While the Rettig Commission Report has helped bring healing to Chile, the country still struggled with its past. Old scars were not soon forgotten and the nation remained a divided one. Political torturers walked the streets beside those they persecuted. While many were avenged no court system could solve all of the 200,000 separate cases of torture and death.

The Rettig Commission’s three-volume report, published in March 1991, listed over 2,000 cases in which government agents were responsible for the execution, beating, or disappearance of people. It harshly criticized the Chilean armed forces for refusing to provide crucial information and claiming that the records were lost or destroyed by fire. The Commission also recommended several reparation measures—including pensions, fixed sum payments, and psychological counseling for victims’ families.

massive, indiscriminate repression where many victims without any political affiliation died.

One of Aylwin’s first acts as president was to create the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The eight-member commission, headed by attorney Raúl Rettig and called the Rettig Commission, was ordered to gather information about serious human rights violations during Pinochet’s rule and recommend just measures of reparation and reconciliation. The Rettig Commission had no power to try or convict anyone; information about allegedly criminal acts were to be passed onto Chilean courts. Working through nine unpaid months, the Commission went through extensive documentation of torture, murder, and disappearance.

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