The Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award is awarded annually by the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Policy Studies (IPS). It is awarded to those advancing the cause of human rights in the Americas. The Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award commemorates Orlando Letelier and Ronni Moffitt, who in 1976 were assassinated in Washington, D.C. by agents of the Chilean secret service. It was first presented in 1978. [1]
1978 | Samuel Rubin Reverend Benjamin Chavis, Jr. |
1979 | The Association of Relatives of Disappeared People, Chile Alfred "Skip" Robinson, United League of Mississippi |
1980 | The Legal Aid Office of the Archdiocese of San Salvador Reverend William Wipfler, National Council of Churches |
1981 | Jacobo Timerman The Congregation of Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic |
1982 | Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns of São Paulo, Brazil The Infant Formula Action Coalition |
1983 | Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS) of Argentina |
1984 | Dr. Ramón Custodio , President, Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Honduras Reverend Charles Harper (Special Recognition Award) |
1985 | The Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo (GAM) of Guatemala The Free South Africa Movement Frances Arbour (Special Recognition Award) |
1986 | The Vicariate of Solidarity (Chile) |
1987 | Bishop Mario Melanio Medina (Paraguay) |
1988 | Radio Soleil (Haiti) Charles L. Clements, M.D. |
1989 | The Union of Indigenous Nations of Brazil The National Labor Committee in Support of Democracy and Human Rights in El Salvador Robert Scherrer (Special Recognition Award) |
1990 | The National Human Rights Coordinating Committee of Peru Richard Trumka, President, United Mine Workers Union of America Father Jim Felts and Proyecto de Cristo Rey (Special Recognition Award) |
1991 | Jorge Gomez Lizarazo, President, Regional Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, Barrancabermeja, Colombia La Mujer Obrera, El Paso, Texas |
1992 | Evans Paul, Mayor of Port-au-Prince, Haiti Sam Buffone and Michael Tigar, lawyers for the Letelier-Moffitt Case Saul Landau (Special Recognition Award) |
1993 | Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia and Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Center in Chiapas, Mexico Marian Kramer and the National Welfare Rights Union |
1994 | Harry Belafonte (Special Recognition Award) Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) |
1995 | Jennifer Harbury (Special Recognition Award) Rose Johnson, Georgia Project Director of the Center for Democratic Renewal Haitian Human Rights Platform |
1996 | Pharis Harvey (Special Recognition Award) Asian Immigrant Women Advocates Leo Valladares |
1997 | The Rev. Dr. Mac Charles Jones (Special Recognition Award, posthumously) Sin Fronteras Organizing Project Alianza Civica |
1998 | Rose Sanders Coordinacion Colombia-Europa |
1999 | Juan Garces |
2000 | Oscar Olivera, Coordinator in Defense of Water and Life (Bolivia) |
2001 | 25th Anniversary All prior recipients honored |
2002 | Bishop Álvaro Ramazzini (Guatemala) Naúl Ojeda (Special Recognition Award, posthumously) |
2003 | Nancy Sanchez Mendez Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Special Recognition Award) |
2004 | Seymour Hersh |
2005 | Judge Juan Guzmán Barrios Unidos |
2006 | Maher Arar and Center for Constitutional Rights Gulf Coast Renewal Campaign |
2007 | Senator Gustavo Petro (Colombia) DC Vote (Special Recognition Award) |
2008 | Francisco Soberón and the Asociación Pro-Derechos Humanos (Peru) Indian Workers Congress |
2009 | Domestic Workers United La Mesa Nacional Frente a la Minería Metálica en El Salvador |
2010 | National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) Honduras Human Rights Platform |
2011 | Wisconsin Progressive Movement Bethlehem, The Migrant's Shelter (Mexico) |
2012 | City Life/Vida Urbana The Chilean Students Movement (Confederation of Chilean Students) (Chile) |
2013 | 50th anniversary of IPS All prior recipients honored |
2014 | Robin Reineke of the Colibrí Center for Human Rights The Mesoamerican Initiative of Women Human Rights Defenders Juan E. Méndez (Special Recognition Award) |
2015 | Daryl Atkinson and the Southern Center for Social Justice Almudena Bernabeu and the Center for Justice and Accountability |
2016 | 40th anniversary of the assassinations of Orlando Letelier and Ronni Karpen Moffitt All prior recipients honored |
2017 | Opal Tometi and the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) Javier Rojas Uriana |
2018 | New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice Derechos Humanos y Medio Ambiente (DHUMA) |
Marcos Orlando Letelier del Solar was a Chilean economist, politician and diplomat during the presidency of Salvador Allende. A refugee from the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, Letelier accepted several academic positions in Washington, D.C. following his exile from Chile. In 1976, agents of Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA), the Pinochet regime's secret police, assassinated Letelier in Washington via the use of a car bomb. These agents had been working in collaboration with members of the Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations, an anti-Castro militant group.
The Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional or DINA was the secret police of Chile during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. The DINA has been referred to as "Pinochet's Gestapo". Established in November 1973 as a Chilean Army intelligence unit headed by Colonel Manuel Contreras and vice-director Raúl Iturriaga, the DINA was then separated from the army and made an independent administrative unit in June 1974 under the auspices of Decree 521. The DINA existed until 1977, after which it was renamed the Central Nacional de Informaciones or CNI.
Juan Manuel "Mamo" GuillermoContreras Sepúlveda was a Chilean Army officer and the former head of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), Chile's secret police during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. In 1995, he was convicted of the murder of Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier in Washington, DC, and sentenced to seven years in prison, which he served until 2001. At the time of his death, Contreras was serving 59 unappealable sentences totaling 529 years in prison for kidnapping, forced disappearance, and assassination.
The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) is an American progressive think tank started in 1963 that is based in Washington, D.C. It was directed by John Cavanagh from 1998 to 2021. In 2021 Tope Folarin was announced as new Executive Director. It focuses on U.S. foreign policy, domestic policy, human rights, international economics, and national security.
United States intervention in Chilean politics started during the War of Chilean Independence (1812–1826). The influence of United States in both the economic and the political arenas of Chile has since gradually increased over the last two centuries, and continues to be significant.
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Virgilio Pablo Paz Romero is a Cuban exile and militant who was involved in the 1976 assassination of former Chilean ambassador Orlando Letelier in Washington, D.C. Paz Romero was one of two people accused of detonating a remote-controlled car bomb that killed Letelier and a colleague in Washington's Sheridan Circle.
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On 21 September 1976, Orlando Letelier, a leading opponent of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, was assassinated by car bombing, in Washington, D.C. Letelier, who was living in exile in the United States, was killed along with his work colleague Ronni Karpen Moffitt, who was in the car with her husband Michael. The assassination was carried out by agents of the Chilean secret police (DINA), and was one among many carried out as part of Operation Condor. Declassified U.S. intelligence documents confirm that Pinochet directly ordered the killing.
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Juan Bustos was a Chilean politician, law professor and lawyer. He served as the President of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile from March 13, 2008 until his death on August 7, 2008. He was known as an ardent opponent of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship and the human rights abuses committed by the regime.
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Fabiola Alicia Letelier del Solar was a Chilean lawyer, noted for her activism and defense of human rights in Chile and Latin America. She was the founder and president of CODEPU (1980–1998), and a plaintiff lawyer in the case surrounding her brother Orlando Letelier's assassination in 1976. On 23 July 2018, she was awarded the National Human Rights Prize, awarded by the National Institute of Human Rights.
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