Operation Colombo
Encyclopedia
Operation Colombo was an operation undertaken by the DINA (the Chile
an 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 .
, was placed under house arrest
in connection with the kidnapping of at least three dissidents by the former military ruler's security services.
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.
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an secret police
Secret police
Secret police are a police agency which operates in secrecy and beyond the law to protect the political power of an individual dictator or an authoritarian political regime....
) 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
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
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
José López Rega
José López Rega was Argentina's Minister of Social Welfare during the Peronist government started in 1973 by Juan Perón and continued after Perón's death in 1974 by his third wife and vice-president, Isabel Martínez de Perón , until the coup d'etat of 1976 that initiated the so-called National...
, counsellor of Isabel Perón and founder of the Triple A death squad .
Augusto Pinochet
Chile's former military ruler, Augusto PinochetAugusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
, was placed under house arrest
Augusto Pinochet's arrest and trial
General Augusto Pinochet was indicted for human rights violations committed in his native Chile by Spanish magistrate Baltasar Garzón on 10 October 1998. He was arrested in London six days later and finally released by the British government in March 2000...
in connection with the kidnapping of at least three dissidents by the former military ruler's security services.
Judge Juan Guzmán Tapia
Juan Guzmán Tapia
Juan Salvador Guzmán Tapia is a retired Chilean judge who gained international recognition for being the first judge to prosecute former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet on human rights charges, after Pinochet's return to Chile following more than a year of house arrest in London, in...
asked the Chilean justice to lift Pinochet's immunity
Sovereign immunity
Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a legal doctrine by which the sovereign or state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from civil suit or criminal prosecution....
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
Manuel Contreras
Juan Manuel Guillermo Contreras Sepúlveda is a Chilean military officer and the former head of DINA, Chile's secret police during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. As head of DINA he was the most powerful and feared man in the country, after Pinochet...
, who held him as responsible of the DINA and, therefore, of operation Colombo, for which both men may be jailed. Raúl Iturriaga
Raúl Iturriaga
Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann is a Chilean Army general and a former deputy director of the DINA, the Chilean secret police under the Augusto Pinochet military dictatorship...
, 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.