How many people actually died or disappeared under Pinochet s regime?
The Chilean government has officially recognized 3,197 deaths and disappearances resulting from human rights violations by the military regime (1973-1990). It documents a total of 2,095 deaths and 1,102 disappearances. Each case is detailed in the Report of the Truth and National Reconciliation Commission (Rettig Report, 1991) and the subsequent “Informe sobre calificación de víctimas de violaciones de derechos humanos y de la violencia política” (1996). There is some reasonable doubt regarding the accuracy of the official statistics. First, the Rettig Commission was unable to reach a conclusion in several hundred of the cases it investigated. Secondly, it is widely acknowledged that many people did not come forward to denounce human rights abuses, either out of fear or mistrust of the government. There are no official figures for the survivors of human rights violations, such as those who suffered torture, imprisonment, exile or other human rights abuses, although by the end of the mi
