Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos
After living in Chile for four months and adjusting to the vastly different cultural and language barriers, I thought it time to continue my contributions to FAWCO. Be warned, this is the first extensive writing I have done in English since my arrival, so please pardon any adjective reversals or paragraphs of complete Spanish. I will try my best.
However, the purpose of my writing is to discuss my visit to el Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos (the Museum of Memory and Human Rights). The museum was opened in 2010 under the presidency of Michelle Bachelet and is designed to conserve the memory of the human rights violations that occurred between 1973 and 1990 during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
But first, of course, a little background information on the dictatorship itself. On September 11th 1973, a military coup took place overthrowing the democratically elected Salvador Allende, replacing him with a strict and, at times, violent military dictatorship controlled by general Augusto Pinochet. Under his power, those with 'left leaning' ideologies or others that challenged his power were threatened. Thousands were captured, often being interrogated and tortured. What's more, by the end of his dictatorship, it is estimated that more than 4,000 Chilean men and women had died.
It is through this sentiment that the museum was created and it is something that became apparent upon my visit. It is very well laid out over three storeys. The museum holds information on all facets of the dictatorship's human rights abuses from information and videos discussing the build up and eventual coup, the victims of the dictatorship, and the protest movements that brought these abuses to an end.
Most disturbing for me, and perhaps most relevant for FAWCO, was the prevalence of sexual abuse among prisoners. In the section of the museum focusing on the physical abuses of the dictatorship, there was a video showing prisoners as they recalled the torture they endured. A number of women were featured and many of their stories were truly terrifying. They recalled instances of not just physical and psychological abuse, but also rape, vaginal mutilation, and vaginal electric-shock torture. Words do not convey how sickening this was to hear. What happened to these poor women was detestable, cowardly, and unforgivable and unfortunately is something that persists even to this day around the world.
The museum's finale was equally as shocking. Hanging on a wall of the main hall were over 4,000 photos of those that had died as political prisoners during the dictatorship. This put a human face on the museum's entire purpose. They didn't represent the classic image of 'communist extremists' but rather, normal people who represented all backgrounds of society. There were men, women, teenagers, and schoolteachers, all of whom looked harmless and human. This display also makes one realize the tragedy of 4,000 deaths. In today's society, tragedy is often measured in numbers and a figure such as 4,000 deaths over 20 years may seem somewhat 'overshadowed' by other death tolls of the past century. But this wall puts it into perspective. 4,000 faces, each with a life, a family, friends, and more importantly, a future.
For me this was an incredible and humbling experience. The museum keeps alive a painful memory, but it is also a necessary memory so that this nation will never forget the horror that was once allowed to endure here. I recommend this museum to anyone traveling through Chile.