The ruling concerns crimes committed by the former uniformed officers in the localities of Rahue, San Juan de la Costa, Puyehue, Río Negro, Puerto Octay, Río Bueno, Pilmaiquén, and other areas of the Osorno province following the coup d'état.

The Temuco Court of Appeals convicted 19 former Carabineros in the investigation into various crimes of aggravated kidnapping and torture committed in the sectors of Rahue, San Juan de la Costa, Puyehue, Río Negro, Puerto Octay, Río Bueno, Pilmaiquén, and others in the Osorno province, starting on September 11, 1973.

In a split decision, acting as the legal substitute tribunal, judges Luis Troncoso, Julio César Grandón, and Alejandro Vera confirmed and partially modified the sentence handed down by the visiting judge of the Valdivia Court of Appeals, Darío Carretta.

The resolution was adopted with a dissenting vote from Judge Troncoso, who was in favor of applying the statute of limitations to the criminal action.

THE SENTENCES

The ruling sentences former Carabinero officer Adrián Fernández Hernández to 15 years in prison, without benefits; former officers Rolando Becker Solís and Rafael Pérez Torres to 12 years in prison, without benefits.

Meanwhile, Gustavo Muñoz Albornoz was sentenced to 10 years and one day in prison, without benefits; German García and Raúl Enrique Zapata to 8 years in prison, without benefits; Camilo Astete Cáceres to 7 years in prison, without benefits; Carlos Obando Rodríguez to 5 years in prison, with the benefit of supervised release granted.

Nelson Rodríguez Guerrero and Antonio Baros Muñoz were sentenced to 4 years in prison, with the benefit of supervised release granted.

Meanwhile, Héctor Matus Martínez, Francisco Ovando Cárcamo, and Guido Almonacid Almonacid were sentenced to 3 years and one day in prison, also with the benefit of supervised release.

Likewise, Mario Cabello Yáñez, René Bórquez Angulo, and Orozimbo Sepúlveda Ignao were sentenced to 700 days in prison, with the benefit of conditional remission of the sentence, while Renato Lezana Lezana, Amado Beck Hernández Rivas, and Sergio Conejeros Ortega were sentenced to 600 days in prison, with the benefit of conditional remission of the sentence.

Finally, former Carabineros Renato Padilla Etter, Jorge Barrientos Camadro, Armando Ángulo Fuchslocher, Pablo Mansilla Bórquez, Dagoberto Gajardo Cerón, and Nelson Soto Rubilar were acquitted due to a lack of evidence regarding their responsibility in the investigated events.

PROCEDURAL CONFLICTS

The Temuco Court of Appeals had to assume the role of legal substitute for the Valdivia Court of Appeals after all the judges of the appellate court of the Los Ríos region were disqualified from hearing the case.

In turn, Judge Darío Carretta had to take over the case after the Supreme Court ordered a new process due to the disqualification of Judge Emma Díaz, the magistrate in charge of human rights cases in that jurisdiction.

Source: UPI, February 4, 2013

Court convicts 19 former Carabineros for disappearances and torture in the Los Lagos Region in 1973

The Temuco Court of Appeals convicted 19 former Carabineros in the investigation into various crimes of aggravated kidnapping and torture committed in the sectors of Rahue, San Juan de la Costa, Puyehue, Río Negro, Puerto Octay, Río Bueno, Pilmaiquén, and others in the Osorno province, starting on September 11, 1973.

In a split decision, acting as the legal substitute tribunal, judges Luis Troncoso, Julio César Grandón, and Alejandro Vera confirmed and partially modified the sentence handed down by the visiting judge of the Valdivia Court of Appeals, Darío Carretta.

The ruling sentences former Carabinero officer Adrián Fernández Hernández to 15 years in prison, without benefits; former officers Rolando Becker Solís and Rafael Pérez Torres to 12 years in prison, without benefits.

Meanwhile, Gustavo Muñoz Albornoz was sentenced to 10 years and one day in prison, without benefits; German García and Raúl Enrique Zapata to 8 years in prison, without benefits; Camilo Astete Cáceres to 7 years in prison, without benefits; Carlos Obando Rodríguez to 5 years in prison, with the benefit of supervised release granted.

Nelson Rodríguez Guerrero and Antonio Baros Muñoz were sentenced to 4 years in prison, with the benefit of supervised release granted.

Meanwhile, Héctor Matus Martínez, Francisco Ovando Cárcamo, and Guido Almonacid Almonacid were sentenced to 3 years and one day in prison, also with the benefit of supervised release.

Likewise, Mario Cabello Yáñez, René Bórquez Angulo, and Orozimbo Sepúlveda Ignao were sentenced to 700 days in prison, with the benefit of conditional remission of the sentence, while Renato Lezana Lezana, Amado Beck Hernández Rivas, and Sergio Conejeros Ortega were sentenced to 600 days in prison, with the benefit of conditional remission of the sentence.

Finally, former Carabineros Renato Padilla Etter, Jorge Barrientos Camadro, Armando Ángulo Fuchslocher, Pablo Mansilla Bórquez, Dagoberto Gajardo Cerón, and Nelson Soto Rubilar were acquitted due to a lack of evidence regarding their responsibility in the investigated events.

The resolution was adopted with a dissenting vote from Judge Troncoso, who was in favor of applying the statute of limitations to the criminal action.

The Temuco Court of Appeals had to assume the role of legal substitute for the Valdivia Court of Appeals after all the judges of the appellate court of the Los Ríos region were disqualified from hearing the case.

In turn, Judge Darío Carretta had to take over the case after the Supreme Court ordered a new process due to the disqualification of Judge Emma Díaz, the magistrate in charge of human rights cases in that jurisdiction.

Source: theclinic.cl, February 4, 2013

Supreme Court issues ruling against Carabineros personnel for crimes against humanity

The resolution of the highest court ratified the convictions against those responsible for this series of illicit acts, which affected 31 victims.

The Supreme Court issued a final sentence in the investigation into various crimes of aggravated kidnapping and torture, perpetrated between September and October 1973, in the sectors of Rahue, San Juan de la Costa, Puyehue, Río Negro, Puerto Octay, Río Bueno, Pilmaiquén, and others in the Osorno province.

In a split decision, the judges of the Second Chamber, Milton Juica, Hugo Dolmtesch, Carlos Künsemüller, Haroldo Brito, and Lamberto Cisternas, ratified the ruling of the Temuco Court of Appeals which—on January 29, 2013—handed down sentences for the series of crimes committed by Carabineros personnel from a police post located on the outskirts of the provincial capital.

The resolution of the highest court ratified the convictions against those responsible for this series of illicit acts, which affected 31 victims:

• Adrián Fernández Hernández: 15 years in prison. Without benefits.
• Rolando Becker Soliz: 12 years in prison. Without benefits.
• Rafael Pérez Torres: 12 years in prison. Without benefits.
• Gustavo Muñoz Albornoz: 10 years and one day in prison. Without benefits.
• Germán García: 8 years in prison. Without benefits.
• Raúl Enrique Zapata: 8 years in prison. Without benefits.
• Camilo Astete Cáceres: 7 years in prison. Without benefits.
• Carlos Obando Rodríguez: 5 years in prison. Supervised release granted.
• Nelson Rodríguez Guerrero: 4 years in prison. Supervised release granted.
• Antonio Baros Muñoz: 4 years in prison. Supervised release granted.
• Héctor Matus Martínez: 3 years and one day in prison. Supervised release granted.
• Francisco Ovando Cárcamo: 3 years and one day in prison. Supervised release granted.
• Guido Almonacid Almonacid: 3 years and one day in prison. Supervised release granted.
• Mario Cabello Yáñez: 700 days in prison. Conditional remission granted.
• René Bórquez Angulo: 700 days in prison. Conditional remission granted.
• Orozimbo Sepúlveda Ignao: 700 days in prison. Conditional remission granted.
• Renato Lezana Lezana: 600 days in prison. Conditional remission granted.
• Amado Beck Hernández Rivas: 600 days in prison. Conditional remission granted.
• Sergio Conejeros Ortega: 600 days in prison. Conditional remission granted.
• Renato Padilla Etter: acquitted.
• Jorge Barrientos Camadro: acquitted.
• Armando Ángulo Fuchslocher: acquitted.
• Pablo Mansilla Bórquez: acquitted.
• Dagoberto Gajardo Cerón: acquitted.
• Nelson Soto Rubilar: acquitted.

According to the Supreme Court ruling, this series of crimes are crimes against humanity, and therefore not subject to statutes of limitations or amnesty: "Crimes against humanity are defined as those injustices that not only contravene the legal interests commonly guaranteed by criminal laws, but at the same time imply a denial of the moral personality of man, such that for the configuration of this illicit act, there exists an intimate connection between common crimes and an added value that stems from the disregard and contempt for the dignity of the person, because the main characteristic of this figure is the cruel manner in which various criminal acts are perpetrated, which clearly and manifestly contradict the most basic concept of humanity; also highlighting the presence of cruelty toward a special class of individuals, thus combining an eminent intentional element, as a specific inner tendency of the agent's will.

Ultimately, they constitute an outrage to human dignity and represent a grave and manifest violation of the rights and freedoms proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, reaffirmed and developed in other relevant international instruments," the ruling maintains.

The resolution adds: "Among the characteristics that distinguish this type of transgression are the non-applicability of statutes of limitations, the impossibility of granting amnesty, and the impossibility of establishing exclusions of responsibility that intend to prevent the investigation and sanctioning of those responsible for such grave violations of essential rights such as torture, summary, extra-legal or arbitrary executions, and forced disappearances, all of which are prohibited by international human rights law.

Thus, taking into account the nature of the facts investigated in this case and as they were presented in the ruling under review, as well as the context in which they must undoubtedly be inscribed and the participation that members of the State have had in them, there is no doubt that they must be subsumed in light of international humanitarian law within the category of crimes against humanity and that they must be eradicated, as they deserve such reprobation from the universal conscience for attacking fundamental human values that no convention, pact, or positive norm can repeal, weaken, or disguise."

The ruling was adopted with dissenting votes from judges Juica and Brito, who were in favor of not applying the principle of partial statute of limitations in the case of one of the convicted individuals.

Source: radio.uchile.cl, March 21, 2014