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Viviana Diaz Caro, human rights defender

Amnesty International, AI Index AMR 22/27/99
19 November 1999

On 11 November 1999, Viviana Diaz received another death threat which appears to come from the right wing extremist group Frente Nacionalista Patria y Libertad (FNL), Country and Freedom National Front. Amnesty International is extremely concerned for her safety.

The letter was sent to her at the offices in Santiago of the Agrupacion de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos, Association of Relatives of the `Disappeared', the non-governmental organization of which she is president.

It read: "...Sra Diaz, Ud. esta en nuestra lista, pero no tenemos apuro...lo que si le podemos asegurar es que Ud. no va a morir de vieja....nosotros no bromeamos, ni tampoco somos impacientes...estamos mucho mas cerca de Ud. de lo que se puede imaginar...que pase un feliz dia de los muertos...la proxima vez las flores seran para Ud....", ("...Mrs Diaz, you are on our list, but we are in no hurry...we can assure you that you won't die an old lady...we're not joking, nor are we impatient...we are much closer to you than you can imagine...have a nice Day of the Dead...next time the flowers will be for you...").

Further information regarding Ricardo Nunez, Jose Antonio Viera-Gallo and Dora Carreno will be relayed to the network as soon as possible.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The FNL is a right-wing extremist group that originated during the early years of General Augusto Pinochet's military government of 1973 to 1990.

Since the arrest of the former general in London, United Kingdom, in October 1998, relatives of victims of past human rights violations and human rights lawyers and activists have been increasingly harassed, including death threats, by groups close to the former military government.

The Agrupacion de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos, which was set up in the early years of General Pinochet's military government, have campaigned for information from the authorities about the whereabouts and fate of their relatives. Since the end of military rule, government agencies have been set up to establish the fate of the "disappeared", and 1,000 cases of "disappearance" have been officially recognized. legal efforts to find the truth, however, have been hampered by military and civilian courts closing cases under the Amnesty Law of 1978. The Agrupacion have continued to pursue their goal through national and international legal avenues and peaceful public activities.