Could a fig tree reveal a secret prison?

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Alejandra Holzapfel was a university student when she was abducted in 1974 during Chile’s military dictatorship under General Augusto Pinochet. Like thousands of other activists, she was detained without trial and held in a network of secret prisons where torture, sexual violence and enforced disappearances were routine. Alejandra was taken to one such place – a house on an ordinary residential street in Santiago that had been turned into a clandestine torture centre and disturbingly called the “Venda Sexy,” or the “Sexy Blindfold” by the military authorities who operated it. Blindfolded for three weeks, what helped Alejandra survive was the solidarity among the women detainees. In the rare moments when her blindfold was removed, she held on to small details of her surroundings – a staircase, a glimpse of a fig tree through a little bathroom window. Years later, after Chile’s return to democracy in 1990, those fragments of memory became vital clues. Together with other survivors, Alejandra helped identify the house, beginning a decades-long campaign to expose its past and reclaim it as a site of public memory. Today, Alejandra is back inside that same house – no longer a prisoner, but its director. The building is now known by its address, Iran 3037, which refers to the name of the street and the number of the house. She talks to BBC reporter Grace Livingstone about her search for truth and justice, and how a place once defined by cruelty has been transformed into one of remembrance and resistance. This programme contains references to torture and sexual violence. Presenter: Grace Livingstone Producer: Maryam Maruf Voiceover: Cecilia Barría Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707 (Photo: Alejandra Holzapfel has short, reddish-brown hair. She is wearing dangly earrings and layers of knitted clothes. She stands in front of an open iron gate showing a house with amber coloured walls and a tiled courtyard. Credit: Grace Livingstone)