Amelia Bruhn Fernández, daughter of Evilia Fernández Santiago and Carlos Bruhn, was born on June 13, 1940. At the time of her detention, she was 34 years old, single, an interior decorator who owned a private workshop, and a militant of the MIR.

She was detained on October 4, 1974, at 13:00 hrs, at her workplace, located at Catedral 2808 in Santiago, by unidentified plainclothes agents. Fernando Tomás Cenitagoya Dutra, an eyewitness to the detention, stated the following: "I am an interior decorator, and in that capacity, Amelia Bruhn has worked with me for more or less 7 or 8 years to date.

Between 10:00 and 10:30 hours, three men arrived at my workplace located on Calle Catedral, 2nd floor, while I was absent. They asked for Amelia; as she was not there, the individuals waited until she arrived.

Then, at more or less 12:00 hours, Amelia arrived in the company of a good-looking, dark-haired, tall, sturdy lady; immediately, both were detained without any explanation being given. The only thing I could talk to Amelia about was work-related matters, and she asked me to notify her relatives, but one of the men told me not to do so until a few days later.

At 13:30 hours, after a phone call by one of the individuals, they were taken down to the 1st floor. Immediately, upon realizing that none of the people who had participated in the detention remained, I looked out the window and was able to see, along Calle Catedral heading west and about to turn onto Esperanza, to the south, an Investigaciones vehicle, as the word 'Policía' could be read on its trunk.

At no time did these men show identification, and I can only say that they were dressed in plain clothes with nothing to distinguish them." Another witness, María Teresa Ramírez Baeza, administrator of the building where Amelia lived, declared: "One Friday, in the first fortnight of October of last year, at 7:00 am, some men knocked on my door and showed an Investigaciones badge.

They informed me that they had raided the apartment on my same floor, letter E, where Amelia Bruhn lived, and that they had not found anyone and it was left open. About a week later, some men dressed in plain clothes appeared at my apartment, showing me an identification card from the Military Intelligence Service.

They asked me about Ms. Amelia Bruhn; I informed them that in previous days those from Investigaciones had raided the apartment she lived in and had not found her; in view of that, they left without searching the apartment." "Indeed, in the month of February of this year, the Commander of the Navy, Jorge Llorerate D., informed me that she was detained, and that they had informed him of this, of course in a serious manner, adding furthermore that her detention was in the charge of the DINA and that she was well, but in an unlocated place, that is to say, the place was not determined." Rosalía Martínez Cereceda, who was in the detention house located at José Dgo. Cañas and República de Israel along with Amelia, declared: "On October 5, 1974, we were loaded into a Chevrolet C-10 pickup truck and, along with other people, transferred to the Incommunicado pavilion of Cuatro Álamos." Amelia was registered in the women's room No. 4 and I in No. 3. A few days later, we heard them calling for Amelia and taking her away. She never returned, and her personal belongings remained in the room." Other people who can testify about Amelia's detention and who are abroad are: Marta Caballero, Celia Moyano, Patricia Glaves, Inés Zomoza. This information was provided by Rosalía Martínez Cereceda from Tel-Aviv on November 3, 1975, in a sworn statement before the minister lawyer Abraham Melamed (Israel). A Writ of Amparo (Habeas Corpus), Case No. 1527-74, was also filed on October 15, 1974, and rejected on December 27 of the same year. On December 28, 1974, a report of alleged disappearance, Case No. 82.929-1, was filed. It was temporarily dismissed on March 10 of the same year. To date, she remains forcibly disappeared. Her father passed away on May 13, 1976, without knowing the fate of his daughter.

Source: Rettig Report

On International Women's Day, Casa Memoria pays tribute to all the women who were forcibly disappeared and victims of political executions during the military dictatorship. Honor and glory to each one of them, for their courage and determination in social struggles; they chose to be protagonists in the development of the society they lived in.

In a special way, we commemorate the 11 women who were forcibly disappeared and victims of political executions who passed through José Domingo Cañas. Our simple tribute is also for all the women of today who continue to dare to "be a woman." 1.- Jacqueline Del Carmen Binfa Contreras.

Forcibly disappeared on August 27, 1974. 28 years old. MIR 2.- Sonia de Las Mercedes Bustos. Forcibly disappeared on September 5, 1974. 30 years old. MIR 3.- Mónica Ghislane LLanca Iturra. Forcibly disappeared on September 6, 1974, 23 years old.

MIR 4.- María Cristina Lopez Stewart. Forcibly disappeared on September 23, 1974, 21 years old. MIR 5.- Cecilia Miguelina Bojanic Abad. Forcibly disappeared on October 2, 1974, 23 years old. 6.- Amelia Ana Bruhn Fernández.

Forcibly disappeared on October 4, 1974, 34 years old. MIR 7.- Eugenia Del Carmen Martínez Hernández. Forcibly disappeared on October 24, 1974, 25 years old. MIR 8.- Jacqueline Paulette Drouilly Yurich.

Forcibly disappeared on October 30, 1974, 25 years old. 9.- Cecilia Gabriela Castro Salvadores. Forcibly disappeared on November 17, 1974, 24 years old. 10.- Diana Frida Aron Svilgilsky. Forcibly disappeared on November 18, 1974, 24 years old. MIR 11.- Lumi Videla Moya. Victim of political execution on November 4, 1974, 26 years old. MIR

Source: josedomingocañas.org, August 27, 2009

Date: 27-08-2009

Former political prisoners of the Chilean dictatorship gathered on Saturday 12 August to carry out conservation work on a mural in what was once a detention camp. A sign reading the name and date of the detention of Amelia Bruhn Fernandez, a woman disappeared during the period, features on the site.

Chileans are preparing activities in the weeks ahead of the 50th anniversary of Augusto Pinochet’s military coup against Salvador Allende’s constitutional government. The Cuatro Alamos clandestine detention centre was run by Chile’s feared secret police during Pinochet’s dictatorship that ruled the country between 1973 and 1990.

Reports indicate that torture was practised on prisoners in its basement. More than six thousand people were detained from 1974 to 1977 at the Tres Alamos and Cuatro Alamos detention centres.

Source: independent.co.uk, August 13, 2023

Date: 13-08-2023

The artists who were forcibly disappeared and executed by the civic-military dictatorship (excerpt)

During the civic-military dictatorship, at least a hundred people linked to culture, the arts, and heritage were executed and disappeared. On September 11, the most painful stage we have ever lived through began, provoked by State agents and civilian accomplices.

Today we commemorate 48 years of that tragedy that still mourns all of Chile. More than three thousand people—men, women, children, and young people, such as primary, secondary, and university students; pregnant women, the elderly, the blind, and the disabled—were directly affected, and hundreds of thousands became family members and victims of the dictatorship.

Those who survive fight tirelessly for justice, reparation, and non-repetition of genocidal acts by the State. Men and women whose contribution to society came from their social struggle, as militants, and also from their trades and occupations as shoemakers, laborers, textile workers, doctors, linotypists, dressmakers, secretaries, union and neighborhood leaders, municipal officials, public employees, railway employees, newspaper vendors, carpenters; peasant workers, miners, forestry workers, construction workers; engineers.

Also those who were passing through, on a mission, studying, or had started a family in Chile, coming from Vietnam, France, Spain, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, England, Ecuador, among other countries. Some of their murderers and accomplices, who are serving lukewarm sentences in luxury prisons, have deprived us of them, but they have also deprived us of nearly a hundred artists and creators whom we have identified, with the desire to offer a tribute to those who, from the cultures, arts, and heritage, were victims of state terrorism.

We have recognized 82 people whose creativity was expressed in audiovisual media, crafts, theater, architecture, photography, Visual Arts, literature, and music. In this note, you will be able to find the names of the people whose information allows them to be associated with an artistic language, according to the information available; however, it is highly possible that many are still missing from the list.

You will also find a link to the information that, among all the people who make the site www.memoriaviva.com possible, is made available to us so that we can contribute to not forgetting until there is justice. For them… No forgiveness, no forgetting!! Among all of them is the honoree Amelia Bruhn Fernandez, forcibly disappeared on 10/4/1974, a decorator by profession. (excerpt)

Source: prensaopal.cl, September 8, 2021

Date: 08-09-2021

NEW CONVICTION FOR KRASSNOFF, NOW FOR THE DISAPPEARANCE OF AMELIA BRUHN FERNÁNDEZ

The Supreme Court confirmed convictions against 4 DINA agents, including the jackal Miguel Krassnoff, for the disappearance of our comrade Amelia Bruhn Fernández in October 1974. The Supreme Court confirmed the conviction of four henchmen of the sinister National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the crime of aggravated kidnapping of our comrade

AMELIA BRUHN FERNÁNDEZ

, an illicit act perpetrated starting on October 4, 1974, in the Metropolitan Region. In its ruling (case file 15.922-2016), the 2nd Chamber of the highest court ratified the sentences handed down against Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, of 7 years in prison; and César Manríquez Bravo, Orlando Manzo Durán, and Ciro Torré Sáez, to 5 years and one day in prison each.

With this new conviction, Krassnoff must serve 467 years in prison. The first-instance ruling, issued by the visiting judge Mario Carroza, established that at noon on October 4, 1974, "(...) armed agents dressed in plain clothes belonging to the DINA, 'Caupolicán' brigade, 'Halcón' group, after raiding the apartment where the victim Amelia Bruhn Fernández lived, went to look for her at her workplace, an interior decoration company, located at Calle Catedral No. 2808 in Santiago Centro, and upon learning from the owner of the company that she would arrive later, the agents decided to wait for her, and upon her arrival, they detained her along with a friend who was accompanying her, interrogated them, and then transferred them to the clandestine detention center on Calle José Domingo Cañas, called the Ollagüe barracks (...)." At the barracks, it continues, "(...) they subjected them to torture and interrogations; the next day they released her friend, and she, after intense interrogations, was taken to the secret prison center of Cuatro Álamos, where they kept her in a cell along with other detainees, in incommunicado status; subsequently, they took her back to José Domingo Cañas, until one day, her companions realized that some agents were coming to look for her at that place, and once they identified her, they told her that it was not necessary to take anything because she would return, but they transferred her to an unknown destination, that occasion being the last time they saw her alive." Our Comrade Amelia Bruhn Fernández Amelia Bruhn Fernández, daughter of Evilia Fernández Santiago and Carlos Bruhn, was born on June 13, 1940. At the date of her detention, she was 34 years old, single, an interior decorator, and although she worked in an office in the field, she had a private workshop. Amelia was a militant of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR) and an active organizer of the Popular Resistance against the civic-military dictatorship, enthroned in the government on 9/11/73. As stated in the Supreme Court's resolution, she was detained at 13:00 on October 4, 1974, at her workplace, located at Catedral 2808 in Santiago, by plainclothes agents who have already been identified. Fernando Tomás Cenitagoya Dutra declared, as an eyewitness to the detention, the following: "I am an interior decorator, and in that capacity, Amelia Bruhn has worked with me for more or less 7 or 8 years to date. Between 10:00 and 10:30 hours, three men arrived at my workplace located on Calle Catedral, 2nd floor, while I was absent. They asked for Amelia; as she was not there, the individuals waited until she arrived. Then, at more or less 12:00 hours, Amelia arrived in the company of a good-looking, dark-haired, tall, sturdy lady; immediately, both were detained without any explanation being given. The only thing I could talk to Amelia about was work-related matters, and she asked me to notify her relatives, but one of the men told me not to do so until a few days later. At 13:30 hours, after a phone call by one of the individuals, they were taken down to the 1st floor. Immediately, upon realizing that none of the people who had participated in the detention remained, I looked out the window and was able to see, along Calle Catedral heading west and about to turn onto Esperanza, to the south, an Investigaciones vehicle, as the word 'Policía' could be read on its trunk. At no time did these men show identification, and I can only say that they were dressed in plain clothes with nothing to distinguish them." Another witness, María Teresa Ramírez Baeza, administrator of the building where Amelia lived, declared: "One Friday, in the first fortnight of October of last year, at 7:00 am, some men knocked on my door and showed an Investigaciones badge. They informed me that they had raided the apartment on my same floor, letter E, where Amelia Bruhn lived, and that they had not found anyone and it was left open. About a week later, some men dressed in plain clothes appeared at my apartment, showing me an identification card from the Military Intelligence Service. They asked me about Ms. Amelia Bruhn; I informed them that in previous days those from Investigaciones had raided the apartment she lived in and had not found her; in view of that, they left without searching the apartment." "Indeed, in the month of February of this year, the Commander of the Navy, Jorge Llorerate D., informed me that she was detained, and that they had informed him of this, of course in a serious manner, adding furthermore that her detention was in the charge of the DINA and that she was well, but in an unlocated place, that is to say, the place was not determined." Rosalía Martínez Cereceda, who was also in the detention, torture, and extermination center of José Domingo Cañas along with Amelia, declared: "On October 5, 1974, we were loaded into a Chevrolet C-10 pickup truck and, along with other people, transferred to the incommunicado pavilion of Cuatro Álamos." Amelia was registered in the women's room No. 4 and I in No. 3. A few days later, we heard them calling for Amelia and taking her away. She never returned, and her personal belongings remained in the room." On October 15, 1974, a Writ of Amparo, Case No. 1527-74, was filed, which was rejected on December 27 of the same year. On December 28, 1974, a report of alleged disappearance, Case No. 82.929-1, was filed. It was temporarily dismissed on March 10 of the same year. To date, she remains disappeared. Her father passed away on May 13, 1976, without knowing the fate of his daughter. No Forgetting, No Forgiveness: Truth, Justice, and Memory! Only Struggle and Unity Will Make Us Free! Colectivo Acción Directa CAD – Chile

Source: acciondirectachile.blogspot.com, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2016

Date: 19-09-2016

Convictions of DINA agents for crimes against two MIR women confirmed.

In resolutions issued by the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court, the convictions handed down in the first instance were confirmed in the cases of two women, militants of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), who were victims of the criminal brutality of the dictatorial repression: Amelia Ana Bruhn Fernández, an interior decorator, 34 years of age, and Mónica Ghislayne Llanca Iturra, a civil servant at the Civil Registry, 23 years of age, both forcibly disappeared, the latter being a victim of the so-called Operation Colombo.

In the first of the cases, the Second Chamber of the highest court—composed of ministers Milton Juica, Carlos Künsemüler, Haroldo Brito, Lamberto Cisternas, and Jorge Dahm—confirmed the conviction of four agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Amelia Bruhn Fernández, an illicit act perpetrated starting on October 4, 1974, in the Metropolitan Region.

In a split decision (case file 15.922-2016), it ratified the sentences handed down against Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, to 7 years in prison; and César Raúl Manríquez Bravo, Orlando Manzo Durán, and Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez, to 5 years and one day in prison.

The decision was adopted with the dissenting vote of minister Lamberto Cisternas. The first-instance ruling, issued by the visiting judge Mario Carroza, established that at noon on October 4, 1974, «(...) armed agents dressed in plain clothes belonging to the DINA, 'Caupolicán' brigade, 'Halcón' group, after raiding the apartment where the victim Amelia Bruhn Fernández lived, went to look for her at her workplace, an interior decoration company, located at Calle Catedral No. 2808 in Santiago Centro, and upon learning from the owner of the company that she would arrive later, the agents decided to wait for her, and upon her arrival, they detained her along with a friend who was accompanying her, interrogated them, and then transferred them to the clandestine detention center on Calle José Domingo Cañas, called the Ollagüe barracks (...)». At the barracks, it continues, «(...) they subjected them to torture and interrogations; the next day they released her friend, and she, after intense interrogations, was taken to the secret prison center of Cuatro Álamos, where they kept her in a cell along with other detainees, in incommunicado status; subsequently, they took her back to José Domingo Cañas, until one day, her companions realized that some agents were coming to look for her at that place, and once they identified her, they told her that it was not necessary to take anything because she would return, but they transferred her to an unknown destination, that occasion being the last time they saw her alive». In the second case, the same Second Chamber ratified the sentence that convicted three DINA agents for their responsibility in the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Mónica Llanca Iturra, an illicit act perpetrated starting on September 6, 1974. In a unanimous decision (case file 7.372-2016), it rejected the cassation appeals filed against the sentence that convicted agents Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko to 7 years in prison, and Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes and Orlando José Manzo Durán to 5 years and one day in prison. During the investigation stage, the visiting judge Mario Carroza managed to determine the following facts: «On September 6, 1974, in the early morning hours, four armed agents, two dressed in plain clothes and two in uniform, who belonged to the Halcón Group of the Caupolicán Grouping, one of the operational arms of the DINA's Metropolitan Intelligence Brigade, entered the property located at Calle Cordillera de Los Andes No. 5.319 in the commune of Conchalí, and without showing any order or formulating any charge, proceeded to raid it and illegally detain the official of the identification cabinet of the Civil Registry, Mónica Ghislayne Llanca Iturra, whom they transferred to the clandestine detention center on Calle José Domingo Cañas, called the Ollagüe barracks, already identified, in which they subjected her to torture and interrogations; then they transported her to the secret Prisoner Center of Cuatro Álamos and kept her in a cell along with other detainees, in incommunicado status, until one day, her companions in misfortune saw that she was separated by agents from the other women who were detained and transferred to an unknown destination, that being the last time she was seen alive. However, some time later, media outlets reported that she was on a list of 119 people killed in Argentina, a disinformation operation that was called 'Colombo'»; «The aforementioned Operation Colombo, as was later proven, was effectively an intelligence action articulated by security agencies of the military government, tending to cover up the disappearance of 119 opponents who were detained in Chile, both in their homes and at their workplaces or universities, and then ended up being executed. An operation that had the purpose of dissemination and disinformation».

Source: resumen.cl, September 17, 2016

Date: 17-09-2016

SANTIAGO COURT CONFIRMS CONVICTIONS AGAINST DINA AGENTS FOR THE AGGRAVATED KIDNAPPING OF AMELIA BRUHN

The Santiago Court of Appeals confirmed the sentence handed down for the aggravated kidnapping of Amelia Bruhn Fernández, an illicit act perpetrated starting on October 4, 1974, in the Metropolitan Region.

In a unanimous decision (case file 1133-2015), the Fourth Chamber of February of the capital's appellate court—composed of ministers Mario Gómez, Mauricio Silva Cancino, and the acting lawyer Claudia Chaimovich—ratified the sentences handed down against the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) agents Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, of 7 years in prison; and César Manríquez Bravo, Orlando Manzo Durán, and Ciro Torré Sáez, to 5 years and one day in prison.

The first-instance ruling, issued by the visiting judge Mario Carroza, established that at noon on October 4, 1974, «(...) armed agents dressed in plain clothes belonging to the DINA, 'Caupolicán' brigade, 'Halcón' group, after raiding the apartment where the victim Amelia Bruhn Fernández lived, went to look for her at her workplace, an interior decoration company, located at Calle Catedral No. 2808 in Santiago Centro, and upon learning from the owner of the company that she would arrive later, the agents decided to wait for her, and upon her arrival, they detained her along with a friend who was accompanying her, interrogated them, and then transferred them to the clandestine detention center on Calle José Domingo Cañas, called the Ollagüe barracks (...)». At the barracks, it continues, «(...) they subjected them to torture and interrogations; the next day they released her friend, and she, after intense interrogations, was taken to the secret prison center of Cuatro Álamos, where they kept her in a cell along with other detainees, in incommunicado status; subsequently, they took her back to José Domingo Cañas, until one day, her companions realized that some agents were coming to look for her at that place, and once they identified her, they told her that it was not necessary to take anything because she would return, but they transferred her to an unknown destination, that occasion being the last time they saw her alive».

Source: cronicadigital.cl, February 3, 2016

Date: 03-02-2016

New indictment issued against DINA leadership

Judge Carroza issued an indictment for the aggravated kidnapping of the MIR militant Amelia Bruhn, missing since October 4, 1974, in the Metropolitan Region. The visiting judge Mario Carroza issued an indictment against six former agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (

DINA

) for the aggravated kidnapping of the Revolutionary Left Movement (

MIR

) militant Amelia Bruhn Fernández, who has been missing since October 4, 1974, in the Metropolitan Region. Those indicted are the former director of the DINA, Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda; and the former agents César Manríquez Bravo, Orlando Manzo Durán, Miguel Krassnoff Martchentko, Marcelo Moren Brito, and Ciro Torré Sáez.

As explained in the resolution, the detention of Amelia Bruhn Fernández —a decorator and MIR militant under the political name "Bárbara"—occurred in front of her sewing workshop located at Catedral 2808, in the commune of Santiago Centro.

She was then taken to the José Domingo Cañas detention center, from where she was transferred to Cuatro Álamos , a site from which her whereabouts remain unknown.

Source: 24horas.cl, 06/14/2013

Date: 14-06-2013

Four former agents convicted in Chile for the disappearance of an opponent of Pinochet

Santiago, Chile, Feb 3 (EFE).—The Santiago Court of Appeals confirmed today the prison sentences of three former agents of Augusto Pinochet's secret police for the aggravated kidnapping or disappearance of an opponent of the dictatorship in October 1974.

Amelia Bruhn Fernández, a 34-year-old decorator and militant of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), a group that fought the dictatorship with arms, was detained by the DINA (National Intelligence Directorate) at her workplace on October 4 of the indicated year.

The woman was taken first to a torture center located in the Ñuñoa sector of Santiago and, after a few days, to another called Cuatro Álamos, where her trail was lost, according to testimonies from surviving prisoners.

The appellate court ratified the first-instance ruling, issued by special judge Mario Carroza, which sentenced former brigadier Miguel Krassnoff Marchenko to seven years in prison and retired general César Manríquez Bravo, the Gendarmerie (Prison Service) colonel, and former Carabineros officer Ciro Torré Sáez to five years and one day.

During the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), according to official figures, some 3,200 Chileans died at the hands of State agents, and of them, 1,192 are still listed as forcibly disappeared. EFE

Source: lavanguardia.com, February 3, 2016