Chilean story of brutality

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33775, 22 February 1975, Page 15

Chilean story of brutality

VZ.P.4 / MEXI(X) Cl IX . February 21. \ Chilean woman has said that she was “whipped and repeatedly raped" during 15 days of detention by the Chilean military regime. She said her husband was also beaten to death.

Weeping and struggling to retain her composure, Mrs Ana Maria Morgano yesterday described tortures suffered by herself and her late husband, whom she said was a member of the now outlawed Chilean Radical Party. She testified before the I “International Commission I of Inquiry into the Crimes I of the Military Junta in jChile." which is in its third day of hearings. More than 25 people have I been called to testify so far. Representative Michael .Harrington (Democrat. ' Masachusetts), a member of j the House Foreign Affairs | Committee and a critic of ; American policy toward [Chile, is expected to appear: '[ at the final session of the trial tomorrow. The junta took power .after the military revolt which toppled the Govern- ! ment of the President Salvador Allende on September ill, 1973. Dr Allende either | killed himself or was slain i ‘during the take-over, j The commission heard the

room.' “1 was railed repeated!', while 1 was blindfolded ' Bodie* bound shocks were applied to her 'vagina, causing a rupture'vf her uterus, and latvt spent 10 davs in ho.mital. The reason for her arrest and torture, she said, was that junta investigators be lieved she knew of an arms cache, which she denied She said her husbands body was found after'a pea sant brought his watch into her father-in-law's watch ‘repair shop for fixing. The peasant said he had taken it from “a corpse with other dead men in a field.” she said. “We went to the plate : he described.” she said •Twelve bodies were bound hand and foot bru tally beaten. They had been lout there for at least two months. We identified my husband’s body.”