Oppression still reigns in Chile, Amnesty says

Chileans still risk torture, jail, banishment, and death for opposing President Augusto Pinochet's military regime, eight years after it overthrew Chile's elected government, Amnesty International reported.

The London-based human rights group appealed to the regime to release political prisorners and account for 1,500 people who disappeared during the period 1973-77.

There is no longer the epidemic of disappearances of earlier years, the report said. But it added that there are consistent reports of torture and other abuse of prisoners. It said 2,700 people were arrested for political reasons in 1980 and all but 100 were released within hours or days.