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- WORLD, Page 61World NotesCHILEPinochet's Deadly Toll
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- During General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte's 17-year rule over
- Chile, few ever doubted the ruthlessness of his military
- regime. But last week a shocking report from the civilian
- government that succeeded Pinochet detailed for the first time
- just how murderous that regime had been. More than 2,000
- political opponents were killed, the result of a "systematic
- policy of extermination" that included torture by electric
- shock, burning, asphyxiation and rape.
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- Last week's grisly accounting fulfilled a promise by
- President Patricio Aylwin to investigate past abuses, a pledge
- he made last year shortly after he was democratically elected.
- Whether anyone will ultimately be brought to justice remains
- uncertain. While still in power, the military decreed an
- amnesty that shields its agents from prosecution for political
- crimes committed between 1973 and 1978, and Pinochet, who
- remains head of the army, has warned against putting any of his
- men on trial. To help the nation heal its wounds, Aylwin is
- proposing giving financial compensation to the families of
- victims, including pension, health and housing benefits.
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