Eight police officers and the wife of one of them were prosecuted by a judge in Osorno for their responsibility in the crimes of aggravated kidnapping, homicide, and concealment committed after the military coup.

The eight individuals prosecuted, one officer and seven non-commissioned officers—all of whom are retired—remain in custody as a preventive measure at the facilities of a Carabineros barracks in Osorno.

The prosecution was ordered by Judge Raúl Ramírez, a magistrate with exclusive dedication to investigating human rights violation cases. Ramírez has now prosecuted Lieutenant Colonel Baros Muñoz and former non-commissioned officers Mario Cabello, Sergio Jaramillo, René Bórquez, and Orozimbo Sepúlveda, who are charged with the aggravated kidnapping of Francisco Martínez and Reinaldo Huentequeo, who were detained on October 6, 1973.

Last Friday, he had decided to prosecute former non-commissioned officers Raúl Zapata and Carlos Ovando as the perpetrators of the aggravated homicide of Communist militant Gilberto González de la Torre, an event that occurred in January 1974.

For the same crime, former non-commissioned officer Camilo Astete and Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Baros were prosecuted as accessories after the fact. These four police officers were also prosecuted for the aggravated kidnapping of brothers Eduardo and Alfredo Pacheco, as well as Juan Mancilla, Teobaldo Paillacheo, Valentín Cárdenas, and Enrique González, all of whom were Communist militants opposed to Pinochet who were detained and forcibly disappeared in October 1973 when they were taken to the Pilmaiquén police station.

Meanwhile, non-commissioned officer Astete and his wife, Elsa Vilugrón, were subjected to prosecution as alleged perpetrators of the aggravated kidnapping of Marcelino Cárdenas, who was detained on December 30, 1973, and sent to the same Pilmaiquén barracks in Osorno.

Source: La Nación, January 16, 2004

Former Carabineros convicted for disappearances and torture in Osorno in 1973

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 since 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 a legal substitute tribunal, justices Luis Troncoso, Julio César Grandón, and Alejandro Vera confirmed and modified parts of 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 Justice Troncoso, who was in favor of applying the statute of limitations to the criminal action.

THE CONVICTIONS

The ruling sentences former Carabinero officer Adrián Fernández Hernández to 15 years in prison, without benefits; former officer 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 also sentenced to 4 years in prison, where they were granted the benefit of supervised release. 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.

CONFLICTS IN THE PROCEEDINGS

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

In turn, Justice Darío Carretta had to take over the case after the Supreme Court ordered a new process due to the disqualification of Justice 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 a legal substitute tribunal, justices Luis Troncoso, Julio César Grandón, and Alejandro Vera confirmed and modified parts of 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 officer 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, while Camilo Astete Cáceres to 7 years in prison, without benefits; in turn, Carlos Obando Rodríguez to 5 years in prison, with the benefit of supervised release granted.

Nelson Rodríguez Guerrero and Antonio Baros Muñoz were also sentenced to 4 years in prison, where they were granted the benefit of supervised release. 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 Justice 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 justices of the appellate court of the Los Ríos region were disqualified from hearing the case.

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

Source: The Clinic Online, 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 judgment 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 justices of the Second Chamber, Milton Juica, Hugo Dolmestch, Carlos Künsemüller, Haroldo Brito, and Lamberto Cisternas, ratified the ruling of the Temuco Court of Appeals which—on January 29, 2013—issued a sentence for the series of crimes committed by Carabineros personnel from a station 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 benefit granted; -Nelson Rodríguez Guerrero: 4 years in prison.

Supervised release benefit granted; -Antonio Baros Muñoz: 4 years in prison. Supervised release benefit granted; -Héctor Matus Martínez: 3 years and one day in prison. Supervised release benefit granted; -Francisco Ovando Cárcamo: 3 years and one day in prison.

Supervised release benefit granted; -Guido Almonacid Almonacid: 3 years and one day in prison. Supervised release benefit granted; -Mario Cabello Yáñez: 700 days in prison. Conditional remission benefit granted; -René Bórquez Angulo: 700 days in prison.

Conditional remission benefit granted; -Orozimbo Sepúlveda Ignao: 700 days in prison. Conditional remission benefit granted; -Renato Lezana Lezana: 600 days in prison. Conditional remission benefit granted; -Amado Beck Hernández Rivas: 600 days in prison.

Conditional remission benefit granted; -Sergio Conejeros Ortega: 600 days in prison. Conditional remission benefit granted; -Renato Padilla Etter: acquitted; -Jorge Barrientos Camadro: acquitted; -Armando Ángulo Fuchslocher: acquitted; -Pablo Mansilla Bórquez: acquitted; -Dagoberto Gajardo Cerón: acquitted; and -Nelson Soto Rubilar: acquitted.

According to the Supreme Court ruling, this series of crimes are crimes against humanity, and therefore are 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 internal tendency of the agent's will. In short, 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 exemptions from responsibility that seek 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 events 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 under 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 justices 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