Severe Setback: UN Reports Torture in Colonia Dignidad and Questions Kast’s Decision on Expropriation

Original article: “Grave retroceso”: denuncian ante la ONU torturas en Colonia Dignidad y cuestionan a Kast por renunciar a la expropiación

Describing it as a «severe setback», the Association for Memory and Human Rights of Colonia Dignidad questioned the decision by José Antonio Kast’s government to abandon the expropriation of the German enclave’s land, where detention and torture centers operated during the military dictatorship, with plans to transform it into a memorial site.

During the session of the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances in Geneva, the organization presented serious evidence reaffirming the operational link between Colonia Dignidad and the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) during Augusto Pinochet’s regime.

On this occasion, survivors provided testimonies directly implicating the founder and leader of the enclave, Paul Schäfer, and his right-hand man and doctor, Hartmut Hopp, in torture and interrogations, as well as in the handover of prisoners to the DINA.

Furthermore, they raised alarms about the alteration of crime scenes and flooding of underground areas caused by the operations of German colonist companies.

During these hearings, survivor María Isabel Romero Méndez shared her testimony about her detention on June 28, 1975, and her transfer to Colonia Dignidad, detailing that she was held for 20 hours during which she was interrogated and tortured by Paul Schäfer and Hartmut Hopp before being handed over in the San Javier area to the repressive agent Osvaldo «Guatón» Romo.

«In her statement, she provided crucial information about the fate of political prisoners transferred to Villa Grimaldi who are now listed as missing, including Carolina Wiff, Mireya Rodríguez, Michelle Peña, Carlos Lorca, Rosa Solís, and Sara Donoso,» the Association stated through a public declaration shared on social media.

In the same vein, Paola Peebles Vlahovic, daughter of former political prisoner Luis Peebles, denounced before the UN that commercial enterprises owned by the perpetrators and their heirs continue to exploit the site for recreational purposes, with a hotel, spa, and restaurant, «while destroying essential evidence for justice and the National Search Plan.»

Peebles reported that the space where the DINA headquarters operated—legally recognized by survivor Erick Zott in January 2025—has been subjected to unauthorized clean-ups and that the purpose of the flooding caused in the museum’s underground areas and hay shed was to alter markings and judicial inspections.

In addition, survivor Lelia Pérez Valdés denounced that under Kast’s administration, there has been an institutional regression in the prosecution of human rights violations and noted that the program investigating the crimes committed during the social outbreak has weakened, reducing the State’s ability to clarify the most recent abuses.

According to the statement, she also warned of a convergence between political sectors aligned with the government and parliamentarians to promote the release of those convicted of crimes against humanity, undermining the value of judicial decisions achieved after decades of litigation and highlighted a mode of «passive impunity» within the Human Rights Program itself.

Pérez stated that this entity—charged with defending victims—received instructions not to appeal against requests for release benefits for the perpetrators, which represents a renunciation of the active role it has historically played in criminal prosecution.

Finally, she referred to a campaign of discredit directed against the National Institute of Human Rights (INDH), which has played a significant role in monitoring and litigating in this matter.

«Severe setback that undermines Chile’s international commitments»

The organization demanded progress in investigations regarding former colonists residing in impunity in Germany and expressed their categorical rejection of the Kast government’s announcement to reverse the expropriation of the Memory Site, arguing that this decision is due to budgetary restrictions, marked by 97% of resources already committed in the Ministry of Housing and Urbanism.

«Renunciation of expropriation, as decided by Kast’s government, is a severe setback that undermines Chile’s international commitments regarding truth, justice, reparations, memory, and non-repetition,» stated Peebles.

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