The following text was received from a women's group in Austria - AUF - who have been campaigning for the release of Gladys Diaz and other women who have brutally tortured by the Chilean Junta. They wrote to ISIS in August asking us to circulate the information as widely as possible. They had intended to print the information in their own journal but were informed that Gladys had been released. This was a deliberate act on the part of the Junta to stop solidarity campaigns.
Further information and details of the campaign can be obtained from: Action Unabhangiger Frauen, Tendlergasse 6/1-2, A-1O90 Wien, Austria.
CHILE: We must save the life of Gladys Diaz
The following information comes from a woman who v;as kept in custody in "Tres Alamos" prison together with Gladys Diaz, and who today lives in France, from reports of Amnesty International, from the Chile commission of the Foundation for Co-determination of the German Confederation of Trade Unions and from Chile- Nachrichten.
Gladys Diaz, aged 34, is a member of MIR (movement of the revolutionary left ); until the putsch she was President of the Union of Radio Journalists and MIR candidate for the general workers' Union CUT at the last elections. She had been working for a long time for Radio Agricultura (award for being the best woman journalist,1971), for the newspaper Punto Final and was the head of the press departJiient of Radio Nacional. She received several awards for her journalistic work.
February 20, 1975. Gladys Diaz, together with her companion Juan Carlos Perelman Ide and her 6 year old son; was arrested by agents of the Chilean Secret Service, DINA. They were shackled and taken blind folded to the torture centre " Villa Grimaldi" where they were submitted to extreme torture.
Among the tortures used was the so called "Parrilla", which consists of subjecting the whole body, in particular the vagina, the anus and the head, to electric current. Gladys Diaz was beaten to such an extent that she suffered three broken ribs. She was immersed in to water, excrement and oil, until unconscious. In addition, the so- called "telephone" torture was applied: it consists of hitting prisoners on both ears simultaneously, which entails the risk of an eardrum bursting. She was injected with the so called" truth serum", which means that there was an attempt to make her speak while being under the influence of a drug. Moreover, she was forced to spend a long time without sleep. These tortures resulted in Gladys Diaz suffering three heart failures.
February 26, 1975. Gladys Diaz and Juan Carlos Perelman were taken to the "Torre" situated in the " Villa Grimald This is the name given to six rabbit-hutches, 80 by 90 cm with a 50 cm high sliding door. There is neither air nor light.
They were there together with a group of other prisoners, who later appearance on a list of 119 Chileans allegedly shot in Argentina by their own companions.
February 28, 1975. This group - excerpt "f Gladys Diaz - was carried off to an unknown place. Nothing has been hear- .of them since. In spite of this fact the Chilean Junta even today denies the arrest of these people.
April 1975 In the Federal Republic Germany, the Foundation for Codetermination of the German Confederation of Trade Unions offered a job opening for Gladys Diaz.
Mid-May 1975. Gladys Diaz stayed in the " Villa Grimaldi " until the middle of May 1975; after repeated interrogations and tortures she was then transferred to "Cuatro Alamos", the isolation unit of the concentration camp " Ires Alamos" Them, attempts were made to f orce her to sign statement with a false name affirming that she had been neither physically or psychologically tortured. Yet Gladys Diaz refused and she was eventually taken to "Tres Alamos" and recognized as a political prisoner. Her son was released.
June A, 1975. Wischniewski, the secretary of State of the FRG, refused Gladys an entry permit for the FRG. The authorities tried to justify their refusal by saying that Gladys' membership in HIR constituted a danger to' the internal security of the FRG.
Mid-June 1975. In June the women in the concentration camp "Tres Alamos", including Gladys Diaz, were transfer red to the camp San Juan de Pirque. Conditions here were bad as the water reserves had been contaminated by the cadavers of animals and as a consequence all the women f ell ill. The International Red Cross was refused access which meant that no medicaments, etc. were available for the women.
August 1975. Gladys was twice taken by DINA to the " Villa Grimaldi " for interrogation. Both times she was absent from the camp for 12-13 hours. During the first interrogation she was forced to sign a document attesting her release.
October 1975. The imprisoned women were again transferred to "Tres Alamos'i^ During the journey, Gladys disappeared
January 14, 1976. According to Amnety International, she reappeared in the "Tres Alamos" camp.
January 1976. In his capacity as President of the Austrian Union of Journalists, Dr. GUnther Nenning intervened with Federal Chancellor Kreisky and obtained in
March 1976 an entry visa for Gladys and i n June 1976 a personal invitation by Dr. Kreisky to attend the 13th World Congress of the International Federation of Journalists in Austria.
June 1976. Gladys obtains a visa for "the IRG as well.
July 15, 1976. The Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Vienna informs Amnesty International that "according to a cominunication received by the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs no exit visa can be granted to Gladys Diaz as Mrs. Diaz is a member of the prohibited MIR and her name is included among the people wanted by the Chilean military. " We wondered why the Junta designates her as a "wanted person" since it is known that she was kept in the closed section of the "Tres Alamos" prison and at that time had been granted three visas ( Austria, FRG, Great Britain ), and that she was even informed of these visas, as we know from a reliable source. This means that the ambassadors of these three countries were acquainted with Gladys' whereabouts. To clear this up, we asked a journalist to inquire about the true state of affairs at the Chilean Embassy in Bonn. The press attach of the Embassy, Mrs. Astrid Tafra, could not. give a reply then and there and the next day (checking back with Chile?) she informed us that.
August 5. 1976 Gladys Diaz had left Chile six months ago.
Amnesty, however, believes that her life is in danger since it had also been said that her companion Perelman had been kille d in Argentina.
In the meantime. Amnesty has learned that, at the end of July Gladys was, in fact, taken from "Tres Alamos" by the secret police who gave neither reasons nor indications as to her whereabouts.
The Junta's treatment of Gladys Diaz is extremely harsh even for Chilean circumstances . Not only was»she tortured particularly severely after her arrest, but, after being transferred from the torture centre to a well-known prison, she was also taken away and tortured for a longer or shorter time again and again
This is obviously what is happening again now. It has only been the protests of many journalists, journalists association', in solidarity groups which have saved the life of Gladys Diaz.
August 1976 According to most recent information, Gladys has been in "Cuatro Alamos" since the beginning of August. It is said that the conditions of detention there have worsened.
WE APPEAL TO ALL WOMEN'S GROUPS TO PUBLISH THE FACTS ABOUT GLADYS DIAZ IN THEIR PUBLICATIONS AND IN THE NATIONAL PRESS AND TO EXERT PRESSURE ON THE CHILEAN EMBASSIES IN THEIR COUNTRIES. We appeal to you to write letters or to send telegrams asking for information about Gladys Diaz. Many political prisoners have been saved by the pressure of international solidarity. Why not Gladys Diaz?
ACTION: Write to:
Sr. Ministro del Exterior, Gen. Carvajal Ministerio del Exterior Santiago de Chile.
Sr. Presidente de l a Republica de Chile General A. Pinochet Edificio Diego Porta l es Santiago de Chile.
Sr. Ministro del Interior, Geo. Benavides Ministerio del Interior Santiago de Chile
If possible refer to information that has appeared in your national press, and enclose copies. The Junta seems to be negative to negative information in the bourgeois press. Refer to the fact that three countries are willing to admit her (FRG, Austria, Great Britain )..
"We count on you; we count on the free women and men all over the world; you will stand by us." (From the letter of a Chilean woman, February 1975).
The Situation of Women and Children in Chile
Since September 11, 1973, women have particularly suffered from increased repression. They are being tortured in order to squeeze out information on their politically active husbands or friends.
There is particular hatred against women who are politically active . The situation of' women in the torture centres is particularly cruel the methods of torture are marked by sexual sadism:
- rape is often included in the service regulations of prison guards
- rape by drilled dogs
- rape by children (sons forced to rape their mothers)
- children are tortured in front of their mothers.
Resistance by women is an essential part of political resistance in Chile. Many comon became politically active only after the put such and took the place of their husbands, relatives and friends who had been killed or displaced. They formed resistance committees and carried out acts of sabotage. It was women who set up popular kitchens in the slums.
OUR HELP must go to all imprisoned women - especially to unknown women - as well as to imprisoned and tortured children and to children born in concentration camps. Given the miserable living conditions there, these children will doubtless suffer permanent damage.
RESOURCES
Women, Prisoners Amnesty International, London, March 1975, -in English, 19 pp. This reports cites names of female prisoners of conscience who have been "Ädopted" by Amnesty from USSR, Tanzania, Indonesia, Spain, Brazil, Chile, German Dem. Republic, Egypt, Paraguay, South Africa, Great Britain, Vietnam, Uruguay, Bangladesh, Chad, Bulgaria, Cameron, Iran, Malaysia, Mali, Rhodesia, Arrest linked to status of women. Deals with sexual brutality.
Amnesty lnternattional, Newsletter, monthly in English French and Spanish. A six-pages report on political prisoners around the world and campaign being carried out for their release. May 1976 issue carried stories of women political prisoners in Indonesia (more than 2,000), and Spanish trade union leader tortured by police.
From: 53 Theabolds, Road, London WC1 Ireland. list 105, 173 and 174.