webfact Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 German president admits diplomat failures in colony in ChileBy EVA VERGARASANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Germany's president said Tuesday that he regrets his country's diplomats failed for years to act on human rights violations at a secretive colony of German immigrants in Chile.Germany recently ordered documents about Colonia Dignidad, or Dignity Colony, from 1986 until 1996 to be unclassified for research purposes. For three decades from 1961, the enclave was the site of torture, slavery and child abuse."German diplomats didn't take seriously the human rights violations at a concrete time," Gauck said at a joint news conference with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.The leaders met earlier and Gauck said they spoke about "dark chapters" in their countries' past."We hope that the declassifying of these documents will help contribute to knowing the truth about the many disappeared and executed at Colonia Dignidad and its surroundings," Bachelet said.The colony was founded by Paul Schaefer, a former medic in the Luftwaffe. After his World War II service, Schaefer became an evangelical preacher. He fled Germany after being accused of molesting boys at the orphanage he ran and began what became home to hundreds of Germans and Chileans in the enclave about 250 miles (400 kilometers) southeast of Santiago.Schaefer also allowed Gen. Augusto Pinochet's security forces to operate a clandestine prison on the grounds where they tortured and executed dissidents during the 1973-1990 military dictatorship, according to witnesses' testimony in court documents.Colony members said married couples were forced to live apart and children were separated from parents. Residents were prevented from leaving. Those who dared to upset Schaefer were subject to electric shocks, high doses of tranquilizers and long periods of isolation.There were also dozens of allegations of child molestation, leading Schaefer to flee Chile in 1997. He was arrested in neighboring Argentina in 2005 and extradited to Chile the same year. Schaefer died in prison in 2010, while serving time for abusing about 20 children at the colony.The enclave's history was featured in a recent movie starring Emma Watson and Daniel Bruehl.-- (c) Associated Press 2016-07-13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirtless Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 Diplomatic failures sounds like a common theme these days , same as political failures, its a daily event and these people are meant to be bright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halloween Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 "....movie starring Emma Watson and Daniel Bruehl." Colonia (2015) I was thinking The Boys From Brazil - showing my age again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elgordo38 Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 Diplomatic failures sounds like a common theme these days , same as political failures, its a daily event and these people are meant to be bright.The only time they sound bright is when they are campaigning for your vote. After that they no longer care about you. I often think back over elections in the past and the politicians full of W and P stand there and proclaim to be the peoples champion. Watching Theresa May give her rah rah rah speech for the people etc. made me positively ill. Again its the claptrap I have listened to over the decades of my life. Its proved to be sickening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgesAbitbol Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 Colonies are a failure...maybe some should learn from this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTIRIOS Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 ...'colony' is a euphemism.... ...conducting experiments on humans....is that your definition....??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulic Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 Personally I don't trust any one that is overly religious. Yes that includes all Catholic Priests and Ted Cruz. My father warned me about the priests and the boy scout leaders when I was 12 years old, about 1970. Took us to church a bit for part of our education but no Sunday school or Boy Scouts allowed. Then there is the Jones Town, David Koresh and the Brach Dravidians crazies. I just don't trust the overly religious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumpkin Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 (edited) Why couldn't the Chilean authorities have investigated sooner? Was this a Chilean police "no go" area ? The Pinochet regime ended a long time ago. Edited July 13, 2016 by bumpkin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KKr Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 WW-II veteran? Did he have experience running a "colony" professionally?(P.S. this is not meant as German bashing. Just pointing out a possibility.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpyre Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 German diplomatic failure??? Clearly the purview of Chilean authorities,and the failure is their's... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALLSEEINGEYE Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 According to the movie the German diplomats tried to hand over the 2 escaping German citizens back to Schaffer at the airport. They were barely able to escape on a German flight only because the pilot disobeyed his order not to taxi (if the movie is accurate in it's story that it). Quite an interesting movie and worth the watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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