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Pinochet: The charge sheet
SOURCE: BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/259372.stm
DATE: January 20, 1999
Spanish charges against former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet detail
horrifying allegations of physical, psychological and sexual torture.
The indictments investigated by Spanish Judge Baltazar Garzon relate to acts
said to have been committed during General Pinochet's 17-rule in Chile.
The charges allege that the acts of torture were carried out by officials under
orders from General Pinochet, who is said to have agreed while in office that
political opponents should be abducted and subjected to pain and sexual abuse.
They broadly set out allegations of the general's involvement in acts of
abductions, torture, and at least 4,000 deaths.
More specific charges deal with incidents of abuse said to have been suffered by
particular individuals:
Jose Marcelino Gonzalez Malpu was allegedly:
* Forced to watch the simulated shooting of his mother
* Subjected to electric shocks
Pedro Hugo Arellano Carvajal was allegedly:
* Pushed out of a helicopter with ropes attached to his trousers
* Dragged through thorns
* Subjected to electric shocks
* Forced to play Russian roulette
Miguel Woodward was allegedly:
* Subjected to electric shocks
* Beaten with a hammer to break his arms
* Beaten and left to die
Other alleged acts of torture cited in the charges include:
* Burning with a flamethrower
* Forcing a victim to eat the flesh of dead prisoners
* Driving over a victim's legs with a machine
* Using a dog to sexually abuse women
* Employing a man with visible syphilitic sores to rape women
In the case of one family, the charges allege that the father was forced to
sexually abuse his son, while the son was forced to sexually abuse his younger
brother.
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