Harlan, André Joachim
Item
Name
Harlan, André Joachim
Given name
André Joachim
Family name
Jarlan
Relation
JOC, ACO chaplain
One-line bio
Born on 25 May 1941, André Jarlan was a French YCW and Christian Worker Movement (ACO) chaplain, who went to work as a fidei donum priest in La Victoria, Santiago, Chile, where he was killed by police on 4 September 1984.
Biography
André Jarlan entered the seminary at Saint-Pierre in Rodez (a room of which now bears his name) at the age of 12 and chose Martinique for his military service. He had travelled there to help the local population, but had to make do with... looking after the officers' children.
He was ordained a priest on 16 June 1968 in Rodez, then appointed vicar of the parish of Aubin. He became chaplain to the Jeunesse Ouvrière Catholique and Action Catholique Ouvrière in the region.
In 1982, he went to study Spanish at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. In February of the following year, he moved to the parish of La Victoria in Santiago de Chile, where he served alongside his compatriot, Fr Pierre Dubois, for a year and a half before his death.
The Chilean opposition parties called for a national day of protest against the Pinochet government on 4 and 5 September 1984.
On 4 September, police entered the neighbourhood of La Victoria parish, emblematically recognised as a bastion of resistance to the military regime, where the people had set up barricades, thrown Molotov cocktails and started fires.
A bullet pierced the wooden wall of the parish rectory and hit André Jarlan in the neck while he was reading the Bible, killing him instantly.
The next day, his coffin was taken by the people of Victoria to Santiago's Metropolitan Cathedral. His body was repatriated to France on 8 September, accompanied, according to Pierre Dubois, by thousands of people to Santiago's Pudahuel airport. He was buried in the cemetery of his native village on 11 September 1984.
Seven years later, the police officer suspected of shooting André Jarlan had his case dismissed.
In 1991, he was listed by the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission in its report on human rights violations committed during the military dictatorship.
Numerous and consistent testimonies were received, giving evidence of disproportionate police action, as there was no justification for the use of firearms at the time and in the presence of a high population density.
The evidence presented to this commission formed the basis for the conviction that André Jarlan was the victim of a human rights violation committed by government agents who used excessive force (Report of the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission).
André Jarlan is held in high esteem by the residents of the La Victoria district, where he is regarded as a symbol of all those who died during the Pinochet regime. A large number of murals in the district bear his portrait.
He is remembered each year with a week of commemoration.
He was ordained a priest on 16 June 1968 in Rodez, then appointed vicar of the parish of Aubin. He became chaplain to the Jeunesse Ouvrière Catholique and Action Catholique Ouvrière in the region.
In 1982, he went to study Spanish at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. In February of the following year, he moved to the parish of La Victoria in Santiago de Chile, where he served alongside his compatriot, Fr Pierre Dubois, for a year and a half before his death.
The Chilean opposition parties called for a national day of protest against the Pinochet government on 4 and 5 September 1984.
On 4 September, police entered the neighbourhood of La Victoria parish, emblematically recognised as a bastion of resistance to the military regime, where the people had set up barricades, thrown Molotov cocktails and started fires.
A bullet pierced the wooden wall of the parish rectory and hit André Jarlan in the neck while he was reading the Bible, killing him instantly.
The next day, his coffin was taken by the people of Victoria to Santiago's Metropolitan Cathedral. His body was repatriated to France on 8 September, accompanied, according to Pierre Dubois, by thousands of people to Santiago's Pudahuel airport. He was buried in the cemetery of his native village on 11 September 1984.
Seven years later, the police officer suspected of shooting André Jarlan had his case dismissed.
In 1991, he was listed by the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission in its report on human rights violations committed during the military dictatorship.
Numerous and consistent testimonies were received, giving evidence of disproportionate police action, as there was no justification for the use of firearms at the time and in the presence of a high population density.
The evidence presented to this commission formed the basis for the conviction that André Jarlan was the victim of a human rights violation committed by government agents who used excessive force (Report of the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission).
André Jarlan is held in high esteem by the residents of the La Victoria district, where he is regarded as a symbol of all those who died during the Pinochet regime. A large number of murals in the district bear his portrait.
He is remembered each year with a week of commemoration.
Country of origin
Geographic area
Aveyron
Birth date
May 25, 1941
Birth place
Rignac
Death date
September 4, 1984
Death place
La Victoria, Santiago, Chile
Movement
Young Christian Workers/Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne
Christian Worker Movement/Action Catholique Ouvrière
