On October 18, 1973, the following individuals were executed by firing squad:

-Benito TAPIA TAPIA, 32 years old, an employee of COBRESAL, a national leader of the Copper Workers' Confederation, and a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Youth. He was detained on September 17, 1973, taken to the Copiapó prison, and from there to the Regiment in that city.

-Ricardo Hugo GARCIA POSADA, 43 years old, a commercial engineer, General Manager of COBRESAL, and a militant of the Partido Comunista. On September 12, he presented himself to the authorities in Potrerillos, after which he was left at the company's Directors' House. On September 14, he was taken to the Copiapó prison and from there to the Regiment in that locality.

-Maguindo CASTILLO ANDRADE, 40 years old, an employee of the COBRESAL company and a militant of the Partido Socialista. On September 12, he presented himself to the authorities in Potrerillos after being summoned by a military edict and was released.

On September 15, he was detained by military personnel at his home and paraded through the central streets of El Salvador, being accused of being a ringleader of "Plan Z." He was then transferred to the Copiapó Police Station.

The day before their executions, the homes of these three individuals were violently raided by members of the Ejército, who were part of a military delegation that had arrived from Santiago.

On October 18, the prisoners' wives received a communication signed by the Secretary of the Consejo de Guerra, which contained neither his name nor his signature. In it, they were informed that their respective spouses had been executed that same day at 4:00 a.m., by virtue of Consejo de Guerra No. 3, the sentence of which, the note stated, was approved by the Honorable Government Junta.

The document makes no further reference to the proceedings or the sentence, nor does it indicate the charges. The same communication stated that the remains would be interred in the local cemetery at 7:00 p.m., with only five people permitted to attend.

The remains were buried by military personnel in the local cemetery. The family members were only allowed to enter the cemetery after the interment had taken place. In the years that followed, the remains were moved to different graves without the knowledge or authorization of their families.

A judicial investigation conducted in July 1990 revealed that their bodies were not found where they were originally buried. The location where they are currently interred remains unknown.

Notwithstanding what was stated in the communication delivered to the families, consistent and reliable evidence leads this Commission to conclude that the decision to execute the victims was adopted by the military authorities of the Region and approved by the delegated authority who had come from Santiago, without there having actually been a Consejo de Guerra or due process.

This conclusion is especially supported by the following considerations:

-It has not been possible to obtain the records of the respective proceedings, despite repeated requests directed to the competent institutions;

-The families of those executed were previously informed that they would be put on trial, for which they sought legal assistance, and the corresponding lawyer maintained permanent contact with the designated Military Prosecutor. However, neither that lawyer in charge of the defense nor the family members were informed that a Consejo de Guerra would be held on October 17;

-Various testimonies received by the Commission indicate that even military personnel were unaware of the existence of that Consejo de Guerra; and

-If any form of trial of the affected individuals had taken place, it did not meet the minimum requirements for the defense of the accused: there was no participation by their defense lawyer; the mitigating circumstance of criminal responsibility regarding an irreproachable prior record—which, at least with respect to one of the executed, was reliably established at the time of the execution—was not taken into consideration.

Regarding the imputed charges, the only evidence that exists is the publication in the newspaper “Atacama” on October 20, 1973, which states that the executed were accused of incitement to violence and an attempt to paralyze the Cobresal Mine.

In this regard, it must be kept in mind that the three affected individuals had been deprived of their liberty since the first days following September 11, so any criminal act in which they might have eventually engaged could hardly have been committed while a state of war was in effect.

In view of the above, this Commission reaches the conviction that these three individuals were executed outside of any judicial procedure by agents of the State, who thus gravely violated their right to due process and to life.