Deputy Pat McCartan gave me notice of his intention to raise on the Adjournment a matter concerning a former Chilean refugee to this country, Luis Tricot, who is at present imprisoned in Chile. Shall we say ten minutes for the Deputy and five minutes for the Minister to reply? Is that satisfactory?
Adjournment Debate. - Chilean Refugee's Plight.
Yes. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to make this plea on behalf of a former associate and friend who spent a number of years in this country having fled the terror of the Chilean régime under General Pinochet.
Luis Tricot came to this country in June 1975 shortly after the takeover there by the junta under the leadership of General Pinochet. From 1975 to March 1987 he sought to make a livelihood in this country, to pursue an education and rear a family which includes two young children who are citizens of this country. In March 1987 he returned home, following his wife and two children on the understanding — tacit though it was — that he would be well received and well accommodated. Unfortunately, within a few short months, this young man was in the grip of the secret police, interrogated and suffering from severe spinal injuries caused by his interrogators.
He is a man of talent who in the years he spent here pursued studies at Trinity College and at Essex University in England which led to a doctorate in Latin American Government and politics. I associated and worked with him in the cause of solidarity with Chile in his years here. His arrest has been a cause for concern by the Government and all parties in the House. Initially, his arrest was on the basis of complicity in an alleged Kidnap of Colonel Carlos Carrena. The colonel was subsequently released unharmed but, unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Luis Tricot. There was no evidence to substantiate his arrest and subsequent correspondence established that the current accusation against him is the alleged possession of a piece of detonating wire. The accusation has been constantly denied by this young man and I have no doubt that the wire was conveyed to the scene of his arrest in the comfortable concealment of the pocket of one of those who arrested and later accused him.
In February this year, through various hands and devices, I received a letter from Luis Tricot written in his cell in Santiago. I cannot do more for the cause of this young man than to read some of the letter:
Dear Friends,
It is now six months since my detention by the State police (CNE) and I still keep getting cards and letters of solidarity from hundreds of Irish men and women. People I've never met, but nontheless feel very close to my heart, since they have been a constant source of support not only for myself and my family, but for all political prisoners.
When one finds oneself in a situation like ours, a few beautiful words from a young girl, from Bandon or from a trade unionist in Dublin, acquire a very special dimension. We know we are not alone, that people elsewhere do care. Your solidarity and concern makes it more difficult for them to continue torturing us, or simply kill us. For this is Pinochet's Chile, a country where terror and violence are systematically used by the dictators in order to suppress any expression of dissent.
In Chile, death has become a form of life. Beneath that air of normality and tranquility you can "breathe" the screams of those being tortured, the anguish of the disappeared, the hunger and misery of the shanty towns.
This is not the country I grew up in, but I came back because I believe in freedom and the beauty of man, in his creative hands, in his capacity to overcome mediocrity and build a dignified future for all. I came back because Chile is not the partrimony of a few, it's the land of Lantaro and O'Higgins, Rodriquez and Allende, of millions of compatriots whose only dream is to be free, and they fight for it and it is hard and painful, you may even cry at times, but you also smile and laugh and keep up the struggle when you realise that more can be transformed into action, when you know that you are not alone, that your brother is fighting in Copiapó and your sister is challenging the police in Temuco...
Chile needs your solidarity more than ever before. Myself and my wife's ordeal constitute nothing but a tiny drop in an ocean of oppression.
Thanks Irish friends for your help and support. We will never forget you, do not forget us.
Just like you tendered us a friendly hand when we needed it and accepted us as refugees, we will, one day invite you all to come to a free Chile, for I am absolutely certain that we shall, overcome.
The beauty of that letter is not just in the words so ably put but in the fact that it was written by a man who at this stage must be in a desperate state. He has a wife and young family who live outside the country without hope or expectation. He was arrested on charges that were not sustained but later substituted and he has been in cusody for almost eight months without trial. Mr. Tricot has very close links and affinities with our country and we must all extend our hand of help and support to him.
I must express some disappointment at the response to date of the Irish Government to this case. I understand that the Irish Government have made representations and for that Luis, and ourselves, thank them but there is implicit in all their representations an acceptance that he has not been tortured and of the explanation that the serious back injury he suffered arose from an epileptic fit. That is unacceptable. The suggestion came initially in a report from the Red Cross which was responded to by us on 4 November 1987. We said that there was no basis for the Red Cross conclusion in regard to this. There was a suggestion, in correspondence on 14 December '87, that the correct information was available and that the Irish Government were acting upon it.
As far back as October 1987 I made the suggestion to the Irish Government that they might request a represenative from the Buenos Aires Embassy to travel the short journey, 100 miles, to Santiago to discuss with Luis his experiences and report on his physical condition. That is not a big task to ask the Government to undertake but it is as urgent as many of the visits by delegations from the city to London on behalf of Irish prisioners there, Luis is a friend of our country. We have a responsibility to him. I hope his plight will be highlighted more earnestly as a result of this Adjournment debate.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs has indicated that if Luis's intent is direct in expressing an interest in returning to his country he would intercede on his behalf. I presume that the letter of 1 March last from Luis Tricot has deen received by the Minister, Deputy Brian Lenihan. In that he explained that he was anxious to return with his family to live here, though reluctantly. His country is Chile but circumstances beyond his control make it impossible for him to live there for the time being. I urge the Minister, on behalf of all of us, to continue with his earnest efforts, to ensure that he is safe and well and to initiate his safe return to this jurisdicion where he will be received by all of us with the respect he deserves for the long years he has spent in his determined campaign to oppose the excesses and wrongs of the Pinochet regime. I should like to thank the Chair for giving me the opportunity to make this appeal.
I am pleased to be able to respond to this debate on behalf of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and I should like to thank the Deputy for raising this matter, The Government are concerned to do what they can to help to protect the welfare of Mr. Luis Tricot. Mr. Tricot has been in prison in Chile, since last September on a charge of illegal possession of explosives. When reports reached Ireland of allegations that Mr. Tricot had been mistreated in prison, the Government made representations on his behalf to the Chilean Government through the good offices of one of our European partners with an embassy in Santiago. We were advised by the Chilean authorities that Mr. Tricot has suffered a series of epileptic attacks, for which he had previously received treatment in Ireland, resulting in a fracture of a vertebra. He was, we were told receiving medical attention daily in line with the treatment prescribed in Ireland.
In January 1988 the Amnesty International report became available to us which contained allegations by Mr. Tricot that he was threatened, beaten and subjected to electric shocks and that, in consequences, he suffered an epileptic fit and a fractured vertebra. Mr. Tricot's statement substantiates reports of his mistreatment and torture which reached Ireland after his arrest last September and on the basis of which the concern of the Government was expressed to the Chilean authorities.
We have been considering making representations to the Chilean authorities to have Mr. Tricot released so that he can return to this country as a refugee. We are prepared to allow Mr. Tricot to return to live in this country — where he previously lived for several years as a refugee — if the Chilean authorities are willing to release him. On Friday last, 6 May 1988, the Minister for Foreign Affairs received a photocopy of a letter, dated 1 March 1988, from Mr. Tricot in which he says that he is prepared to travel to Ireland as a refugee if it would facilitate his early release from prison. Further representations are now being made to the Chilean authorities with a view to securing the release of Mr. Tricot without delay.
I was touched by the moving letter read by Deputy McCartan to the House indicating the difficult conditions in which Mr. Tricot finds himself. Ireland, which has a great record in humanitarian cases, will continue to do all possible to have Mr. Tricot released as quickly as possible. In this context I should like to mention the plight of two Irishwomen who were captured while working with Concern in Ethiopia. They are Mary Coen from Lurgan, in the parish of Mullagh, Ballinasloe, which is in my constituency, and Fiona Quinn of County Kildare. I accept that those women are being held for a different reason and in a different environment and we hope and pray that not alone will Luis Tricot be freed but that those women will be released unharmed and allowed to return to their perturbed parents and loved ones. I should like to assure the Deputy and the House that the Government will continue to do all they can to protect Mr. Tricot's welfare.
Will an official from the embassy in Buenos Aires travel to see him in Santiago?
In response to Deputies McCartan and Higgins, I will ask the Department of Foreign Affairs to consider that request. We are continuing to monitor this case and are in regular communication with the embassy in Buenos Aires. We will use whatever channels are necessary to secure this man's release.
I should like to thank the Minister of State for his response. On behalf of those who are concerned for Mr. Tricot I should like to state that what the Minister has said tonight gives us great hope for his safe return shortly.
The Dáil adjourned at 11 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 12 May 1988.