Philosophy
"Paul Schaefer, German Guilty of Chile Child Abuse, Dies at 89"
by
Alexei Barrionuevo
April 26th, 2010
The New York Times
A former Nazi-era German soldier who founded a secretive German cult in southern Chile, where he sexually abused about 25 children, died of heart failure at a prison hospital early Saturday, Chilean officials said. He was 89.
The former soldier, Paul Schaefer, was serving a 20-year sentence for the sexual abuse of minors, but he was also under investigation for the 1985 disappearance of Boris Weisfeiler, an American citizen who vanished while on a hiking trip.
The Chilean government said officially that Mr. Weisfeiler, then 43 years old, drowned while trying to ford a river. But State Department and C.I.A. reports that were later declassified indicated that he was probably kidnapped by Chilean state security forces, who then handed him over to Mr. Schaefer’s heavily armed Colonia Dignidad religious sect based nearby. Dozens of opponents of Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship were tortured at Colonia Dignidad, according to human rights groups.
One military informant said that Mr. Weisfeiler, a Russian-born Jew, was held captive there, and that he was later tortured and executed.
A former nurse from the Luftwaffe, Mr. Schaefer was forced to leave Germany after he was charged with sexually abusing young boys in an orphanage he ran there. In 1961 he founded Colonia Dignidad, an anti-Semitic apocalyptic religious sect about 225 miles south of Santiago. Early last decade it still had about 300 inhabitants, and it still exists but is referred to as Villa Baviera.
Mr. Schaefer ran the sect with a heavy hand, banning almost all contact with the outside world, separating women from men and children from their parents, and controlling intimate contact. While he was never a hunted Nazi, Mr. Schaefer opened Colonia Dignidad for fugitive Nazis to hide out for periods of time.
After Chile’s courts began investigating Mr. Schaefer for sexual abuse charges in the late 1990s, he fled to Argentina, where he hid until he was found in 2005. After being returned to Chile, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing 25 children.
Mr. Schaefer was also sentenced to three years for violating weapons control law after a huge military arsenal was found on Colonia Dignidad grounds, to seven years for homicide and to three years for torture.
The disappearance of Mr. Weisfeiler, who was a mathematics professor at Pennsylvania State University, continues to be an unsolved mystery, and Mr. Schafer was never charged in the case.
Sebastián Piñera, Chile’s president, said Saturday that while Mr. Schaefer now cannot be judged in court for additional crimes he was suspected of, “there is another justice that never ends, which is divine justice.”
Okay here's the problem..."Sebastián Piñera, Chile’s president, said Saturday that while Mr. Schaefer now cannot be judged in court for additional crimes he was suspected of, “there is another justice that never ends, which is divine justice.”"
Just how can an individual be made accountable for crimes, for the Christian faith declairs the absence of "freewill". "Reward/punishment" are rendered meaningless for we have no control over the unfolding of events.
- Saddam, Pinochet, And The Notion Of Justice
Helmut, over at Phronesisiacal, says it right: Two dead tyrants: Saddam and Pinochet. Two tragedies: that neither death is justice, whether the death came naturally or as the result of a bogus, politicized trial and state execution. Apologists for Pinochet...
- Annie Dookhan Sentenced
"Mass. chemist pleads guilty in drug lab scandal" by Bob Salsberg November 22nd, 2013 boston.com A former chemist at a Massachusetts drug lab who admitted faking test results in criminal cases pleaded guilty Friday and was sentenced to prison in a scandal...
- Deceased--victor Blanco
Victor Blanco March 10th, 1918 to March 8th, 2011 "Victor Blanco, Stargazer, Dies at 92" by Dennis Overbye March 16th, 2011 The New York Times Victor Blanco, a Puerto Rican astronomer who helped build a major outpost for American science, the Cerro Tololo...
- The Law But Not Justice
Just another example. "Court says county doesn’t have to pay for mistake" November 30th, 2010 The Midwest Democracy Project The Supreme Court says Los Angeles County does not have to pay attorney fees to a couple listed as child abusers even though...
- Iranian Woman Coerced To Confess?
If the following is true, I suppose Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani will be hanging from a rope soon executed not on adultery charges but on a more serious accusation...conspiracy in murder. The BBC posted a televised video of her confession. Mina Ahadi [Iran...
Philosophy
Curious religious conundrum
"Paul Schaefer, German Guilty of Chile Child Abuse, Dies at 89"
by
Alexei Barrionuevo
April 26th, 2010
The New York Times
A former Nazi-era German soldier who founded a secretive German cult in southern Chile, where he sexually abused about 25 children, died of heart failure at a prison hospital early Saturday, Chilean officials said. He was 89.
The former soldier, Paul Schaefer, was serving a 20-year sentence for the sexual abuse of minors, but he was also under investigation for the 1985 disappearance of Boris Weisfeiler, an American citizen who vanished while on a hiking trip.
The Chilean government said officially that Mr. Weisfeiler, then 43 years old, drowned while trying to ford a river. But State Department and C.I.A. reports that were later declassified indicated that he was probably kidnapped by Chilean state security forces, who then handed him over to Mr. Schaefer’s heavily armed Colonia Dignidad religious sect based nearby. Dozens of opponents of Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship were tortured at Colonia Dignidad, according to human rights groups.
One military informant said that Mr. Weisfeiler, a Russian-born Jew, was held captive there, and that he was later tortured and executed.
A former nurse from the Luftwaffe, Mr. Schaefer was forced to leave Germany after he was charged with sexually abusing young boys in an orphanage he ran there. In 1961 he founded Colonia Dignidad, an anti-Semitic apocalyptic religious sect about 225 miles south of Santiago. Early last decade it still had about 300 inhabitants, and it still exists but is referred to as Villa Baviera.
Mr. Schaefer ran the sect with a heavy hand, banning almost all contact with the outside world, separating women from men and children from their parents, and controlling intimate contact. While he was never a hunted Nazi, Mr. Schaefer opened Colonia Dignidad for fugitive Nazis to hide out for periods of time.
After Chile’s courts began investigating Mr. Schaefer for sexual abuse charges in the late 1990s, he fled to Argentina, where he hid until he was found in 2005. After being returned to Chile, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing 25 children.
Mr. Schaefer was also sentenced to three years for violating weapons control law after a huge military arsenal was found on Colonia Dignidad grounds, to seven years for homicide and to three years for torture.
The disappearance of Mr. Weisfeiler, who was a mathematics professor at Pennsylvania State University, continues to be an unsolved mystery, and Mr. Schafer was never charged in the case.
Sebastián Piñera, Chile’s president, said Saturday that while Mr. Schaefer now cannot be judged in court for additional crimes he was suspected of, “there is another justice that never ends, which is divine justice.”
Okay here's the problem..."Sebastián Piñera, Chile’s president, said Saturday that while Mr. Schaefer now cannot be judged in court for additional crimes he was suspected of, “there is another justice that never ends, which is divine justice.”"
Just how can an individual be made accountable for crimes, for the Christian faith declairs the absence of "freewill". "Reward/punishment" are rendered meaningless for we have no control over the unfolding of events.
- Saddam, Pinochet, And The Notion Of Justice
Helmut, over at Phronesisiacal, says it right: Two dead tyrants: Saddam and Pinochet. Two tragedies: that neither death is justice, whether the death came naturally or as the result of a bogus, politicized trial and state execution. Apologists for Pinochet...
- Annie Dookhan Sentenced
"Mass. chemist pleads guilty in drug lab scandal" by Bob Salsberg November 22nd, 2013 boston.com A former chemist at a Massachusetts drug lab who admitted faking test results in criminal cases pleaded guilty Friday and was sentenced to prison in a scandal...
- Deceased--victor Blanco
Victor Blanco March 10th, 1918 to March 8th, 2011 "Victor Blanco, Stargazer, Dies at 92" by Dennis Overbye March 16th, 2011 The New York Times Victor Blanco, a Puerto Rican astronomer who helped build a major outpost for American science, the Cerro Tololo...
- The Law But Not Justice
Just another example. "Court says county doesn’t have to pay for mistake" November 30th, 2010 The Midwest Democracy Project The Supreme Court says Los Angeles County does not have to pay attorney fees to a couple listed as child abusers even though...
- Iranian Woman Coerced To Confess?
If the following is true, I suppose Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani will be hanging from a rope soon executed not on adultery charges but on a more serious accusation...conspiracy in murder. The BBC posted a televised video of her confession. Mina Ahadi [Iran...