THE BLOWBACK FILES
BLOWBACK
CAMPAIGN: INDICT GENERAL PINOCHET
We are still gathering
petition-letters for the indictment of Chilean dictator Pinochet for
ordering the 1976 car bomb attack in Washington, DC, which claimed
two lives. These will be delivered to the office of the U.S. Attorney
for the District of Columbia in a second meeting with them about this
topic. Let us know if you want to get involved and can help us gather
signatures or undertake other activities.
Background
On September 21,
1976, a car bomb shattered a Washington, D.C. morning, killing two
of the car's passengers and injuring one other. The intended target
was killed: Chilean citizen Orlando Letelier, former Foreign Minister
and Former Ambassador to the U.S., one of the leaders of the opposition
against the dictatorship installed in Chile just a few years before,
on September 11, 1973, with CIA help. Killed with Letelier was Ronni
Karpen Moffitt, a young U.S. citizen working at the Institute for
Policy Studies, while her fiancée was injured. Blowback had
struck again: Chilean state-sponsored terrorism had perpetrated the
first political assassination in the nation's capital since the assassination
of President Abraham Lincoln.
The person who put
the assassination in motion, Chilean General Manuel Contreras, headed
Chile's secret police, the DINA, the National Intelligence Directory.
As the investigation heated up and evidence started to point in his
direction, he was forced out and the DINA was dissolved. After much
pressure (and after the dictatorship ceded way to elected government),
Contreras and a subordinate were jailed in Chile in a prison built
especially for members of the armed forces convicted for human rights
crimes.
Did Contreras act
alone or was he ordered to attack Washington? It is a matter of the
public record that he responded directly to the head of the Junta,
General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, as is it a matter of record that
Contreras owed all of his power to Pinochet, with whom he met every
morning.
According to the
Chilean Government's official truth commission, the Pinochet regime
was responsible for widespread human rights violations following its
overthrow of the democratically-elected government of President Salvador
Allende. Extrajudicial executions and "disappearances" claimed
more than 3,000 Chileans and a few expatriates like U.S. citizens
Charles Hormann and Frank Teruggi. So not only did the Pinochet regime
murder, but it had already murdered U.S. citizens.
Would Contreras have set off a car bomb in the streets of Washington,
DC, without consulting with his superior? Considering that this was
an act of terrorism in Washington, DC, and that the Chilean generals
had received much support from the US Government, it is unlikely that
Contreras would have acted alone.
Contreras maintains
that he only undertook actions that were ordered - but has not gone
further to say that Pinochet ordered him to do this.
It is this unanswered
question that should be decided by a U.S. court representing the people
of the District of Columbia, on whose soil this dastardly act took
place. According to an official at the U.S. Attorney for the District
of Columbia, there is no consensus within their ranks as to whether
or not there is enough evidence to convict Pinochet. So let the jury
decide!
Most
Recent Action
BLOWBACK gathered
more petition letters during its last mini tour but we want to have
at least 100 petition letters before we go back to the U.S. Attorney's
office.
In April, we met
with Daniel Seikaly, Chief of the Criminal Division. He told us that
they were finalizing a memorandum for the Department of Justice. Although
Blowback believed that there was a draft indictment from the prior
Administration (which this memorandum would accompany), Seikaly later
wrote to say that "no 'draft' indictment has ever been prepared.
The original indictment, drafted in 1978, is still outstanding against
Contreras and Espinoza."
Seikaly said that
once the memorandum was finalized, it would be sent to the Department
of Justice (DOJ), probably the Criminal Division, and would probably
be referred from Deputy Assistant Attorney General to Assistant Attorney
General to Deputy Attorney General, before finally landing on the
Attorney General's desk. Seikaly has written us that DOJ policy "requires
that the prosecutors have a good faith belief that there is sufficient
admissible evidence to enable a jury to find the defendant guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt. That policy applies to all cases."
He said that there
were three camps on this issue:
1. Those who believe there is enough evidence to prosecute and secure
a conviction.
2. Those who believe there is not enough evidence.
3. Those who believe that "while the evidence was not overwhelming,
it is sufficient under DOJ policy to justify an indictment, especially
given the nature of this case."
What
You Can Do
Send us an e-mail
(info@blowbacknet.com)
and let us know that you want to help. We'll send you some petition-letters
for you to get signed and return to us. We'll let you know what we
do and what is the reaction from the Attorney's Office. Together we
can successfully push for the indictment of this criminal.
Other
Sources
Check out the declassified documents on the following Chile and Pinochet-related
topics available here on the Blowback website:
Executions
Death
Squads
DINA
& Torture Tactics
Sign up
for the occasional e-mail alert "Pinochet Watch." Let them
know you heard about them from us. Email saraha@igc.org
