Public Declaration on the 40th Anniversary of the Fall of the Democracy in Chile

Public Declaration on the 40th Anniversary of the Fall of the Democracy in Chile

Wednesday, September 4th, 2013

On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the fall of our democracy, in 1973, with the subsequent establishment of a military dictatorship during which systemic, extended and brutal human rights violations were committed by the Government among our citizens, the Board of the “Asociación Nacional de Magistrados del Poder Judicial de Chile” believes that it is necessary to reflect back on the judiciary’s role during that period and believes, as well, that all the main bodies of the Republic should engage in such reflection regarding their roles.

We think that our judiciary cannot be excluded from some historical responsibility for the violation of human rights during the dictatorial regime. It is necessary to recognise that this is so: the judicial system, and especially the Supreme Court of the mentioned period, failed miserably in its main task of protecting the fundamental rights of citizens and victims from government abuses. Our judiciary was responsible for irregular actions and omissions and, except for isolated and brave exceptions to be recalled, it denied protection to those who asked many times for its intervention. The declaration of inadmissibility or the rejection by our courts of thousands of appeals of “imparo”, many of which were made on behalf of compatriots whose destiny has never been ascertained, the systematic refusal to investigate criminal actions by public officials, and the denial of personal visits to the detention and torture centres, have all contributed to the painful balance which appears after this grey period, in the field of human rights.

The judiciary could and should have done much more, especially because it was the only institution of the Republic that was not involved.

Taking into account all of this, we, the national association of judges, without ambiguity or misunderstanding, think it is now the right moment to apologise to the victims and to Chilean society. The judiciary was not able, in that crucial period of history, to guide, interpret and motivate our institution and its members in the implementation of the judiciary’s more basic and fundamental duties; it is the performance of those duties that provides the protective function to society that justifies and explains, in itself, the very essence of the judicial role.

The forgiveness that we ask for today, far from representing criticism of any sector, person or group, represents the natural expression of our judiciary’s strong and clear commitment for both the present and the future to protect and promote fundamental human rights, especially where these rights are more exposed and vulnerable, and to guarantee that access to justice will never be denied to our citizens.

In the same framework, with calm and resoluteness, we invite the Supreme Court to start the necessary critical reflection in relation to its past actions and omissions, through which it denied judicial protection to those victims, protection that had been repeatedly requested.

We trust that the Supreme Court, whose role in protecting fundamental rights is clearly demonstrated in the exercise of its present functions, will not remain indifferent to the sincere request of judges who want to distance themselves from a dark past, that they involuntarily inherited.

The reply that we are looking for will comfort the present and future generations of judges from the shame related to this chapter of our history. This most ignoble page of history is well illustrated by the person who, as President of the Highest Court in 1975, denied the existence of the tortures and atrocities inflicted on our compatriots, but at the same time, complained that the courts were jammed up by the numerous appeals “de emparo” that, according to his words, caused disruption to the administration of justice.

Finally, we think that this is an essential step towards addressing and contributing to the reclamation of the traditional moral and republican dignity of our judicial power in the framework of our still young democracy.

Rodrigo Cerda. Presidente

María Francisca Zapata. Vicepresidenta

Cecilia Vega. Tesorera

Luis Aedo. Secretario de Actas

Alvaro Flores. Protesorero

Nancy Bluck. Directora