José Luis Acevedo Alegría was an adolescent when his father, the mayor of Coelemu, Luis Acevedo Andrade, was detained by Carabineros on April 30, 1974. From there, he was transferred to the Fourth Carabineros Precinct of Concepción, where his whereabouts were lost to this day.

Forty years passed, and this Tuesday, a new step toward justice was taken in his case with the confirmation of the conviction of three former Carabineros for the crimes of illegal detention and aggravated kidnapping.

For José Luis Acevedo, the eldest of the five children of Luis Acevedo and Eglantina Alegría, this ruling is progress and provides a certain peace of mind to the family in their pursuit of justice. "It is not everything one would want, but it is a step in justice," he acknowledges.

Where no major progress has yet been made is in the truth—in knowing what happened to his father's body. But José Luis Acevedo asserts that they will continue fighting to locate his father's remains. "We will move forward to achieve the truth; we have advanced in justice, but it remains to be known what happened to my father," he states.

However, this sentence, which had been initially issued by the minister for extraordinary cases, Alejandro Solís, on April 29, 2011, and confirmed almost in its entirety by the Santiago Court of Appeals in a ruling issued on November 17, also involves the cases of Omar Henríquez López and Arturo Villegas Villagrán, which also occurred in the commune of Coelemu, Bío Bío Region.

In a unanimous ruling (case file 1837-2011), the Fourth Chamber of the appellate court—composed of ministers Juan Manuel Muñoz Pardo, Dobra Lusic, and Tomas Gray—confirmed almost in its entirety the sentence issued by Minister Solís.

The appellate sentence imposes prison terms of 5 years and one day on: Juan Abello Mendoza, Sergio Arévalo Cid, and Guillermo Rodríguez Sullivan; 3 years of prison—with the benefit of conditional remission—on Beniamino Bozzo Basso and Carlos Aguillón Henríquez; and 300 days of prison—with the benefit of conditional remission—on Heriberto Rojas Jiménez.

Regarding the case of Luis Acevedo Andrade, the ruling states that his deprivation of liberty presented two stages, which give rise to distinct facts and crimes. The first of these is illegal detention, as contemplated in Article 148 of the Penal Code.

This event occurred on April 30, 1974, when Carabineros officials from Coelemu detained him publicly and without grounds. "The affected party was transferred to the respective police unit and kept detained in that same unit until being subsequently transferred to the Fourth Precinct of Concepción and handed over to its personnel, a place where he was kept locked up, subjected to harsh interrogations and torture, until his forced disappearance occurred, with no knowledge of his final destination to this date." This last fact, the resolution specifies, constitutes the crime of aggravated kidnapping, provided for in Article 141 of the Penal Code. Regarding his victimizers, it was established that the perpetrator of the crime of illegal detention of Luis Acevedo is Heriberto Rojas Jiménez, who belonged to the Coelemu Carabineros staff and who intervened directly and immediately in his apprehension. And as perpetrators of the crime of aggravated kidnapping that affected him, Sergio Arévalo and Renato Rodríguez, who belonged to the Fourth Carabineros Precinct. In the civil aspect, the State Treasury is ordered to pay a total compensation of $200,000,000 (two hundred million pesos) to the spouse and children of Acevedo Andrade, who filed the legal action. Regarding the other two victims, it is indicated that "Omar Lautaro Manríquez López, 56 years old, married, radio technician, municipal secretary of the Partido Socialista, was detained by Carabineros and Navy Security Agents at his home in Coelemu on September 9, 1974, and transferred to the Precinct, as Beniamino Antonio Bozzo Basso, the driver of the vehicle in which he was transported, expressed to the spouse. All traces of him have been lost to this date, without the person deprived of liberty having made contact with his relatives, carried out administrative procedures before State agencies, or registered entries or exits from the country, and without his death being recorded." And regarding Arturo Villegas Villagrán, it is stated that he was "45 years old, married, and had 4 children; he worked as a taxi driver, was a militant of the Partido Socialista, and was detained at his home, illegitimately, for no reason, on September 18, 1973, by Carabineros Lieutenant Juan Lorenzo Abello Vildósola, Carabineros Franklin Crisosto Maldonado and Carlos Alberto Burdiles Pedreros, and the civilian Carlos Alberto Aguillón, who was driving a 'Dodge' brand car, and taken to the Penco Precinct. The fact of the detention was acknowledged, and subsequently, it was reported that he had been released; however, there were witnesses who saw him on Isla Quiriquina; he has remained disappeared since the day of his detention, with all traces of him lost to this date, without the person deprived of liberty having made contact with his relatives, carried out administrative procedures before State agencies, or registered entries or exits from the country, and without his death being recorded." In addition to confirming the aforementioned sentences, the Court of Appeals definitively dismissed the charges against the accused José René Jara Caro and Maximino Cares Lara, "given the merit shown by the current mental health reports, which account for the state of psychic and organic deterioration in which both find themselves, such that a fact has supervened regarding them that extinguishes their criminal responsibility..."

Source: agenciadenoticias.org, November 20, 2014

Santiago Court issues sentence in human rights case for crimes perpetrated in Coelemu

In the civil aspect, the State Treasury was ordered to pay a total compensation of $200,000,000 (two hundred million pesos) to the spouse and children of Acevedo Andrade, who filed the legal action. The Santiago Court of Appeals issued a sentence for the crimes of illegal detention and the aggravated kidnappings of Luis Acevedo Andrade, Omar Henríquez López, and Arturo Villegas Villagrán, which occurred in the town of Coelemu, Bío Bío Region, in September 1973 and September 1974.

In its sentence, the appellate court imposed prison terms of 5 years and one day on Juan Abello Mendoza, Sergio Arévalo Cid, and Guillermo Rodríguez Sullivan; 3 years of prison—with the benefit of conditional remission—on Beniamino Bozzo Basso and Carlos Aguillón Henríquez; and 300 days of prison—with the benefit of conditional remission—on Heriberto Rojas Jiménez.

In the civil aspect, the State Treasury was ordered to pay a total compensation of $200,000,000 (two hundred million pesos) to the spouse and children of Acevedo Andrade, who filed the legal action. By virtue of the information gathered during the investigation, it was possible to prove that, "Arturo Segundo Villegas Villagrán, 45 years old, was married and had 4 children; he worked as a taxi driver, was a militant of the Partido Socialista, and was detained at his home, illegitimately, for no reason, on September 18, 1973, by Carabineros Lieutenant Juan Lorenzo Abello Vildósola, Carabineros Franklin Crisosto Maldonado and Carlos Alberto Burdiles Pedreros, and the civilian Carlos Alberto Aguillón, who was driving a 'Dodge' brand car, and taken to the Penco Precinct. The fact of the detention was acknowledged, and subsequently, it was reported that he had been released; however, there were witnesses who saw him on Isla Quiriquina; he has remained disappeared since the day of his detention (...), without registering entries or exits from the country, and without his death being recorded." On the other hand, it is stated further on that Luis Bernardo Acevedo Andrade was 31 years old, married, and had five children. He had been the Mayor of Coelemu and was a militant of the Partido Comunista. He was taken to Tomé and Isla Quiriquina and was apprehended, illegitimately, for the last time, on April 30, 1974, by Carabineros of Coelemu and transferred to the Fourth Precinct of Concepción, where other detainees who knew him saw him held in poor physical condition, the result of the beatings received, without the heads of the facility allowing him to receive medical attention. All traces of him have been lost to this date, without the person deprived of liberty having made contact with his relatives, carried out administrative procedures before State agencies, or registered entries or exits from the country, and without his death being recorded. Finally, the sentence argues that Omar Lautaro Manríquez López, 56 years old, married, radio technician, municipal secretary of the Partido Socialista, was detained by Carabineros and Navy Security Agents at his home in Coelemu on September 9, 1974, and transferred to the Precinct, as Beniamino Antonio Bozzo Basso, the driver of the vehicle in which he was transported, expressed to the spouse. All traces of him have been lost to this date, without the person deprived of liberty having made contact with his relatives, carried out administrative procedures before State agencies, or registered entries or exits from the country, and without his death being recorded.

Source: pjud.cl, November 20, 2014