SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A Chilean-American raised in the United States filed a criminal complaint against the Chilean government on Monday, alleging that it engaged in a systematic plan to steal thousands of babies from perceived enemies of the state in the 1970s and 1980s.
The case filed by Jimmy Lippert Thyden González, 43, aims to advance the task of Chilean prosecutors and human rights groups working on accountability for crimes committed under Gen. Augusto Pinochet.
On Sept. 11, 1973, Pinochet led a coup to overthrow Marxist President Salvador Allende, ushering in a period of brutal repression until 1990 during which at least 3,095 people were killed and tens of thousands more were imprisoned and tortured for political reasons.
Little more than a year after learning about his origins as one of thousands of Chilean adoptees taken from their biological parents without consent during Pinochet's dictatorship, Thyden González lodged his lawsuit in Santiago, Chile's capital.
He did it at a pivotal moment. On Monday, a new judge assumed control over the judicial investigations into the dictatorship's child-trafficking operations, the latest action as the left-wing government of President Gabriel Boric seeks to strengthen Chile's accountability efforts.
“First and foremost, we start with acknowledgement by the government that this has happened. Acknowledgment that there was a wrong," Thyden González, a lawyer and former Marine who was raised in Virginia, told The Associated Press in Santiago. "From there we can build on what reparations look like."
Last year, with the help of Nos Buscamos, a Chilean nonprofit facilitating the reconnection of families severed by coerced adoptions, Thyden González managed to track down and hug his birth mother, Maria Angelica González, who last glimpsed her newborn son being whisked away in a Santiago hospital ward.
Medics had told her that her premature son died shortly after delivery and that they had buried him while she recovered in the hospital. In reality, baby Thyden was given up for adoption to a family in the United States — one of the thousands of illegal overseas adoptions in Chile that predated Pinochet's dictatorship but increased during his 17 years in power.
According to reports from the Chilean judiciary obtained by the AP, there were some 20,000 cases of coerced or criminal adoptions overall. Civil society organizations such as Nos Buscamos estimate that more than 50,000 Chilean families have been affected.
It took until 2017 for Chile to launch judicial investigations into the chilling practice. The government has built a DNA database to enable adoptees and biological families to connect.
No one has been charged in connection with the abductions. Rights groups have criticized the government's failure to investigate the crimes more diligently and swiftly.
Officials in the Justice Ministry say 1,200 cases of coerced adoption — with most involving the Chilean babies taken to the United States and Sweden for adoption — are winding their way through the Santiago appeals court.
Chile's president met last week with the Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Stockholm, where they struck a cooperation agreement to “advance information sharing” about the coerced adoptions.
Thyden González's lawsuit is one of many attempts at finding justice. But while most of the previous criminal complaints turn on the specifics of individual adoptees' experiences, González’s case hopes to have a broader resonance.
His complaint stands out in denouncing a “systematic situation that spanned decades.”
“Apart from individual responsibilities, we are interested in determining the responsibility of the Chilean state," said Ciro Colombara, a human rights lawyer who filed Thyden González’s complaint. “This will be a discussion in local courts, national courts and eventually international human rights courts.”
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Born in Chile and adopted in the U.S., Marine Jimmy Lippert Thyden González reviews documents in the Supreme Court after presenting a criminal complaint against the Chilean government for child abduction, a widespread practice that spanned decades, in Santiago, Chile, Monday, July 1, 2024. Thyden González discovered more than a year prior that he was stolen at birth during the Augusto Pinochet regime. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Born in Chile and adopted in the U.S., Marine Jimmy Lippert Thyden González stands in the Supreme Court after presenting a criminal complaint against the Chilean government for child abduction, a widespread practice that spanned decades, in Santiago, Chile, Monday, July 1, 2024. Thyden González discovered more than a year prior that he was stolen at birth during the Augusto Pinochet regime. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Born in Chile and adopted in the U.S., Marine Jimmy Lippert Thyden González arrives at the Supreme Court to present a criminal complaint against the Chilean government for child abduction, a widespread practice that spanned decades, in Santiago, Chile, Monday, July 1, 2024. Thyden González discovered more than a year prior that he was stolen at birth during the Augusto Pinochet regime. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Born in Chile and adopted in the U.S., Marine Jimmy Lippert Thyden González arrives at the Supreme Court to present a criminal complaint against the Chilean government for child abduction, a widespread practice that spanned decades, in Santiago, Chile, Monday, July 1, 2024. Thyden González discovered more than a year prior that he was stolen at birth during the Augusto Pinochet regime. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
HATHRAS, India (AP) — Severe overcrowding and a lack of exits contributed to a stampede at a religious festival in northern India, authorities said Wednesday, leaving at least 121 people dead as the faithful surged toward the preacher to touch him and chaos ensued.
Five of those died on Wednesday morning, local official Manish Chaudhry said, and 28 people were still being treated in a hospital.
Deadly stampedes are relatively common at Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with shoddy infrastructure and few safety measures.
Some quarter of a million people turned up for the event Tuesday that was permitted to accommodate only 80,000. It’s not clear how many made it inside the giant tent set up in a muddy field in a village in Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh state.
It was also not clear what sparked the panic. But the state's chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, told reporters that a crowd rushed toward the preacher to touch him as he was descending from the stage, and volunteers struggled to intervene.
An initial report from the police suggested that thousands of people then thronged the exits, and many slipped on the muddy ground, causing them to fall and be crushed in the crowd. Most of the dead were women.
The chaos appeared to continue outside the tent also as followers again ran toward the preacher, a Hindu guru known locally as Bhole Baba, as he left in a vehicle. His security personnel pushed the crowd back, causing more people to fall, according to officials.
Authorities are investigating and searching for the preacher as well as other organizers, whose whereabouts are not known.
Adityanath said he ordered an inquiry by a retired judge into Tuesday's deaths.
Police registered a case of culpable homicide against two organizers, but excluded the preacher. Culpable homicide carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment in India.
Binod Sokhna, who lost his mother, daughter and wife, wept as he walked out of a morgue on Wednesday.
“My son called me and said, ‘Papa, mother is no more. Come here immediately.' My wife is no more,” he said, crying.
The preacher's Sri Jagat Guru Baba organization had spent more than two weeks preparing for the event.
Followers of the guru from across the state — which is India's most populous with over 200 million people — traveled to the village, with rows of parked vehicles stretching 3 kilometers (nearly 2 miles).
State official Ashish Kumar said there were insufficient exits in the vast tent. It’s not clear how many there were.
Experts said the event violated safety norms. “The function was held in a makeshift tent without ensuring multiple exit routes,” said Sanjay Srivastava, a disaster management expert.
On Tuesday, hundreds of relatives had gathered at local hospitals, wailing in distress at the sight of the dead, placed on stretchers and covered in white sheets on the grounds outside. Buses and trucks also carried dozens of victims to morgues.
Sonu Kumar was one of many local residents who helped lift and move dead bodies after the disaster. He criticized the preacher: “He sat in his car and left. And his devotees here fell one upon another.”
“The screams were so heart-wrenching. We have never seen anything like this before in our village,” Kumar added.
In 2013, pilgrims visiting a temple for a popular Hindu festival in central Madhya Pradesh state trampled one another amid fears that a bridge would collapse. At least 115 were crushed to death or died in the river.
In 2011, more than 100 people died in a crush at a religious festival in the southern state of Kerala.
Banerjee reported from Lucknow, India. Associated Press writer Krutika Pathi contributed from New Delhi.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Uttar Pradesh State Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in saffron robes, gestures to a woman who was injured in a stampede as she receives treatment at Hathras district hospital, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Police officers control a crowd that gathered at the site of Tuesday's stampede as it rains in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Severe overcrowding and a lack of exits contributed to a stampede at a religious festival in northern India, authorities said Wednesday, leaving more than 100 people dead as the faithful surged toward the preacher to touch him and chaos ensued. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Villagers run past the site of Tuesday's stampede as it rains in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Severe overcrowding and a lack of exits contributed to a stampede at a religious festival in northern India, authorities said Wednesday, leaving more than 100 people dead as the faithful surged toward the preacher to touch him and chaos ensued. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Villagers watch officials visit the site of Tuesday's stampede as it rains in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Severe overcrowding and a lack of exits contributed to a stampede at a religious festival in northern India, authorities said Wednesday, leaving more than 100 people dead as the faithful surged toward the preacher to touch him and chaos ensued. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Villagers crowd at the site of Tuesday's stampede as it rains in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Severe overcrowding and a lack of exits contributed to a stampede at a religious festival in northern India, authorities said Wednesday, leaving more than 100 people dead as the faithful surged toward the preacher to touch him and chaos ensued. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Uttar Pradesh State Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visits the place where a fatal stampede took place in Fulrai village of Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Uttar Pradesh State Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visit the place where a fatal stampede took place in Fulrai village of Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Jugnu, 35, looks at photographs of his mother Munni Devi, 60, victim of a stampede, in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Severe overcrowding and a lack of exits contributed to a stampede at a religious festival in northern India, authorities said Wednesday, leaving more than 100 people dead as the faithful surged toward the preacher to touch him and chaos ensued. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Jugnu, 35, mourns the death of his mother Munni Devi, 60, victim of a stampede, in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Severe overcrowding and a lack of exits contributed to a stampede at a religious festival in northern India, authorities said Wednesday, leaving more than 100 people dead as the faithful surged toward the preacher to touch him and chaos ensued. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Relatives and volunteers carry the bodies on stretchers at the Sikandrarao hospital in Hathras district about 350 kilometers (217 miles) southwest of Lucknow, India, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Manoj Aligadi)
Relatives mourn next to the bodies of their relatives outside the Sikandrarao hospital in Hathras district about 350 kilometers (217 miles) southwest of Lucknow, India, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering in India rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo)
Women mourn next to the body of a relative outside the Sikandrarao hospital in Hathras district about 350 kilometers (217 miles) southwest of Lucknow, India, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering in India rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores.(AP Photo/Manoj Aligadi)
A woman watches members of a forensic team investigate the scene a day after a fatal stampede, in Fulrai village of Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Rain puddles are seen at the scene of a fatal stampede, in Fulrai village of Hathras district about 350 kilometers (220 miles) southwest of the state capital, Lucknow, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Police tape cordons off the scene a day after a fatal stampede, in Fulrai village of Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Members of a forensic team investigate the scene a day after a fatal stampede, in Fulrai village of Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
People injured in a stampede receive treatment at Hathras district hospital, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
A man weeps while hugging the father-in-law of his 37-year-old sister Ruby, victim of a stampede, outside Hathras district hospital, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
A man mourns by the body of his 37-year-old sister Ruby, victim of a stampede, outside Hathras district hospital, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Family members of 37-year-old Ruby, victim of a stampede, mourn after receiving her body from a mortuary as they prepare to leave for their hometown, outside Hathras district hospital, Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Thousands of people at a religious gathering rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than hundred people and injured scores. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
