Horman, Joyce

Charles Edmund Horman, a Harvard educated American freelance journalist, was abducted, tortured, and executed in Chile during General Augusto Pinochet's coup d'état that began on September 11, 1973 to overthrew the government of Salvador Allende. After Horman's disappearance his family, including wife Joyce Horman and parents Edmund and Elizabeth Horman began an effort to find him, and then, following the eventual discovery of his body, to determine who was involved in his murder. In 1976 Joyce Horman, on behalf of the Horman family, filed the landmark suit Joyce Horman, et al., v. Henry Kissinger, et. al. that charged Kissinger and other Nixon Administration officials with the wrongful death of Charles Horman and with its concealment. In 1980 the case was dismissed "without prejudice."

In 1978 the book The Execution of Charles Horman by Thomas Hauser, and then in 1982 the film Missing by director Costa-Gavras publicized allegations that the United States government had known about—and perhaps been complicit in—the abduction and murder of Horman. The film elicited a libel lawsuit against Costa-Gavras and Universal Studios by Nathaniel Davis, who had been U.S. Ambassador to Chile in 1973. The suit was later dismissed.

In 1999 a previously classified State Department memorandum from 1976 [ published on-line by the National Security Archive at George Washington University] was released. The memo stated that "U.S. Intelligence may have played an unfortunate part in Horman's death. At best, it was limited to providing or confirming information that helped motivate his murder by the GOC [Government of Chile]. At worst, U.S. Intelligence was aware the GOC saw Horman in a rather serious light and U.S. officials did nothing to discourage the logical outcome of GOC paranoia."

More information about Joyce Horman's continued legal efforts against Pinochet and on behalf of victims of human rights violations in Chile can be found at the Charles Horman Truth Project, on-line at http://www.hormantruth.org/index.htm

From the guide to the Joyce Horman and Edmund Horman Papers 2008-12. N/A., 1973-, (Benson Latin American Collection, The University of Texas at Austin)