wfn.org | Chilean Church Leader Pleads against Institutionalized

["Frank Imhoff" <Frank.Imhoff@elca.org>]

Chilean Church Leader Pleads against Institutionalized Responsibility for
Torture Crimes 
"Forgiveness Is not Done by Decree"

SANTIAGO, Chile/GENEVA, 17 December 2004 (LWI) * 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. (527 words)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 138 member
churches in 77 countries all over the world, with a membership of nearly 65
million Lutherans. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of
common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith relations, theology,
humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva,
Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless
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opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an article
contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced with
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