearance in court, Schäfer was interrogated and put face to face
with former DINA agents and political prisoners. He denied everything, said he
could not remember and blamed the military saying "they asked me to use
Colonia Dignidad for their training."
Changes in Colonia Dignidad
No one expected Schäfer to acknowledge his responsibility. However, inside
Colonia Dignidad, which is now called Villa Baviera, things have changed: in
addition to the new freedoms allowed, there is a new attitude among the
Colonia's leadership installed after Schäfer's
escape. The day the community learned of his arrest, the news was announced
over the loudspeakers.
Michael Müller, provisional president of Colonia
Dignidad, came to the entry gate of the community -located 40 kms (24 miles) east of Parral near the Argentine border-
and told reporters, without hiding his satisfaction, that the members of the
community felt relieved.
"Schäfer's attitude brought innumerable
conflicts that have caused our community pain during its existence. I fear that
this is the moment of justice," he said.
Days later, Müller went a little further. Dozens of
families of Chileans who disappeared during the dictatorship had arrived at the
entrance with banners and posters, but this time the members of the colony did
not fire tear gas or send dogs after them. They spoke to each other calmly and
for the first time the head of the former Colonia Dignidad acknowledged that
human rights violations took place inside during the military dictatorship.
"I found out through the Valech Report about the
accusations against us," Müller said, referring
to a report issued in November named after Monsignor Sergio Valech,
who led the Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture. "I am
convinced that the things are true," he added. "I am willing to turn
the page on everything that happened in the past and to cooperate with you and
with the justice system."
Families asking for the truth
In an unprecedented move, Mercedes Fernández, mother of one of the disappeared,
shook Müller's hand.
"I told him that we hoped he would tell the truth now, that he would tell
us where our family members are. He thought a long time before responding. And
he said 'alright'. But so many years have passed one begins to lose faith in
people," said Fernández.
Fernández, 75, is the mother of Luis Aguayo
Fernández, who was detained in Parral -some 400 km (240 miles) south of
Schäfer will face a long series of interrogations by eight judges who are
investigating him for abuse of minors, kidnapping and disappearance of the
Communist Party central committee, socialist deputy Carlos Lorca
and MIR militant Vallejos Villagrán.
He is also charged with the disappearance of
On March 17, Judge Joaquin Billard charged him with
the kidnapping of Vallejos Villagrán.
"The arrest of Schäfer is a huge step forward, although he will most
likely never provide any useful information. But his arrest brought enormous
attention to the issues surrounding Colonia Dignidad, and the new leaders, or
even resident witnesses, may start talking," said Olga Weisfeiler, sister
of Boris Weisfeiler.