- Operation Colombo
-
Operation Colombo was an operation undertaken by the DINA (the Chilean secret police) in 1975. The operation involved the disappearance of political dissidents. At least 119 people are alleged to have been abducted and later killed by state forces in the secret operation. The DINA claimed the murders were the result of inside-fights, and supported the creation two false magazines in Brazil and Argentina to support this claim. The magazines published a list of 119 dead political opponents.
One of these fake magazines, titled LEA, was published by Codex Editorial, a dependent of the Argentine Ministry of Welfare, directed by José López Rega, counsellor of Isabel Perón and founder of the Triple A death squad [1].
Contents
Augusto Pinochet
Chile's former military ruler, Augusto Pinochet, was placed under house arrest in connection with the kidnapping of at least three dissidents by the former military ruler's security services[citation needed].
Judge Juan Guzmán Tapia asked the Chilean justice to lift Pinochet's immunity after having accumulated proof that he had ordered the DINA to undertake this operation.
In September 2005, the Chilean Supreme Court decided to lift Pinochet's immunity on this case, charging judge Victor Montiglio of the investigations. In November 2005, prosecutors said that specialists appointed by the court in the Operation Colombo case had concluded that while he suffered from mild dementia, he was fit enough to stand trial. On this occasion, Pinochet met DINA head Manuel Contreras, who held him as responsible of the DINA and, therefore, of operation Colombo, for which both men may be jailed.
Raúl Iturriaga, the vice-director of the DINA, has also been indicted in this case.
In December 2005 it was found that Pinochet was found fit to stand trial. However Pinochet died December 10, 2006, without being judged.
References
- ^ La Gran Mentira - El caso de las "Listas de los 119" (capitulo 7), published by Equipo Nizkor (Spanish)
See also
External links
This South American history-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
