Sergio Valech Aldunate (21 October 1927 – 24 November 2010) was the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Auxiliary Bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

Emeritus of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile () is one of the five Latin metropolitan sees of the Catholic Church in Chile. Ecclesiastical province Its Suffragan sees are: * Roman Catholic Diocese of Linares * Roman Catholic Diocese of M ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. He was the head of the eight-member National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture panel in Chile, which investigated instances of torture that occurred under the

military regime A military dictatorship, or a military regime, is a type of dictatorship in which power is held by one or more military officers. Military dictatorships are led by either a single military dictator, known as a strongman, or by a council of mi ...

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...

. After a six-month investigation, and another six months of preparation, the panel released the

Valech Report The Valech Report, officially known as The National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture Report, documents instances of abuses committed in Chile between 1973 and 1990 by agents of Augusto Pinochet's military regime. Published on Novem ...

. Valech was born in

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

, to a family of rich

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

immigarnts. He was ordained priest of Santiago de Chile on 28 June 1953. On 27 August 1973, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Santiago de Chile and Titular Bishop of Zabi. On 18 October 1973 he was ordained Titular Bishop of Zabi. He retired as Auxiliary Bishop of Santiago de Chile on 3 March 2003. Valech died of lung cancer on 24 November 2010.(24 November 2010).
Chilean bishop who defended human rights dies
,

EFE Agencia EFE, S.A. () is a Spanish international news agency, the major Spanish language, Spanish-language multimedia news agency and the world's fourth largest wire service after the Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse. EFE was ...

. Reprinted in

Fox News Latino The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is own ...

. Retrieved 25 November 2010.

References

External links

Commission of Inquiry:Chile 03 - United States Institute of Peace
* Wikinews report on the release of the Valech Report 1927 births 2010 deaths Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Chile Clergy from Santiago, Chile Deaths from cancer in Chile 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Chile Chilean people of Syrian descent Chilean people of Basque descent Roman Catholic bishops of Santiago de Chile {{Chile-RC-bishop-stub