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Mujeres protestan frente a reunión de la ONU / Women Protest in Front of a UN Meeting (Photo: Martin Melaugh)

This arpillera illustrates a hunger strike by members of the Association of the Families of the Detained-Disappeared (AFDD). On June 14th 1977, 24 women and 2 men entered the headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America (CEPAL) in Santiago, which they then occupied for 10 days, and declared themselves on hunger strike. Their stated goal was to force the Pinochet regime to acknowledge its use of forced disappearance and provide information on the whereabouts and fates of the Detained-Disappeared.

At first strikers slept on chairs and took turns staying awake as guards, though as tensions with UN staff relaxed, they were given camp beds. They were also keen to keep in contact with the outside world. Some strikers here can be seen writing, perhaps some of the letters which were passed on to their colleagues from the AFDD who stood in solidarity outside the building, passing on their demands to international press. Some strikers wrote diaries too, where they described hearing about their action on national and international radio programmes.

The occupation of a UN organisation building was a strategic choice. It served as a safe refuge from arrest and harassment by carabineros; it was unlikely the regime would dare cross into UN jurisdiction. The UN had already recognised Chile’s ‘gross and massive violations of human rights’ in 1974 (UN resolution 3219) and when they officially expressed support for the strikers their cause became more legitimate to the public. It also caught much attention and was appealing to news media and was a key event in spreading international awareness of the Detained-Disappeared. (HM0425)

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