The judge with exclusive dedication to investigating human rights cases, Jaime Salas, decided to prosecute five retired Carabineros as authors of the aggravated kidnapping of César Avila Lara, former provincial director of Education of Osorno, and the former governor of La Unión, Santiago Aguilar, who were forcibly disappeared in the days following the 1973 coup d'état.

Those prosecuted are the colonel (ret.) and chief of the Third Police Station of Rahue, Adrián Fernández; the second sergeant (ret.) Rolando Bécar Solís; the first sergeant Rafael Pérez Torres, the sergeant major (ret.) Francisco Inostroza, and the first sergeant (ret.) Gustavo Muñoz.

Santiago Aguilar was the governor of the department of La Unión until September 11, 1973. A member of the Communist Party, he was detained on the 17th of that month by Carabineros personnel belonging to the Third Police Station of Osorno.

Witnesses said he was transferred to the Valdivia Prison. On October 6 of that year, his trail was lost. Professor César Avila Lara, acting provincial director of primary education of Osorno and a socialist militant, was detained in front of the Penitentiary of that city on September 27, 1973, by a Carabineros patrol from the aforementioned unit, according to the website memoriaviva.com.

According to witness testimonies, Avila had been transferred to the Third Police Station of Rahue, from where he disappeared. His sister-in-law, Luisa Ponce, also stated that a detective surnamed Lamilla summoned her to the Investigations building in July 1978, where he told her that César "was executed by firing squad, but that the Carabinero had been discharged." Judge Salas also ordered that the retired non-commissioned officers must serve preventive detention at the Gil de Castro police training group in Valdivia, while the officer (ret.) must remain at the First Police Station of Carabineros in the city, reported Radio Bío Bío.

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March 22, 2006 El Mostrador

Carabineros prosecuted for kidnapping of farmer Officer (ret.) Adrián Fernández Hernández and sub-officer (ret.) Rolando Becker Soliz were indicted as authors of the aggravated kidnapping of Humberto Salas Salas.

Judge Joaquín Billard, who investigates human rights violations, prosecuted two former Carabineros officials as authors of aggravated kidnapping for their responsibility in the disappearance of a farmer from the Los Lagos Region.

The magistrate indicted officer (ret.) Adrián Fernández Hernández and sub-officer (ret.) Rolando Becker Soliz for the aggravated kidnapping of Humberto Salas Salas, who was a militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR).

The victim appeared voluntarily at the Rahue police station, which was under the command of Fernández Hernández, on September 24, 1973, responding to a decree issued by the military authorities of the time. Although his wife, Blanca Mella, who also presented herself to the Carabineros, was released, Salas Salas remained detained, and his whereabouts have been unknown since then.

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Friday, December 12, 2008 El Mostrador

Supreme Court issues two convictions in human rights violation cases In separate rulings by the Second Criminal Chamber, convictions were issued against three people who participated in different cases of aggravated kidnapping that occurred in the cities of Los Ángeles and Osorno.

The Supreme Court issued two new convictions in cases linked to investigations into human rights violations that occurred between September 11, 1973, and March 10, 1990. In separate rulings by the Second Criminal Chamber, convictions were issued against three people who participated in different cases of aggravated kidnapping that occurred in the cities of Los Ángeles and Osorno.

In the first ruling, a sentence was handed down for the kidnappings of Nelson Almendras Almendras, José López López, Juan Briones Pérez, and Victoriano Lagos Lagos, committed starting September 17 and October 1, 1973, in Los Ángeles, and it was determined to sentence Óscar Humberto Medina to four years in prison, granting the benefit of supervised release.

The decision was adopted in a split ruling, where ministers Jaime Rodríguez, Hugo Dolmestch, and the member lawyer Hernán Álvarez were in favor of applying the sanction; while ministers Nibaldo Segura and Rubén Ballesteros were in favor of acquittal, accepting the statute of limitations for criminal action.

In the second ruling, a conviction was issued for the kidnapping of Humberto Salas Salas, which occurred starting September 24, 1973, in Osorno, determining 5 and 4 years of prison for Adrián Fernández and Rolando Becker Soliz, to whom the benefit of supervised release was granted. With these sentences, 14 Supreme Court rulings on this matter have been completed in 2008 and 42 since 2005.

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UPI, February 4, 2013

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 September 11, 1973.

In a split ruling, as a legal substitute court, ministers Luis Troncoso, Julio César Grandón, and Alejandro Vera confirmed and modified in some parts the sentence handed down by the visiting minister of the Valdivia Court of Appeals, Darío Carretta. The resolution was adopted with the dissenting vote of minister Troncoso, who was in favor of applying the statute of limitations for criminal action.

THE CONVICTIONS

The ruling sentences former Carabineros 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, and the benefit of supervised release was granted.

Also, Nelson Rodríguez Guerrero and Antonio Baros Muñoz 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 for lack of evidence regarding their responsibility in the investigated events.

PROCESS CONFLICTS

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

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

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UPI / The Clinic Online February 04, 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 September 11, 1973.

In a split ruling, as a legal substitute court, ministers Luis Troncoso, Julio César Grandón, and Alejandro Vera confirmed and modified in some parts the sentence handed down by the visiting minister of the Valdivia Court of Appeals, Darío Carretta.

The ruling sentences former Carabineros 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, and the benefit of supervised release was granted.

Also, Nelson Rodríguez Guerrero and Antonio Baros Muñoz 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 for lack of evidence regarding their responsibility in the investigated events.

The resolution was adopted with the dissenting vote of minister Troncoso, who was in favor of applying the statute of limitations for criminal action. The Temuco Court of Appeals had to assume the role of legal substitute for the Valdivia Court of Appeals after all the ministers of the appellate court of the Los Ríos region were disqualified from hearing the case.

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

Source: La Nación April 11, 2003

Carabineros prosecuted for kidnapping of farmer

Officer (ret.) Adrián Fernández Hernández and sub-officer (ret.) Rolando Becker Soliz were indicted as authors of the aggravated kidnapping of Humberto Salas Salas. Judge Joaquín Billard, who investigates human rights violations, prosecuted two former Carabineros officials as authors of aggravated kidnapping for their responsibility in the disappearance of a farmer from the Los Lagos Region.

The magistrate indicted officer (ret.) Adrián Fernández Hernández and sub-officer (ret.) Rolando Becker Soliz for the aggravated kidnapping of Humberto Salas Salas, who was a militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR).

The victim appeared voluntarily at the Rahue police station, which was under the command of Fernández Hernández, on September 24, 1973, responding to a decree issued by the military authorities of the time. Although his wife, Blanca Mella, who also presented herself to the Carabineros, was released, Salas Salas remained detained, and his whereabouts have been unknown since then.

Source: El Mostrador March 22, 2006

Supreme Court issues two convictions in human rights violation cases

In separate rulings by the Second Criminal Chamber, convictions were issued against three people who participated in different cases of aggravated kidnapping that occurred in the cities of Los Ángeles and Osorno.

The Supreme Court issued two new convictions in cases linked to investigations into human rights violations that occurred between September 11, 1973, and March 10, 1990. In separate rulings by the Second Criminal Chamber, convictions were issued against three people who participated in different cases of aggravated kidnapping that occurred in the cities of Los Ángeles and Osorno.

In the first ruling, a sentence was handed down for the kidnappings of Nelson Almendras Almendras, José López López, Juan Briones Pérez, and Victoriano Lagos Lagos, committed starting September 17 and October 1, 1973, in Los Ángeles, and it was determined to sentence Óscar Humberto Medina to four years in prison, granting the benefit of supervised release.

The decision was adopted in a split ruling, where ministers Jaime Rodríguez, Hugo Dolmestch, and the member lawyer Hernán Álvarez were in favor of applying the sanction; while ministers Nibaldo Segura and Rubén Ballesteros were in favor of acquittal, accepting the statute of limitations for criminal action.

In the second ruling, a conviction was issued for the kidnapping of Humberto Salas Salas, which occurred starting September 24, 1973, in Osorno, determining 5 and 4 years of prison for Adrián Fernández and Rolando Becker Soliz, to whom the benefit of supervised release was granted. With these sentences, 14 Supreme Court rulings on this matter have been completed in 2008 and 42 since 2005.

Source: El Mostrador, December 12, 2008

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 September 11, 1973.

In a split ruling, as a legal substitute court, ministers Luis Troncoso, Julio César Grandón, and Alejandro Vera confirmed and modified in some parts the sentence handed down by the visiting minister of the Valdivia Court of Appeals, Darío Carretta. The resolution was adopted with the dissenting vote of minister Troncoso, who was in favor of applying the statute of limitations for criminal action.

THE CONVICTIONS

The ruling sentences former Carabineros 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, and the benefit of supervised release was granted.

Also, Nelson Rodríguez Guerrero and Antonio Baros Muñoz 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 for lack of evidence regarding their responsibility in the investigated events.

PROCESS CONFLICTS

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

In turn, minister Darío Carretta had to take over the case after the Supreme Court ordered a new process due to the disqualification of minister Emma Díaz, the magistrate in charge of human rights cases for 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 September 11, 1973.

In a split ruling, as a legal substitute court, ministers Luis Troncoso, Julio César Grandón, and Alejandro Vera confirmed and modified in some parts the sentence handed down by the visiting minister of the Valdivia Court of Appeals, Darío Carretta.

The ruling sentences former Carabineros 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, and the benefit of supervised release was granted.

Also, Nelson Rodríguez Guerrero and Antonio Baros Muñoz 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 for lack of evidence regarding their responsibility in the investigated events.

The resolution was adopted with the dissenting vote of minister Troncoso, who was in favor of applying the statute of limitations for criminal action. The Temuco Court of Appeals had to assume the role of legal substitute for the Valdivia Court of Appeals after all the ministers of the appellate court of the Los Ríos region were disqualified from hearing the case.

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

Source: The Clinic, 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 ruling, the ministers of the Second Chamber, Milton Juica, Hugo Dolmestch, Carlos Künsemüller, Haroldo Brito, and Lamberto Cisternas, ratified the ruling of the Temuco Court of Appeals that—on January 29, 2013—handed down a sentence 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 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, therefore imprescriptible and not subject to amnesty: "Those injustices are called crimes against humanity 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, in such a way that for the configuration of this illicit act there is 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 way in which various criminal acts are perpetrated, which contradict in an evident and manifest way 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 interior 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 imprescriptibility, the impossibility of granting amnesty, and the impossibility of establishing exclusions of responsibility that intend to prevent the investigation and sanction of those responsible for such grave violations of essential rights such as torture, summary, extra-legal or arbitrary executions, and forced disappearances, all of them 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 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 the dissenting votes of ministers Juica and Brito, who were in favor of not applying the principle of half-statute of limitations in the case of one of the convicted persons.

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