December 17, 2004

SANTIAGO, Chile/GENEVA - The president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Chile (IELCH), Rev. Gloria Rojas, has criticized the tendency to generalize responsibility for torture crimes committed during the country's military dictatorship.

In a statement following the recent completion of the report of the National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture, and the army's public acknowledgment of wrong doing during General Augusto Pinochet's military rule, Rojas said she strongly opposed the idea "that institutions ask the victims for forgiveness because this covers up for the individuals who are responsible for the barbaric actions."

Prior to the report's release, the Chilean army declared it accepted responsibility for human rights violations carried out during the military rule. This recent stance is seen as a reversal of the army's previous position that individual officers were directly responsible for abuses carried out between 1973 and 1990. "Individualizing those who committed these crimes and/or were the intellectual authors, will make it possible to do justice," Rojas said in the IELCH statement, December 3.

The report that was finalized toward the end of November and presented to State President Ricardo Lagos, is the first-ever major investigation into torture during Pincochet's military regime. An estimated 30,000 Chilean dissidents were tortured and at least 3,000 are believed to have been assassinated. Previous reports have focused on those who were killed.

"When I read or hear the discussions about who should ask for forgiveness or when they should do so, I cannot avoid expressing the feeling that asking for forgiveness is not done by decree. It is not organized, it is not declared, asking for forgiveness emerges when one reflects on the acts that have been carried out," said Rojas.

She went on: "History cannot be hidden. What has been public in the past few hours confirms that. Years may pass but one way or another the truth will come to light."

The report contains testimonies from more than 35,000 people - children, women and men, living in Chile and abroad, who were submitted to torture and abuse during Pinochet's dictatorship.

Out of the total submissions made, evidence from 28,000 was accepted as valid testimony by the Commission. An additional 7,000 that did not fulfill the strict requirements established by the Commission will be reviewed.

In her statement, the IELCH president recalled her church's painful experience with the cry for justice in Chile. "In those days Lutheran Bishop Helmut Frenz, with other pastors, lay people and religious leaders created a so-called Pro Peace Committee to receive the testimonies and appeals of those who felt the cruel lashings of evil."

This open concern for human rights, Rojas pointed out, caused a division in the IELCH. It also influenced the profile of the church into what it is today * "a prophetic voice, announcing the Word of God and denouncing everything that goes against [God's] will," she said.

In the context of the Advent season, the Chilean church leader prayed for peace so that justice and truth could prevail.

The IELCH has 3,000 members, and joined the LWF in 1955.

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