Núcleo Disca

Disability and citizenship

Author Archives: Comunicaciones Núcleo DISCA

  4. Disability and Dictatorship

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    Historically, bodies with disabilities have been made invisible. This is how today, 50 years after the coup d’état, we do not know how many people with disabilities were victims of human rights violations or political violence during the dictatorship in Chile perpetrated by state agents, often with the collaboration of civilians.

    In this commemoration and to begin to reconstruct this history, as Núcleo DISCA we undertook the mission to collect information that allows us to recognize the place of people with disabilities in this period of the country’s history.

    As a first step we have consulted the reports of the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Rettig Report), the reports of the National Commission on Political Prisoners and Torture (Valech I and II) and the interactives archives of the Museum of Memory and Human Rights. How many people with disabilities were victims of political violence? How many of them died at the hands of State agents? How many of them were victims of forced disappearance and are still missing? What are their stories? Is there any record of survivors of torture, exiles and/or returnees who live with disabilities today? But finally, it has also been necessary to ask ourselves why even today these questions become original and the minimum data is not systematized?

    In our research, we have found 22 people. We identified their names, the court sentences in their cases, the records of other memory spaces (Museo de la Memoria, Londres 38, Memoria Viva, AFDD, AFEP, among others), as well as their records in the press and social networks, which allowed us – at least partially – to reconstruct their lives and also their outcome. It is urgent to make visible and remember their names, their stories and their faces; it is urgent, because without them, our democracy is incomplete: not all of us are here, not all of us are here.

    We are aware that many persons with disabilities may not have been identified in this review, mainly because the available information does not mention their disability. However, this is a first moment, for the reconstruction of a political, social and cultural memory of persons with disabilities in Chile. A memory that has even lost the proper name of the victims, as in the case of “Pepito“, a political executed person from Valdivia of whom we only know his alias. Pepito was a deaf and intellectually disabled person who was shot by a military patrol in the Preciosa Sangre Parish.

    Like this one, there are also cases -not yet recorded- of survivors with disabilities acquired as a result of the torture to which they were subjected, whose identity and dignity were taken away, through the practice of blinding, deafening and immobilizing their bodies.

    Núcleo Milenio DISCA undertakes this investigation and joins the demands for truth, justice and reparation for the survivors and families of the tortured, executed and disappeared, identifying and recognizing 22 citizens who today are missing from our democracy.

    Núcleo Milenio DISCA, September 11, 2023

    Detainees Disappeared with Disabilities

    1. AURELIO CLODOMIRO PEÑAILILLO SEPÚLVEDA
    2. JOSÉ ADOLFO GAMONAL SUAREZ
    3. JOSÉ EMILIANO BALBOA BENITEZ
    4. PEDRO JOSÉ VERGARA INOSTROZA
    5. RAIMUNDO SALAZAR MUÑOZ
    6. RAÚL BLADIMIR LEVEQUE CARRASCO
    7. SUSANA DEL ROSARIO GÓMEZ ANDRADE

    Political Executees with Disabilities

    1. PEPITO
    2. CARLOS VICENTE SALINAS FLORES
    3. DANIEL CÁCERES PEREDO
    4. ERNESTO GALLARDO ZÁRATE
    5. HUGO ENRIQUE ALFARO CASTRO
    6. JORGE MIGUEL SALAS PARADISI
    7. JUAN FIDEL VALENCIA LÓPEZ
    8. LUIS ARTURO NAVARRO PEÑA
    9. LUIS ENRIQUE PEREZ BALBONTIN
    10. LUIS HUMBERTO FUENTES FUENTES
    11. NELSON JOSÉ MÁRQUEZ AGUSTO
    12. PEDRO JUAN YAÑEZ PALACIOS
    13. PEDRO PURÍSIMO BARRÍA ORDOÑEZ
    14. RAÚL ARMANDO SEPÚLVEDA CATRILEO
    15. TEOBALDO SALDIVIA VILLALOBOS

    Editor’s note: Over the next few days we will be indexing the files of each of the persons with disabilities mentioned above. As well as making them visible in our Social Networks.

  7. Mental health of the President of the Republic: institucional responses and procedural and substantive standards of approach

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    Points of interest:

    • The article analyzes what would happen in Chile if the President of the Republic were to experience a mental health issue.
    • It studied the current Chilean law, which states that the Senate is responsible for declaring the president’s incapacity due to a physical or mental impairment.
    • The article reviewed cases from other countries, highlighting the United States, which has more research on mental health and politics.
    • It emphasizes that the stigma associated with mental health problems can negatively influence how these situations are handled.
    • It argues for a more inclusive and respectful view of the human rights of people with mental health issues, including political leaders.
    • The article proposes standards and procedures for this situation that align with international human rights standards.

    Notes:

    • The following summary was prepared by Núcleo Milenio DISCA and is based exclusively on the original publication. Therefore, it should not be used for citations or references.
    • This article was originally published in Spanish.