Repressive Context: Leader of the Chillán taxi drivers. Member of the Communist Party Date of Detention: October 3, 1973

REPRESSIVE SITUATION

Cleofe del Carmen Urrutia Acevedo, married, 5 children, taxi driver, member of the Communist Party, was detained under the following circumstances: at approximately 16:00 on October 3, 1973, the victim was talking with his cousin, Gabriel Urrutia, owner of the establishment Drive El Refugio on Calle O'Higgins in the city of Chillán.

Both were outside the establishment because Cleofe needed to go get his taxi. At that moment, a vehicle carrying several police officers arrived at high speed; two of them got out and proceeded to grab Cleofe Urrutia and violently force him inside.

His cousin asked the Carabineros officer José del Carmen Venegas Jara for the reasons for what was happening, to which the officer replied: "It is Mr. Cleofe, not you, Mr. Gabrielito." He was also able to recognize that the other police officer was 2nd Sergeant Mario Jara Jara. The van left the scene quickly and headed to the Second Carabineros Precinct of Chillán, to which the captors belonged.

Deeply concerned, Gabriel Urrutia immediately went to inform his cousin's wife, Dora Cisterna González, of what had happened; she left immediately for the 2nd Precinct of Chillán. A few minutes after the victim had been brought in, his wife arrived at the police station.

She approached a guard on duty and expressed her concern and confusion regarding the detention of Cleofe Urrutia, since days earlier he had presented himself voluntarily at the Chillán Regiment, where he was released after being interrogated.

The Carabineros officer replied that her husband was being held in the dungeon and that she should not bring him food or clothing because they would not be delivered to him as he "was an extremist."

She returned the following day, October 4, but the Carabineros told her that her husband was not being held and that they did not know him. Desperate, she went to the Chillán Regiment and the Public Jail without being able to obtain news of him.

Subsequently, she went to all the prisons in the area: San Carlos, Quirihue, Yungay, Bulnes, Concepción, Talcahuano, and Isla Quiriquina. In every place, the answer was always the same: Cleofe Urrutia was not registered as a detainee. Dora and her son Erich began a long journey to uncover the situation of Cleofe Urrutia, who, after being detained, was forcibly disappeared.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On April 4, 1979, the victim's spouse filed a writ of amparo before the Chillán Court of Appeals, case number 106.168 (the ruling and its date are not recorded).

On August 31, 1978, a case for Presumed Misfortune regarding Cleofe Urrutia Acevedo was initiated in the 2nd Criminal Court of Chillán, case number 47.005. The judge issued official letters to various agencies requesting information or evidence regarding what happened to the victim.

Officers from the España police station, under the 2nd Precinct, following a court order, interrogated 2nd Sergeant Mario Jara Jara about the events; he stated that he did not remember detaining the victim "since many people were detained on that occasion." The official response from the aforementioned Precinct added that the logs from the date of the investigated events had been burned, therefore it was not possible to verify his entry.

On October 10, 1978, former Carabineros officer José Venegas appeared before the judge, stating that he knew the victim by sight, that he never saw him doing anything strange at that time, and that he never detained him. On the same day, the victim's cousin, Gabriel Urrutia, appeared to testify, confirming the investigated facts.

The Investigations Precinct carried out various procedures, obtaining similar statements and results. In October 1978, 2nd Sergeant Mario Jara Jara testified. On that occasion, the police officer claimed not to have participated in the victim's detention and that he did not know about the situation under investigation.

He further added that "someone is falsifying the facts since the complaint speaks of a jeep and Mr. Gabriel Urrutia speaks of a van." He was referring to the fact that in the statements of the witness to the detention, his cousin Gabriel Urrutia described the vehicle the captors were traveling in as a black and white van, while the victim's spouse described it as a green jeep.

That same day, October 20, the judge closed the summary proceedings and ordered the dismissal of the case on the grounds that the existence of a crime had not been proven.

On December 28, 1978, the Chillán Court of Appeals confirmed the ruling of the judge of the 2nd Criminal Court of Chillán.

Source: Vicariate of Solidarity

In a solemn and emotional ceremony, the Communist Party of Ñuble presented the Luis Emilio Recabarren medal last Friday, November 9. This is the highest distinction awarded by the Party's Central Committee to 8 of our prominent militants whose lives were taken by the civil-military dictatorship and who remain forcibly disappeared to this day.

With the presence of comrade Jorge González, a member of the Party's central committee and leader of the Central Workers' Union (CUT), the activity began in the Schäefer Hall of the University of BioBío, accompanied by relatives of the honorees, Communist militants of the new Ñuble region, Chillán councilors, a Deputy, and regional councilors, as well as friends and comrades from other parties of the progressive left, who also symbolically received a plaque in tribute to those who fell in the struggle during the bleak days of the civil-military dictatorship.

It was a meeting with high political content regarding our shared past and the future that we must build together for a fairer and more democratic country. Prior to the event, a press conference was held on Friday morning, inviting the entire community to attend the "Heroes and Heroines of the People" act and highlighting the importance of memory and the value of human life.

Relatives of Juan Félix Iturra Lillo, Leopoldo López Rivas, CLEOFE DEL CARMEN URRUTIA ACEVEDO, and Carlos Alberto Sepúlveda Palavecino were present and received the posthumous medal.

Source: pcchile.cl 13/11/2018

Date: 13-11-2018

Amparo denied to genocidal Patricio Jeldres, fierce repressor in Chillán in 1973

The cop Jeldres was a merciless repressor of residents, workers, and peasants in the province of Chillán immediately after the 1973 Coup d'État. The Santiago Court of Appeals rejected his appeal to avoid the prison sentence in Punta Peuco for not "being rehabilitated," which is expressed by the fact that he shows no conscience and does not repent for the crimes he committed.

On May 29, it was announced that the Santiago Court of Appeals rejected a writ of amparo against the decision of the Parole Commission of the appellate court that—in justice—denied the right to such a contingency to the inmate of the Punta Peuco hostel-prison, Patricio Jeldres Rodríguez.

In a unanimous ruling (case 1.076-2017), the 5th Chamber of the appellate court considered that the inmate has no conscience of the damage caused, therefore he cannot access the right.

"That the aforementioned report, as far as these judges are concerned, records at least two issues that seem to be essential. Regarding the conscience of the damage, he focuses it rather on himself and his family, as a product of his confinement, but regarding the victims of the crimes—whose authorship he would currently acknowledge at least regarding the detention—only a moderate ideo-affective correlation is appreciated, in the words used in the cited report."

"The second essential issue is that linked to the repentance he claims to feel in relation to the crimes subject to his conviction 'not having been more diligent in following up on what happened to the victims.' However, this report, referring to a report prepared on this aspect, says that it indicates that he would not show remorse or feelings of guilt, which obviously contrasts with his expression of moral condemnation of such behaviors and, likewise, with the statement—now in the report—to the effect that 'he has managed to deploy and consolidate a gradual process of deepening regarding the elaboration of his participation in the facts for which he is serving a sentence'," the ruling says.

It adds that: "in the opinion of this Chamber of the Court, these antecedents demonstrate that the applicant Patricio Enrique Jeldres Rodríguez is not rehabilitated as of the date of this application and evaluation in the terms of Article 1 of Decree Law No. 321, so, having determined by the Parole Commission that this benefit is rejected in his case, it did not incur in an illegal or arbitrary act that affects the guarantee of personal freedom enshrined in Article 19 No. 7 of the Fundamental Charter."

Who was the 'bitter flesh' Patricio Jeldres?

This individual was a lieutenant and head of the repressive group that operated in the Second Carabineros Precinct of Chillán after the Coup, and was in charge of the detention, torture, death, and disappearance of people who adhered to the overthrown government of the Popular Unity and opponents of the civil-military dictatorship in the province of Ñuble.

He retired in 1999, with the rank of general, after having held—with total disregard for ethics and legality regarding the defense of human rights, but with the acquiescence of the infamous Concertación—the position of Head of the Metropolitan Zone of Carabineros.

He was sentenced, in August 2008, to a penalty of 3 years and one day, with supervised release, and later unjustly acquitted, for his responsibility in the homicide of the former mayor of Chillán, RICARDO LAGOS REYES, his wife ALBA OJEDA GRANDON, and their son, CARLOS, a despicable crime that occurred on 16/9/73.

He has also been prosecuted for the crime of qualified kidnapping (detention and disappearance) of CLEOFE URRUTIA ACEVEDO, who was a taxi driver union leader and was detained on October 3, 1973, in Chillán. Since then, his whereabouts remain unknown.

In February 2014, he entered to serve 5 years and one day in prison without benefits for the disappearance and qualified kidnapping of Mr. GILBERTO PINO BAEZA and Mr. SERGIO CÁDIZ CORTÉS, two peasant leaders from the town of Cato, Ñuble province, an event that occurred on October 22, 1973, when they were detained by the Carabineros patrol under the command of Jeldres Rodríguez himself.

In addition, the former cop is being investigated in other cases for the disappearance or kidnapping of at least 10 people in Ñuble, among whom is the community leader Mr. LUIS IBARRA DURÁN. In another of these cases, and for which he has been prosecuted since mid-May, the criminal against humanity is accused of being the author of the crime of consummated qualified kidnapping of brothers GUSTAVO EFRAÍN and TOMÁS ROGELIO DOMÍNGUEZ JARA and WILSON ALFREDO BECERRA CIFUENTES, an illicit act committed on October 11, 1973, from the "Ránquil" Peasant Settlement in San Nicolás.

In statements by former political prisoners who suffered the brutality of Jeldres firsthand—and who were able to survive—this individual is described as the person in charge of the operational part of the repression exercised by Carabineros in Chillán and the fiercest torturer in the area during the first years of the dictatorship.

Source: acciondirectachile.blogspot.com 02/07/2017

Date: 02-07-2017

Investigation reopened for disappearance of taxi driver

The Second Criminal Court reopened the case for the disappearance of Cleofe Urrutia Acevedo, a leader of the Chillán taxi drivers, who disappeared on October 3, 1973. The reopening of the investigation, which was dismissed in 1978 by the same court and subsequently by the Court of Appeals, occurred after new evidence was incorporated that allowed for the confirmation of the participation of two Carabineros in the detention, indicated Ignacio Marín, a lawyer for the Human Rights Program of the Ministry of the Interior.

The professional announced that with this new data, provided by the Fifth Department of Investigations, they will request the indictment of the two former Carabineros, who are identified and whose participation in the detention is allegedly proven, he commented.

Cleofe del Carmen Urrutia Acevedo, married, 5 children, taxi driver, member of the Communist Party, was detained on the afternoon of October 3, 1973, on Avenida O'Higgins, while he was talking with his cousin Gabriel Urrutia. The worker was detained by two Carabineros and taken to the Second Carabineros Precinct, from where his trail was lost.

In the previous investigation, Urrutia's presence at the police unit was proven, although his presence was denied on the second day of detention by police personnel when asked by the worker's relatives.

Urrutia's disappearance drew attention, considering that he had been detained previously at the Chillán Regiment, being released quickly. On April 4, 1979, the victim's spouse filed a writ of amparo before the Chillán Court of Appeals, case number 106.168 (the ruling and its date are not recorded).

On August 31, 1978, a case for Presumed Misfortune was initiated in the Second Criminal Court of Chillán, case number 47.005.

The judge issued official letters to various agencies requesting information or evidence regarding what happened to the victim, which ultimately did not prosper. On October 20, the judge closed the summary proceedings and ordered the dismissal of the case on the grounds that the existence of a crime had not been proven.

On December 28, 1978, the Chillán Court of Appeals confirmed the ruling of the judge of the 2nd Criminal Court of Chillán.

Source: La Discusión, May 24, 2005

Date: 24-05-2005