Colonia Dignidad

==Legal proceedings==
In 2004, a Chilean court convicted Schäfer and 26 other cult members of child abuse.<ref name=27Convicted/> In 2006, Schäfer was sentenced to 20 years in prison.<ref name=PaulSentence/>

In early 2011, [[Hartmut Hopp]], considered to be Schäfer's "right-hand-man" at Colonia Dignidad, was placed under house arrest in Chile while awaiting trial for human rights crimes.<ref name=Hopp>{{cite news |url=http://santiagotimes.cl/colonia-dignidad-cults-second-in-command-flees-chile/ |title=Human Rights & Law News: "Colonia Dignidad Cult's Second-In-Command Flees Chile" |first=Amanda |last=Reynoso-Palley |newspaper=[[The Santiago Times]] |date=2011-05-25 |access-date=2015-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402154908/http://santiagotimes.cl/colonia-dignidad-cults-second-in-command-flees-chile/ |archive-date=2015-04-02 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In May 2011, Hopp fled Chile on board a helicopter, later making his way to Germany.<ref name=Hopp/> In June 2016, prosecutors in Germany petitioned a court to enforce a 5-year prison sentence that Hopp was sentenced to in absentia in Chile.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.rp-online.de/nrw/staedte/krefeld/hartmut-hopp-koennte-taeter-und-opfer-zugleich-sein-aid-1.6143922 |title=Sektenarzt aus Krefeld: Hopp könnte laut Regierung Täter und Opfer zugleich sein |last=Stirken |first=Norbert |work=[[Rheinische Post]] |language=de |date=2016-07-27 |access-date=2016-09-05}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36474940 |title=German court asked to jail Chile sect doctor Hartmut Hopp |author=Staff writers |work=[[BBC News]] |date=2016-06-08 |access-date=2016-09-05}}</ref> In May 2019, German prosecutors announced that they had dropped their investigation into Hopp and Reinhard Döring. In January 2020, a lawyer for the victims, Petra Schlagenhauf, lodged a complaint seeking to have the investigation reopened.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-48199495 |title=Colonia Dignidad: Germany drops probe into sect doctor |author=Staff writers |work=[[BBC News]] |date=2019-05-08 |access-date=2020-09-05}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://taz.de/Anwaeltin-ueber-die-Colonia-Dignidad/!5655242|title=Zeugen wurden nicht gehört |author=Ute Löhning|language=de |work=[[Die Tageszeitung]] |date=2020-01-14 |access-date=2020-09-05}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ecchr.eu/en/case/colonia-dignidad-remains-a-dark-chapter-of-german-legal-history|title=Colonia Dignidad Remains a Dark Chapter of German Legal History |author=<!--Not stated-->| website=European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights|access-date=2020-09-05}}</ref>

Hopp and other alleged accomplices in Schäfer's crimes who were charged and awaiting trial took refuge in Ewald Frank's church in Germany, where they were protected from extradition. Frank is a leader of William Branham's followers in Germany. German protestors picketed in front of Frank's church to protest his actions. The government of Chile banned Ewald Frank from entering the country after finding he had been visiting and holding revival meetings with Schäfer's followers at Colonia. Schäfer's followers speculated to news reporters that Frank and Schäfer had known each other since the 1950s when they were both at Branham's European campaign meetings together.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dw.com/es/krefeld-y-su-conexi%C3%B3n-con-colonia-dignidad/a-46058041|title=Krefeld and its connection to Colonia Dignidad|publisher=DW News|author=Dannemann, Victoria|date=October 26, 2018|accessdate=2021-08-30}}</ref><ref name="Reuters&nbsp;—German sect victims seek escape from Chilean nightmare past">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-chile-sect-idUSBRE8480MN20120509|title=Insight: German sect victims seek escape from Chilean nightmare past|date=9 May 2012|publisher=[[Reuters]]|access-date=2 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://ciperchile.cl/2009/09/03/ex-hombre-de-confianza-de-schafer-habla-por-primera-vez-pide-su-parte-tras-millonario-acuerdo-entre-villa-baviera-y-el-cde/|title=Schäfer's former henchman speaks for the first time: asks for his share after a millionaire agreement between Villa Baviera and the CDE|publisher=CIPER|date=March 9, 2009|author=Basualto, Rebecca}}</ref>

At the time that Hopp fled Chile, 10 other cult members were out on bail awaiting trial on various charges. Fearing that they would also flee the country, their bail was immediately revoked and they were taken into custody.<ref name=Hopp/>

In 2010, Chilean authorities opened an investigation into the events occurring in the colony during the 1990s, resulting 19 months later in the Supreme Court issuing a unanimous ruling to prosecute 16 Chilean and German members of the colony.<ref name=Lawsuit>{{cite news |title=Chile Abroad: Colonia Dignidad victims file US $120 million lawsuit against Chile |first=Laina |last=Roberts |newspaper=[[The Santiago Times]] |date=2013-01-29 |access-date=2015-02-28 |url=http://santiagotimes.cl/colonia-dignidad-victims-file-us120-million-lawsuit-against-chile/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402100848/http://santiagotimes.cl/colonia-dignidad-victims-file-us120-million-lawsuit-against-chile/ |archive-date=2015-04-02 |url-status=dead}}</ref> On 28 January 2013, six former leaders of the colony were sentenced to prison, while the remaining 10 were found guilty of lesser crimes and given probationary sentences.<ref name=Lawsuit/>

In March 2017, the German [[Bundestag]] officially acknowledged the responsibility of Germany and the failure of the German foreign policy regarding the Colonia Dignidad and members of all the parties in the German parliament passed a resolution giving the government a year to come up with plans to investigate the history of the colony, establish a [[memorial]], and offer assistance to victims and family members.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Colonia Dignidad survivors demand German action – DW – 06/13/2018 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/relatives-of-colonia-dignidad-victims-await-germanys-plan/a-44208686 |access-date=2022-10-28 |website=dw.com |language=en}}</ref>