No More Luxury Prisons for Chile's Convicted War Criminals
No More Luxury Prisons for Chile's Convicted War Criminals
Citing “equality before the law,” in September 2013, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera ordered the closure of the Cordillera prison. Located on an army base, Cordillera was a literal lap of luxury, housing ten of the country's most notorious criminals.
One of those prisoners was Manuel Contreras, the former chief of the secret service during the 1973-1990 dictatorship-era of General Augusto Pinochet. Convicted of crimes against humanity and serving combined sentences of over 100 years, Contreras gave an antagonistic interview on the grounds of Cordillera just prior to the fortieth anniversary of the coup that ousted his former boss.
Convicted of kidnapping and murder, Contreras consistently claimed that the thousands who disappeared during the dictatorship were armed leftists killed in legitimate gunfights. Those claims contrast greatly to the democratic government that now imprisons him.
When Pinochet was thrown out of office in 1990 several of his supporters successfully made the transition into the new government and currently serve as lawmakers. But those like Contreras, who are imprisoned for crimes against humanity, were found guilty of killing, kidnapping, and imprisoning over 40,000 people.
At Cordillera the ten prisoners lived in small cabins with private bathrooms, hot showers and plenty of natural light. These amenities alone were vastly more luxurious than Chile's conventional prisons. But, Contreras and his fellow prisoners also enjoyed access to tennis courts, barbecues, and a swimming pool.
“It's unbelievable that Chilean society allowed jails with these types of luxuries for human rights criminals,” said Claudio Escobar Caceres, a demonstrator outside the prison.
One Chilean prison is so overcrowded that in 2010 a fire killed 81 prisoners. By contrast, the ten prisoners at Cordillera were attended by 35 guards. Contreras was known to mock his captors telling them they were only there “to hold his cane.”
“Lorena Fries, director of Chile's official Human Rights Institute, called the move “...a milestone, a right decision from the human rights point of view. The president said it best: It’s about equality because there are thousands of people living in overcrowded prisons. And this was a slap in the face for the law.”
Source: http://latino.foxnews.com