Sergio Valech Aldunate was the Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop

Auxiliary bishop

An auxiliary bishop, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an additional bishop assigned to a diocese because the diocesan bishop is unable to perform his functions, the diocese is so extensive that it requires more than one bishop to administer, or the diocese is attached to a royal or imperial office...

 Emeritus of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile is part of the Roman Catholic Church in Chile. The current Archbishop is Ricardo Ezzati Andrello...

, Chile

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...

. He was the head of the eight-member National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture panel in Chile, which investigated instances of torture that occurred under the military regime

Military dictatorship

A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....

 of Augusto Pinochet

Augusto 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...

. After a six-month investigation, and another six months of preparation, the panel released the Valech Report

Valech Report

The Valech Report was a record of abuses committed in Chile between 1973 and 1990 by agents of Augusto Pinochet's military regime. The report was published on November 29, 2004 and detailed the results of a six-month investigation. A revised version was released on June 1, 2005...

.

Valech was born in Santiago, Chile. He was ordained priest of Santiago de Chile on 28 June 1953. On 27 August 1973, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Santiago de Chile and Titular Bishop of Zabi. On 18 October 1973 he was ordained Titular Bishop of Zabi. He retired as Auxiliary Bishop of Santiago de Chile on 3 March 2003.

Valech died of lung cancer on 24 November 2010.

External links

• Commission of Inquiry:Chile 03 - United States Institute of Peace
• Wikinews report on the release of the Valech Report