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The Rettig Report, officially The National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation Report, is a 1991 report by a commission designated by then-President Patricio Aylwin (from the Concertación) encompassing human rights abuses resulting in death or disappearance that occurred in Chile during the years of military dictatorship under Augusto Pinochet, which began on September 11, 1973 and ended on March 11, 1990. They found that over 2,000 people had been killed for political reasons, and dozens of military personnel have been convicted of human rights abuses.
Contents
The Commission
The commission included a group that had diverse affiliations. There were three commissioners who were associated with the Pinochet Government, two commissioners who were exiles under Pinochet, and its namesake, Raúl Rettig who was an ambassador under former-president Salvador Allende. The eight-member commission, including Jaime Castillo Velasco, José Luis Cea Egaña, Mónica Jiménez, Laura Novoa Vásquez, José Zalaquett Daher, Ricardo Martin Díaz, and Gonzalo Vial Correa (minister of Education 1978-79), released its report in February 1991.
Goals of the Commission
In the presidential decree in which President Patricio Aylwin created the Rettig Commission, he created a set of goals for the commission.
Figures
The report determined that 2,279 persons were killed for political reasons. This figure included 957 disappeared after arrest and 164 "victims of political violence", a figure that included police officers and others killed by left-wing extremists.
In 641 cases, the commission could not conclusively determine that the person was killed for political reasons. It found 508 cases that were beyond its mandate, and that in 449 cases, no information beyond the name of a disappeared person could be determined.
Judgment
As of May 2012, 76 agents had been condemned for violations of human rights and 67 were convicted: 36 of the Army, 27 Carabineros, 2 of the Air Force, one of the Navy and one of the PDI. Three condemned agents died and six agents got conditional sentences. 350 cases, pertaining to disappeared persons, illegal detainees and torture, remain open. There are 700 military and civilian persons involved in these cases.
Recommendations Provided by Report
The Rettig Report included recommendations to prevent future human rights violations in Chile including:
Implications of the Report
The Rettig Report's listing of a disappeared person as deceased and victim of a human rights violation created a legal determination of the victim's situation. This would allow the surviving family members with benefits including making it possible for them to resolve property and inheritance claims, apply for social security and any reparation benefits, as well as impacting the marital status of spouses.
The human rights violations have been looked at again in the Valech Report.