Chile plans register of Pinochet-era torture centers

SANTIAGO, June 21 (Reuters) Chile plans to map places where dissidents of the 17-year reign of former dictator Gen Augusto Pinochet were held, tortured and murdered, the national properties minister said.

The project is designed to create a permanent record of the dictatorship, which could shock many Chileans who weren't aware of tortures and killings committed in buildings they pass daily.

''We want the whole country to know what happened and where,'' National Property Minister Romy Schmidt said at the start of an international seminar on historic preservation in the Chilean capital, Santiago yesterday.

Schmidt said the new map would be available on the Internet and would show at least 515 government buildings that were used to repress Pinochet's opponents.

Nearly 3,200 people died or disappeared in political violence during the 1973-1990 dictatorship, according to government accounts.

The vast majority were killed by Pinochet's forces and by his infamous secret police in clandestine detention centers.

Another 28,000 were tortured, according to official figures.

''Let us support every legal tool, all of our democratic creativity so that in Chile we do not repeat this nightmare,'' Schmidt said. ''In other words, let's be clear that the abuse of human rights is a part of Chilean history.'' Pinochet died in December. He was 91.

REUTERS PDS BST0552