The visiting judge for human rights violation cases of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Leopoldo Llanos, convicted 13 retired Army members for their responsibility in the crimes of aggravated kidnapping and the application of torture against Luis Corvalán Castillo, who was detained at the Estadio Nacional and the Chacabuco prisoner camp between September 1973 and October 1974.

Luis was the son of the man who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party for more than 40 years.

The convicted In the ruling, Judge Llanos sentenced Pedro Espinoza Bravo to 10 years and one day in prison as the perpetrator of aggravated kidnapping, and to 4 years in prison as the perpetrator of the application of torture.

Napoleón Bravo Flores, Raúl Jofré González, Hernán Chacón Soto, Patricio Vásquez Donoso, and Francisco López Oyarzún were sentenced to 3 years and one day in prison as accomplices to aggravated kidnapping, and 541 days in prison as accomplices to the crime of the application of torture.

The former uniformed officers Eugenio Covarrubias Valenzuela, Jaime Ortiz Jorquera, Federico Antilén Nahuel, and Luis Zamorano Soto were sentenced to 3 years and one day in prison as perpetrators of the application of torture, and to 541 days for their responsibility as accessories to the aggravated kidnapping.

In the case of retired military officer Rafael González Berdugo, the visiting judge sentenced him to 3 years and one day in prison as an accomplice to aggravated kidnapping; Ricardo Sepúlveda Díaz was sanctioned with a penalty of 541 days in prison as an accomplice to the application of torture; and Manuel Amor Lillo must serve a sentence of 300 days as an accessory to the application of torture.

In the case, the acquittal of Luis Muñoz Sáenz de Tejada was decreed.

The facts Luis Alberto Corvalán Castillo, 27 years old, an agronomist, a member of the Communist Party, and son of the General Secretary of the same party, Luis Corvalán Lepe, was illegally detained during a massive raid carried out by the Army on September 14, 1973, in the Torres de San Borja sector, where he resided, and was transferred to the Estadio Nacional.

Numerous witnesses recount that, from the very moment of his arrival at the Stadium, as well as subsequently, he was severely tortured for the sole reason of being the son of Luis Corvalán Lepe. The most intense torture was inflicted upon him in mid-October 1973 at the Stadium’s Velodrome, leaving him in an extremely grave physical condition, to the point that he had to be carried from the site of the torture back to the main building of the Stadium with the help of four other detainees, who improvised a type of stretcher with a blanket; he was left for a long period on the cinder track, semi-conscious, until, by order of an officer, he was taken to a locker room, where he was hidden so that he would not be tortured again the following day. This event was witnessed by several people who were in the Stadium stands.

Upon the closure of the Estadio Nacional as a detention center, Corvalán Castillo was transferred, along with numerous other detainees, to the prisoner camp at the former "Chacabuco" nitrate plant in northern Chile.

Finally, he was released on July 30, 1974, but expelled from the country, moving first to Mexico (where he reunited with his spouse, Ruth Vuskovic, who had also been detained at the Estadio Nacional), and later settling in Bulgaria, where he was examined by doctors in that country who confirmed the sequelae of his torture; he was advised not to engage in too much activity due to his delicate state of health.

Luis Alberto Corvalán Castillo passed away on October 26, 1975, in Bulgaria. According to the autopsy report, the cause of death was heart disease that led to acute vascular insufficiency, but taking into account his young age—the report states— "the great physical and psychological exhaustion, as a result of the torture and repression he experienced in recent years, has particularly contributed to reaching these fatal conditions."

Regarding civil damages, the ruling ordered the State of Chile to pay compensation of $480,000,000 (four hundred eighty million pesos) to the victim's family members.

by Javier Paredes

Source: elciudadano.cl, January 8, 2018

The prosecution was issued by visiting judge Leopoldo Llanos for the crimes of aggravated kidnapping and the application of torture against Luis Alberto Corvalán Castillo.

The visiting judge for human rights violation cases of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Leopoldo Llanos, decided to prosecute 16 former members of the Army as responsible for the crimes of aggravated kidnapping and the application of torture against Luis Alberto Corvalán Castillo between September and November 1973 at the Estadio Nacional.

Thus, Pedro Espinoza Bravo, Luis Sáenz de Tejeda, Francisco Herrera Latoja, Napoleón Bravo Flores, Leopoldo Moya Bruce, Raúl Jofré González, Hernán Chacón Soto, Patricio Vásquez Donoso, and Francisco López Oyarzún were prosecuted as perpetrators of aggravated kidnapping and accomplices to the application of torture.

Meanwhile, Rafael González Verdugo was prosecuted as an accomplice to the crime of aggravated kidnapping.

The judge also indicted Eugenio Covarrubias Valenzuela, Jaime Ortiz Jorquera, Federico Antilén Nahuel, and Luis Zamorano Soto as perpetrators of the crime of the application of torture and as accessories to aggravated kidnapping. In the case of Ricardo Sepúlveda Díaz and Jaime Amor Lillo, they were indicted as an accomplice and an accessory to the application of torture, respectively.

During the investigation stage, the special judge was able to determine that Corvalán Castillo, son of the then-General Secretary of the Communist Party Luis Corvalán Lepe, was detained in a military operation carried out on September 14, 1973, in the Torres de San Borja sector in downtown Santiago, after which he was transferred to the Estadio Nacional, where he was subjected to torture in the velodrome sector.

In mid-November 1973, Corvalán Castillo was taken to the prisoner center set up at the former Chacabuco nitrate plant in the Antofagasta Region.

by María Paz Núñez

Source: latercera.cl, December 22, 2015

Supreme Court confirms ruling convicting retired military personnel for the aggravated kidnapping of an agronomist

In a unanimous ruling, the Second Chamber of the highest court rejected the appeals for cassation on form and substance filed against the sentence that convicted retired military personnel for their responsibility in the consummated crime of aggravated kidnapping of agronomist Luis Corvalán Castillo, son of the then-General Secretary of the Communist Party Luis Corvalán Lepe.

The illicit act was committed starting in September 1973 in the Metropolitan Region.

The Supreme Court rejected the appeals for cassation on form and substance filed against the sentence that convicted retired military personnel for their responsibility in the consummated crime of aggravated kidnapping of agronomist Luis Corvalán Castillo, son of the then-General Secretary of the Communist Party Luis Corvalán Lepe.

The illicit act was committed starting in September 1973 in the Metropolitan Region.

In a unanimous ruling (case file 44.144-2020), the Second Chamber of the highest court—composed of justices Manuel Antonio Valderrama, María Teresa Letelier, Juan Manuel Muñoz, Eliana Quezada, and acting attorney Pía Tavolari—confirmed the challenged sentence issued by the Santiago Court of Appeals, which sentenced Napoleón Bravo Flores, Raúl Jofré González, Hernán Chacón Soto, Patricio Vásquez Donoso, and Francisco López Oyarzún to 5 years and one day in prison as perpetrators of a crime against humanity.

Meanwhile, Jaime Rolando Ortiz Jorquera, Luis Humberto Zamorano Soto, Ricardo Sepúlveda Díaz, and Manuel Antonio Amor Lillo must serve 3 years and one day in prison as accomplices to the illicit act.

"That such a way of basing the grounds deduced, by wielding incompatible facts, reasons, and legal consequences, is not acceptable in the case of an extraordinary and strict-law appeal such as cassation on substance, in which it is necessary to demand, for this Court to be able to enter into its study and decision, that the errors of law noted in the ruling be pointed out and explained with precision and foundation, as well as their substantial influence on its operative part, all in correspondence with the requests made in its petition, characteristics that are lacking in an appeal that, like the one reviewed, presents alternative and exclusive grounds and requests, defects that constitute an insurmountable obstacle even for its study," the ruling establishes.

The resolution adds: "That the jurisprudence in this regard is numerous and sustained, counting on very recent decisions that provide solid support for what is resolved in these cases, which is the rejection of the appeals for reasons that, although formal, cannot be ignored by this chamber, given the function entrusted to it as a court of cassation."

"That, given the preceding considerations, representative of serious inaccuracies in the formalization of the appeal, contrary to the nature and purposes of this appeal for nullification, it is appropriate to dismiss the appeal for cassation," it adds.

Likewise, the ruling states: "That, regarding the claimed vice of not having applied the gradual prescription contained in Article 103 of the Penal Code, the first-instance sentence established that, in these types of crimes—crimes against humanity—in accordance with the imperative principle of International Law that proscribes non-prescriptibility, the figure of 'half-prescription' (gradual prescription) cannot be applied, considering it a figure separate from prescription and a diminished form of it, citing Resolution No. 2.583 of December 15, 1969, of the United Nations General Assembly, in which the issue of the sanctioning of those responsible for crimes against humanity is made explicit, as it has qualified it as an important element of prevention and protection of Human Rights, a way of contributing to international peace and security, and the only way to enforce it is with effective and proportional sanctions for the crime committed, in this case, a crime against humanity; the opposite would lead to setting penalties that, although suitable for common crimes, are not for special cases such as those in the present case."

"Without prejudice to what was pointed out by the ruling, the constant jurisprudence of this Criminal Chamber has used two arguments to dismiss this ground of the appeal, insofar as it is based on Article 103 of the Penal Code," the resolution warns.

"On one hand," it continues, "the classification of the illicit act committed as a crime against humanity forces the consideration of International Human Rights Law regulations, which exclude the application of both total prescription and so-called 'half-prescription,' understanding such institutes to be closely linked in their foundations and, consequently, contrary to the jus cogens regulations originating from that sphere of International Criminal Law, which reject impunity and the imposition of penalties not proportional to the intrinsic gravity of the crimes, based on the passage of time."

"But along with this, it is emphasized that whatever interpretation may be made of the foundation of the legal precept in discussion, the truth is that the norms to which Article 103 of the Penal Code refers grant a mere faculty to the judge and do not impose the obligation to reduce the amount of the penalty even if several mitigating factors concur, so the denounced vice lacks substantial influence on the operative part of the challenged ruling (among others, SCS Nos. 35.788-2017, of March 20, 2018; 39.732-2017, of May 14, 2018; and 36.731-2017, of September 25, 2018), so, under such conditions, the appeal cannot prosper," it concludes.

Therefore, it is resolved that

"1.- The appeal for cassation on form filed in favor of the convicted Ricardo Sepúlveda Díaz against the sentence of March 9, 2020, issued by the Santiago Court of Appeals in case file No. 5774-2018, is rejected.

2.- The appeals for cassation on substance filed in favor of the convicted Hernán Carlos Chacón Soto, Manuel Antonio Amor Lillo, Napoleón Sergio Bravo Flores, Raúl Jofré González, Jaime Rolando Ortiz Jorquera, and Ricardo Winston Sepúlveda Díaz, and likewise the appeal for cassation on substance filed by the Human Rights Program Unit of the Undersecretariat of Human Rights of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights against the sentence of March 9, 2020, issued by the Santiago Court of Appeals in case file No. 5774-2018, are rejected."

Torture at the Velodrome

In the first-instance sentence, the special judge of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Leopoldo Llanos, considered the following facts proven:

"a) On the occasion of the Coup d'État of September 11, 1973, thousands of people were detained without a judicial order by the coup forces and deprived of their liberty, both in Santiago and in the provinces, in improvised places such as detention camps.

b) In Santiago, the places of mass detention were, first, the 'Estadio Chile,' located in the western sector of downtown Santiago, which came to house approximately 4,000 detainees. Second, the Estadio Nacional, located in the commune of Ñuñoa, where around September 14, 1973, a large part of the detainees from the Estadio Chile were transferred—and to which people detained in the following days were also taken, housing approximately 10,000 people deprived of their liberty—and which remained as a detention center until mid-November 1973, when some of the detainees were transferred to the Public Jail, and others to a prisoner camp at the former 'Chacabuco' nitrate plant in the province of Antofagasta; while the rest were released before or during its closure.

c) The first Army officers to take charge of the Estadio Nacional for the reception of detainees came from the Army's Administrative Support Command, who—along with other officers who subsequently arrived at the Stadium—proceeded to classify the detainees, place them in the facilities of the compound, and create a card index, registering their entry and exit, in addition to other data.

d) Units from provincial regiments were transferred to the Estadio Nacional, whether from Antofagasta (Esmeralda Regiment), Punta Arenas (Pudeto Regiment), or other regiments from outside Santiago, who alternated in the internal custody (inside the stadium) of the detainees, remaining for a few days in the aforementioned compound to then, when relieved by other units, remain for a few days at the Military Stadium located in the Rondizzoni sector, adjacent to the then-Cousiño Park, today O’Higgins.

The outer perimeter of the stadium was guarded by personnel from the Carabineros de Chile.

e) Approximately on September 15 or 16, 1973, Army Colonel Jorge Espinoza Ulloa (now deceased) was designated as head of the Estadio Nacional detention camp, who in turn depended on a Detainee Coordinating Center, directed by an Air Force general, who in turn had two commanders of the same branch as assistants who carried out their work in the Ministry of Defense building.

The aforementioned Center depended on the National Defense General Staff, whose chief was Admiral Patricio Carvajal, and deputy chief was FACH General Nicanor Díaz Estrada.

f) At the National Defense General Staff, on September 11, 1973, a 'Joint Armed Forces Operations Center' (COFFA) began to function, which had an Intelligence Department, composed of officers and officials from different branches of the Armed Forces and Investigations, especially from their intelligence services; that is, from the Army Intelligence Directorate (DINE), and its counterparts in the Air Force (SIFACH) and the Navy (SIN).

Army non-commissioned officers who were students of an intelligence course, which was taught in the Ministry of Defense building on Zenteno Street, were assigned to the DINE. Likewise, several sections depended on the DINE (whose superior officers were Generals Augusto Lutz and Héctor Orozco, in addition to officers Carol Urzúa, Pedro Howard, and Juan Francisco Henríquez (all now deceased, with the exception of Orozco); among them a section or department (the IV), called the Army Intelligence Brigade (BIE) or Work Unit and located in a building on Carrera Street with Sazié, in the vicinity of the old War Academy, the latter located at Alameda with García Reyes. Said Work Unit was directed by two Army officers, with the ranks of major or commander; and was also composed of groups of interrogators, who mobilized to the different detention centers, such as the Estadio Chile, the Estadio Nacional, and the Tacna Regiment.

g) Colonel Jorge Espinoza Ulloa, as head of the Estadio Nacional detention center, had an Army major as an assistant, and furthermore, several 'departments' were under his dependency, among others, one for Logistics directed by Army Lieutenant Sergio Guarategua Peña (deceased); for Foreigners, commanded by Army Major Carlos Meirelles Muller (deceased) and subsequently by officers Mario Lavanderos Lataste (deceased) and Sergio Fernández Carranza; and for Operations, directed by Army Lieutenant Colonel Julio Fuenzalida Arancibia (deceased); a Security department depended on the latter, composed of several Army officers. Likewise, Army non-commissioned officers who, as of September 11, 1973, were students of a general assistantship course at the Telecommunications School, and who were transferred to the Estadio Nacional approximately two days after that date, performed administrative and detainee custody functions. Finally, a field hospital operated on the Stadium grounds, where doctors and personnel from the Army Health corps worked.

h) At the Estadio Nacional, interrogation under torment or torture was frequent for the detainees (without prejudice to the fact that dozens of them were also put to death); one of the most characteristic places where these procedures were practiced was the Stadium Velodrome, a facility located within the compound but outside the main construction, where detainees were taken after being called by loudspeakers to present themselves at a place known as the 'black disc,' located on the cinder track, to take them with their heads covered with blankets to the aforementioned velodrome, a place where they were made to wait in its stands until being called to some facilities called 'snails' (caracoles), where they were subjected to duress consisting of beatings and electric shocks.

i) The interrogations and torture described above were carried out by the groups of interrogators mentioned above, and also integrated (apart from Army personnel) by members of the intelligence services of the different branches of the Armed Forces, the Carabineros, and also the Investigative Police; as well as some civilians who performed that work, generally reserve officers reintegrated into the Armed Forces after the Coup d'État.

Likewise, some members of the Armed Forces of foreign countries, especially from Brazil and Uruguay, participated in the torture.

j) Luis Alberto Corvalán Castillo, 27 years old, an agronomist, a member of the Communist Party, and son of the General Secretary of the same party, Luis Corvalán Lepe, was illegally detained during a massive raid carried out by the Army on September 14, 1973, in the Torres de San Borja sector, where he resided, and was transferred to the Estadio Nacional.

k) Numerous witnesses recount that Corvalán Castillo, from the very moment of his arrival at the Stadium, as well as subsequently, was severely tortured for the sole reason of being the son of Luis Corvalán Lepe.

The most intense torture was inflicted upon him in mid-October 1973 at the aforementioned Stadium Velodrome, leaving him in an extremely grave physical condition, to the point that he had to be carried from the site of the torture back to the main building of the Stadium with the help of four other detainees, who improvised a type of stretcher with a blanket; he was left for a long period on the cinder track, semi-conscious, until, by order of an officer, he was taken to a locker room, where he was hidden so that he would not be tortured again the following day.

This event was witnessed by several people who were in the Stadium stands.

l) Upon the closure of the Estadio Nacional as a detention center, Corvalán Castillo was transferred, along with numerous other detainees, to the prisoner camp at the former 'Chacabuco' nitrate plant in northern Chile.

m) Finally, he was released on July 30, 1974, but expelled from the country, moving first to Mexico (where he reunited with his spouse Ruth Vuskovic, who had also been detained at the Estadio Nacional), and later settling in Bulgaria, where he was examined by doctors in that country who confirmed the sequelae of his torture; he was advised not to engage in too much activity due to his delicate state of health.

n) Luis Alberto Corvalán Castillo passed away on October 26, 1975, in Bulgaria. According to the autopsy report, the cause of death was heart disease that led to acute vascular insufficiency, but taking into account his young age—the report states—'the great physical and psychological exhaustion, as a result of the torture and repression he experienced in recent years, has particularly contributed to reaching these fatal conditions'."

Source: Judiciary, April 8, 2024