[asia-apec 950] APEC 99: Pinochet survivor decries police 'harassment'

[Gatt Watchdog]

>From New Zealand Herald, Auckland, 5-6 December 1998

Pinochet survivor decries police 'harassment'
by Warren Gamble

A former Chilean political prisoner says he is sick of being
harassed as a potential threat by Auckland police preparing a
massive security operation for next year's Apec conference.

Esteban Espinoza, who has lived in Auckland for 17 years after
surviving kidnapping and torture under the regime of General
Augusto Pinochet, fears other refugees with strong political
opinions will also be singled out.

Police say they had been conducting a "comprehensive assessment of
potential threats" for each of the 20 Apec delegations meeting in
Auckland next September.

Mr Espinoza said two police visits in the past three months were
an invasion of his and his family's privacy. They follow six
previous police checks on him since 1983, including one in 1985
when detectives told him they had information that he was planning
to shoot the Pope at Auckland Airport.

Mr Espinoza said the suggestion was laughable.  It was partly his
work for the Catholic Church in Chile which saw him jailed after a
student protest, and later kidnapped and given electric shocks by
military death squads.

The two most recent police visits, including one to his
73-year-old mother who does not speak English, follow his public
statements supporting the arrest of General Pinochet in London.

In the second visit last month, an Auckland officer identifying
himself as part of the threat assessment team for next year's Apec
summit visited him at home.

Mr Espinoza said the officer asked him about his plans for the
conference, but he said he did not have any.

As president of the Auckland Latin American community he was also
quizzed about another Chilean, and Peruvians who might also be
planning protests.

Mr Espinoza said he knew of no such plans and told the officer
that police should do their own work.

The 39-year-old said he had never taken up arms, and had
committed no offences in New Zealand.

"I don't feel like the shadows which took me away from my home in
1980 should have followed me for 17 years," he said.  "To me, this
is harassment. I have been singled out because I was outspoken
about Chile's problems."

The Apec police commander, Superintendent Peter Marshall, said it
would be remiss of police not to get a comprehensive overview of
potential Apec threats in what was the country's largest security
operation.

That meant speaking to "appropriately placed people who may or
may not indicate the levels of protest or problems in relation to
individual delegations".

Alliance MP Matt Robson called for a full report to Parliament on
the police assessment activities to ensure they were not
intimidatory or discriminatory.


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