Maria Cristina San Juan Avila, aged 39, is currently held in San Miguel men’s prison in Santiago, where she is serving a life sentence after conviction of “Asociacion ilicita terrorista” (terrorist/illicit association) and auxiliary to kidnapping. Her lawyers have appealed against the sentence. She suffers from the potentially lethal chronic disorder lupus erythematosus and Takayazu’s disease (constriction of the blood vessels), yet since her detention in March 1992, she has only had access to non-specialist medical consultation. There is concern that her serious medical condition is not being adequately monitored and that this might put her health and life in jeopardy. She is alleged to have been tortured during incommunicado detention when she was first detained.
