Santiago de Chile, Dec. – Social organizations expressed their concern this Monday over the victory of the extreme right in Chile and the absence of the issue of human rights protection in the program of the president-elect, José Antonio Kast.
At a press point at the foot of the Salvador Allende monument in the Plaza de la Constitución, leaders of various groups warned that a government that does not place citizen prerogatives at the center of its administration paves the way to return to times of persecution and state violence.
A statement read by the participants reminds the administration, which will assume office in March, of the State’s obligation to comply with international commitments.
Among these are the prosecution of crimes against humanity committed during the dictatorial period and the prohibition of statutes of limitations or amnesty for such crimes.
During his electoral campaign, Kast announced the possibility of releasing prisoners over 70 years old with terminal illnesses, including those from Punta Peuco, responsible for murders, kidnappings, torture, and disappearances during Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship (1973-1990).
The humanitarian organizations reaffirmed their decision not to give up their right to protest and to demand from the next government full respect and recognition of their demands for truth, justice, memory, full reparation, and guarantees of non-repetition.
Alicia Lira, president of the Association of Relatives of Executed Political Prisoners (AFEP), denounced that releasing prisoners from Punta Peuco represents a direct affront to the victims and their families and recalled how much struggle and commitment the organizations had to achieve the prosecution of these criminals.
“Today we tell the president-elect that we are on alert and will continue defending our rights,” she declared.
Gabi Rivera, president of the Association of Relatives of Detained Disappeared (AFDD), warned that, as 52 years ago, they will continue searching for their relatives because Chileans need to know what happened to each of them.
Participants in the demonstration also denounced the situation faced by several memory sites that have suffered acts of vandalism in recent times.
The statement read in front of the Allende statue was signed by the AFDD, the AFEP, the groups of disappeared detainees from Paine and Mulchén, the National Network of Memory Sites, and the Londres 38 Memory Space.
(With information from Prensa Latina)
