„Torture is Not Talked About"

José Giribás Marambio

According to official figures, approximately 40,000 people were incarcerated and tortured as political prisoners during the Pinochet dictatorship. More than 3,200 people were murdered by the state, and 1,132 are still missing.

Chile had around 1,200 secret prisons and detention centers where people were tortured, of which more than 220 were located in Santiago. Two of those have been declared Places of Remembrance, namely Villa Grimaldi and London 38. Unfortunately, only these two receive government support. As documented in the case of Borgoño 1470, today’s police headquarters, other places of torture have since been used by the military or the police.

My work provides photo documentation of thirteen places of murder and torture, ten of them in Santiago, one in Parral (Colonia Dignidad), others in Valparaiso (Silva Palma Barracks) and Punta Arenas (Palace of Smiles). The photo documents are augmented by portraits of approximately twenty witnesses and their reports.