Visiting judge Jorge Zepeda indicted four former Carabineros and four former military personnel as perpetrators of the aggravated kidnapping of U.S. citizen Boris Weisfeiler, who disappeared between January 3 and 5, 1985, in the vicinity of the former Colonia Dignidad.

The individuals prosecuted by the magistrate were identified as Jorge Andrés Cofré Vega, Estorgio Soto Vásquez, José Mauricio Arias Suazo, Antonio Luis Alberto Cortés Aravena, Luis Ricardo Félix Pardo Fernández, Gabriel Humberto Díaz Morales, and Héctor Rolando Aedo Toro, as perpetrators of aggravated kidnapping.

Meanwhile, Guillermo Luis Fernández Catalán was charged as an accomplice to aggravated kidnapping. According to the Judiciary through its website, on the aforementioned date, Carabineros officers warned "that a walker, who is wearing military-type clothing, is moving through their surveillance sector on the border in a direction from east to west, and, upon presuming the illegal entry of the stranger through border crossings from Argentina into national territory, they become alarmed due to the military clothing that the stranger was reported to be wearing, which gives the stranger the appearance of an ‘extremist’ trying to enter the country clandestinely." The resolution added that the uniformed personnel detained Weisfeiler, "deprived him of his liberty and decided to hide him," and later reported "deceptively to the authority that a hiker who was traveling through the Los Sauces sector had presumably drowned while trying to cross the river." Furthermore, it was specified that a group of military personnel collaborated with the Carabineros "in the unlawful deprivation of liberty and concealment." Finally, the document indicated that the agents, "additionally, maintain a persistent conduct of concealment to this day regarding the circumstances of the detention and the whereabouts of this American citizen, which ultimately determines his forced disappearance."

Source: adn.cl, August 21, 2012

Judge Álvaro Mesa issues indictment against retired Army paratrooper for unlawful coercion in Traiguén

The extraordinary visiting judge for human rights violation cases in the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Claudio Mesa Latorre, issued indictment No. 85 in the cases he is processing and filed charges against retired Army non-commissioned officer Gabriel Humberto Díaz Morales for his responsibility in the crime of unlawful coercion.

This illicit act was perpetrated after September 11, 1973, in the commune of Traiguén. In the resolution (case file 24.428), Judge Mesa Latorre identified the former paratrooper of the Black Beret Command as the perpetrator of the crime against humanity committed against the victims Antonio Inostroza Segura, Omar Enrique Cuevas Gajardo, Luis Alberto Collao Montalva, Rinaldo Torres Zapata, Carlos Silva Riffo, and Jaime Pablo Sperberg Cristia.

During the investigation stage of the case, the visiting judge managed to gather sufficient evidence to establish the following facts: “A.- That immediately after September 11, 1973, the authorities who took command of the country ordered the systematic persecution and detention of militants and sympathizers of the parties of the Salvador Allende Gossens government, especially those who held positions in the deposed public administration.

Thus, according to the statements of the then-Captain Jorge Bravo Vergara [deceased, according to page 676 (vol. II)], the Military Prosecutor's Office was formed with the purpose of summoning and interrogating civilians who were recognized as militants of political parties in Traiguén or those who threatened the security of the State.

This summons work was supported by personnel from the Carabineros and the Investigative Police [page 10 (vol. I), among other evidence]. B.- That there were detainees for political reasons who remained in the city's jail, who were interrogated in the facilities of the military unit's casino.

These detainees were transferred on several occasions and at any hour of the day, including late at night, from the Traiguén public jail to the Regiment and vice versa, as they were located opposite each other [according to Expert Reports from page 595 to page 603 (vol.

II) among other evidence]. Upon arriving at the Regiment, the detainees were taken to the facilities located in what was known as the Officers' casino, with the group led by Captain Jorge Bravo, Lieutenant Pereira [deceased according to page 677 (vol.

II)], and Corporal Gabriel Díaz, who had the specialty of a paratrooper (black beret) and was specially assigned to work there after September 11, 1973, operating in an adjacent room (according to pages 10, 15, 19, 25, 74, 155, 259 (vol.

I), 405 (vol. II) (among other evidence). C.- That there were numerous detainees in the Officers' Casino of the Traiguén Regiment, including some who were transferred from other penitentiary facilities, such as the jails of Angol and Victoria [according to page 3 (vol.

I) and pages 672 to 675 (vol. II), among other evidence]. These detainees were kept face down and sometimes blindfolded. According to the statements of Captain Jorge Bravo Vergara himself, on page 10, when interrogated, they were beaten with fists and on some occasions, low-voltage electricity was used, applying a telephone dynamo for this purpose.

The foregoing is corroborated by the testimonies provided on pages 34, 36, 79, 146, 151, 157, 207 (vol. I) among other evidence. D.- That Antonio Inostroza Segura, a teacher and Regional Secretary of the Communist Party, was detained after September 11, 1973, in Temuco and transferred to the commune of Victoria.

Subsequently, he was taken to the Victoria jail, being a fellow prisoner of several people classified as political prisoners, including Eliseo Jara Ríos, among others. In October 1973, he was transferred to the Traiguén Regiment and taken to an Officers' room, observing a large number of detainees in poor physical condition.

He remained detained for about 13 days in that place, being interrogated by Captain Bravo under the application of torture consisting of beatings and the application of electric current. After that period, he was again transferred to the Victoria jail and subsequently subjected to a War Council (according to pages 48, 148, 153, 266, among other evidence).

E.- That Omar Enrique Cuevas Gajardo, by the year 1973, was working as a Sermena official in the commune of Traiguén. On September 13, 1973, he voluntarily presented himself to the Military Prosecutor's Office of Traiguén as he had been informed that he should go to that place.

There, he was received by Military Prosecutor Bravo and taken to a cell located inside the military unit. After two or three days of his presentation at the Regiment, he was taken again to the presence of the Military Prosecutor, to a small office adjacent to a hall, observing several detainees, lying on the floor, one next to the other, recognizing among them Jaime Sperberg, Carlos Pino, Segundo Trangolao, Juan Curín, among others.

Once interrogated by Captain Bravo, he was sent to the Traiguén jail, incommunicado. After a few days, he was transferred to the common cells where he shared confinement with several of the people he had already seen at the Miraflores Regiment in Traiguén.

During this period, he was taken out on several occasions to the Regiment to be interrogated and on one occasion under the application of torture consisting of fist blows and the application of electricity.

The foregoing is corroborated by the testimonies on page 148 (vol. I) 482 bis (vol. II), among other evidence. F.- That Luis Alberto Collao Montalva, an agricultural worker, was detained on October 27, 1973, by a military patrol that arrived at his home, being beaten by the military personnel and transferred to the Miraflores Regiment in Traiguén.

There, he was taken into a hall and again subjected to physical coercion, consisting of kicks, fist blows, and blows with the butts of weapons. He was there for about a week, being interrogated daily, and then transferred to the Traiguén Public Jail, where he remained detained until 1974.

Like others, while he was confined in the Traiguén jail, he was periodically taken to the Regiment to be interrogated by Captain Jorge Bravo. His fellow prisoners included, among others, Omar Enrique Cuevas Gajardo, a person surnamed Curín, Carlos Pino, and a doctor surnamed Vinet (according to page 482 bis, among other evidence).

G.- That Rinaldo Torres Zapata, a Social Worker and militant of the Socialist Party, was detained in October 1973 by personnel of the Angol Investigative Police, transferred to the police unit, and on the same day admitted as a detainee to the Húsares Regiment in Angol.

Subsequently, on November 15, 1973, he was transferred to the Miraflores Regiment in Traiguén, where he spent about 1 day and 1 night, and was then taken to the Traiguén Public Jail, remaining there until the end of November of the same year, when he was transferred again to the Angol Public Jail.

While at the Traiguén Regiment, he was subjected to interrogations with the application of physical coercion, consisting of beatings, application of electric current, and submersion in water and excrement, among others.

All these actions were directed by Captain Bravo. During his time at the Miraflores Regiment, he witnessed the detention of Enrique Cuevas and Hugo Vera. In addition, he was able to recognize Antonio Inostroza Segura, Hugo Vera, Enrique Cuevas, Juan Vera Ibáñez, a person surnamed Ibacache, Dagoberto Cerna, Juan Cerna, and Ignacio Curín, a doctor surnamed Vinet, and a pharmaceutical chemist named Sperberg, among many others, as detainees in the Traiguén Public Jail [as stated on pages 148, 263 (vol.

I), 675 (vol. II), among other evidence]. H.- That Carlos Silva Riffo, a former Regional leader of the Socialist Party, was detained in September 1973 by personnel of the Angol Investigative Police and transferred to the public jail of that commune.

At the beginning of October 1973, he was taken to the Húsares Regiment in Angol, remaining as a detainee in tents intended for that purpose. In the same month, October 1973, he was taken, along with other detainees including Roberto Amaya, Sepúlveda, plus Boris Salazar, Romilio Osses, and Óscar Retamal, to the Miraflores Regiment in Traiguén and taken into a large hall where he observed about 80 detainees.

There, he was subjected to interrogations and torture by a Captain surnamed Bravo and a Corporal surnamed Díaz, who was distinguished by being a black beret. He remained in that place for about 3 days, to then be transferred again to the Angol jail.

During his confinement at the Miraflores Regiment in Traiguén, he was able to recognize Antonio Inostroza Segura, Carlos Poblete Salazar, Boris Salazar, Rinaldo Torres, Enrique Cuevas, Jaime Sperberg, among other people [as stated on pages 153, 263 (vol.

I), on page 675 (vol. II), among other evidence]. I.- That Jaime Pablo Sperberg Cristia, a Pharmaceutical Chemist, by September 1973 was working at the Traiguén hospital and was head of the Clinical and Bacteriological Laboratory of that healthcare center.

He was detained around September 15, 1973, by Traiguén Carabineros personnel along with the doctor Jaime Vinet and a person surnamed González, the son of a shoemaker from that commune. They were taken and admitted as detainees to the Traiguén public jail.

He was detained there for approximately 11 days, being taken out in the early hours of the morning by a military patrol that took him to the Miraflores Regiment in Traiguén. They took him to an office where he was interrogated by the Army Captain surnamed Bravo, the Military Prosecutor, especially regarding his political activities and the hiding of weapons, accusing him of manufacturing bombs for a paramilitary group.

Subsequently, he was released, but 2 or 3 weeks later he was detained again and transferred to the Miraflores Regiment in Traiguén, being taken to a large room, observing dozens of detainees lying on the floor, among them Carlos Pino, Armando Jara, and Segundo Trangolao, who were in very poor physical condition.

He was again interrogated and tortured by Captain Bravo and other military personnel who supported that, also witnessing the torture of other detainees, which included beatings and forced body positions, among them a young man surnamed Catrilao, Farid Sacca, Enrique Cuevas, and Víctor Valenzuela, among many others (as stated on page 271 (vol.

I), among other evidence). J.- That finally, to this date, no public official of the Chilean Army, Carabineros de Chile, or any other branch of the Armed Forces and/or Order and Security who served at the time of the events has provided any information to the respective authority regarding what happened to Antonio Inostroza Segura, Omar Enrique Cuevas Gajardo, Luis Alberto Collao Montalva, Rinaldo Torres Zapata, Carlos Silva Riffo, and Jaime Pablo Sperberg Cristia, maintaining to this day the concealment of all types of information regarding the events mentioned in the preceding paragraphs.”

Source: pjud.cl, November 9, 2022

Former Army officials prosecuted for crimes against humanity in Traiguén and Pucón during the dictatorship

The extraordinary visiting judge for human rights violation cases, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, prosecuted a former black beret for unlawful coercion against six victims in Traiguén and a former military prosecutor along with six former Army officers for the disappearance of eight victims in Pucón.

Judge Mesa Latorre filed charges against former Army non-commissioned officer and former black beret Gabriel Humberto Díaz Morales for his responsibility in the crime of unlawful coercion against six plaintiff victims.

The crimes were perpetrated after the military coup in the commune of Traiguén. In the resolution (case file 24.428), he identified the former paratrooper of the Black Beret Command as the perpetrator of the crime against humanity committed against the victims Antonio Inostroza Segura, Omar Enrique Cuevas Gajardo, Luis Alberto Collao Montalva, Rinaldo Torres Zapata, Carlos Silva Riffo, and Jaime Pablo Sperberg Cristia.

Meanwhile, in the case he is processing for the disappearance of eight victims in the commune of Pucón, Judge Mesa Latorre filed charges against the civilian repressive agent and former military prosecutor at the time of the events, Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud, and against former Army officers Pedro Guillermo Manuel Tichauer Salcedo, Raimundo Ignacio García Covarrubias, and Romilio Osvaldo Lavín Muñoz, for their responsibility as accomplices in the crime against humanity of kidnapping with grave injury of Hugo Arner González Ortega, Elías Dagoberto González Ortega, Carlos Schmidt Arriagada, Ricardo Schmidt Arriagada, Juan de Dios Cabrera Figueroa, Alejandro Escobar Vásquez, Héctor Domingo Aguayo Olavarría, and Raúl Marcial Figueroa Burckhardt. In the resolution (case file 4.473), Judge Mesa Latorre also identified the former Carabineros officer, Luis Robinson Bustos Letelier, as the perpetrator of the crime of illegal detention of the González Ortega brothers, Schmidt Arriagada, Cabrera Figueroa, Escobar Vásquez, Aguayo Olavarría, and Figueroa Burckhardt. The kidnappings and detentions were perpetrated between late September and early October 1973, in the commune of Pucón, and since that time the 8 young men have been forcibly disappeared. By Darío Núñez

Source: resumen.cl, November 11, 2022

Supreme Court turns back the clock and declares acquittal of those accused of aggravated kidnapping during the dictatorship

In a split decision, the Second Chamber of the highest court resolved to approve the acquittal of the Carabineros and members of the Army accused of being the perpetrators of the aggravated kidnapping of Russian-American citizen Boris Weisfeiler Bernstein, perpetrated in January 1985 in the mountain and border area of the Maule and Bío Bío Regions.

The split decision of the Second Chamber (case file 2.901-2020) —composed of judges Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Jorge Dahm, Leopoldo Llanos, judge María Cristina Gajardo, and judge Diego Simpértigue— ruled out error in the sentence that decreed the final dismissal of the prosecuted former uniformed personnel Jorge Andrés Cofré Vega, Estorgio Soto Vásquez, José Mauricio Arias Suazo, Antonio Luis Alberto Cortés Aravena, Luis Ricardo Félix Pardo Fernández, Gabriel Humberto Díaz Morales, Héctor Rolando Aedo Toro, and Guillermo Luis Fernández Catalán.

By sharing the qualification of the court of first instance and the Court of Appeals, which classified the events as a common crime and, consequently, applied the statute of limitations to the criminal action, by ruling out that it was a crime against humanity.

Consequently, the resolution of the Second Chamber rejected the appeals for cassation on the merits filed against the sentence that decreed the acquittal of the former members of the Army and Carabineros, accused as responsible for the crime of aggravated kidnapping of the 43-year-old Russian-American mathematician Boris Weisfeiler Bernstein, who was detained and forcibly disappeared in January 1985 in the mountains of the seventh and eighth regions.

Boris Weisfeiler was detained on January 4 by Carabineros from the "El Roble" Border Outpost in the commune of San Fabián de Alico, in the province of Ñuble, at the confluence of the Ñuble and Los Sauces rivers, located on the communal border with Parral in the mountain zone.

The minority of the Second Chamber, composed of judges Leopoldo Llanos and Jorge Dahm, were in favor of accepting the appeals for cassation on the merits filed and, consequently, invalidating the appealed sentence and, in a replacement one, sentencing the accused to 10 years and one day in prison, plus legal accessories, as perpetrators of the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Boris Weisfeiler Bernstein, rejecting the statute of limitations for the criminal action since it is a crime against humanity.

In the judicial investigation and in the first-instance ruling of judge Jorge Zepeda Arancibia, it was established that: "(...) the accused had deprived the victim Boris Weisfeiler Bernstein of his liberty and hidden him, starting from January 3 to 5, 1985, and to achieve such purpose the Carabineros officers involved, belonging to the 'El Roble' border outpost, deceptively reported that the aforementioned victim had drowned and then disappeared while trying to cross the 'Los Sauces' river." Furthermore, that said activity had begun when they undertook the pursuit of the victim, erroneously estimating that he was an extremist who was entering the country clandestinely, after being warned by locals of the passerby's transit through the sector. Likewise, according to the accusations, together with these Carabineros officers, there is evidence that would allow charges to be brought for the same crime against the Army officers who were part of the military patrol located in the area near the one where the accused Carabineros point out that the walker had tried to cross the 'Los Sauces' river. Army officers, who collaborated directly in the criminal act with the former, ultimately charging all of them with the deprivation of liberty and the concealment of the victim." Despite the evidence verified, this same judge Zepeda resolved, in March 2016, to acquit the accused, classifying the crime as a common crime and, based on that, arguing the statute of limitations of the crime. This legal absurdity was later ratified by the Santiago Court of Appeals in November 2019 and ratified now by the Second Chamber in an unusual resolution. This Supreme Court ruling represents a grotesque setback in terms of justice in human rights cases because the circumstance that the victim was not "an extremist," as the uniformed personnel called him to justify their criminal actions, nor did his presence in the country have any political motivation, as the facts and the very foundations of the investigation and judicial ruling demonstrate, the crime committed against him is based on the existence of a persecutory policy and the intentionality of eliminating opponents of the dictatorial regime. According to the majority ruling of the Second Chamber: "That, in this way, by not classifying the event as a crime against humanity and, subsequently, applying the statute of limitations to the criminal action, the judges of the merits have not incurred in their sentence in the vice denounced by the appellants, so the appeals will be rejected," the ruling concludes. The victim of this crime, an American mathematician, an academic at Princeton University, who was hiking in the Andes mountains as a tourist, was not a political activist, nor did his trip to Chile have political motivations, but he was kidnapped, eliminated, and forcibly disappeared as an expression of a policy of extermination towards potential opponents and a persecutory doctrine executed by uniformed personnel and repressive forces towards civil society. All of this makes this crime a crime against humanity, a human rights crime, and not a common crime as it has been classified in a flagrant act of impunity. This ruling ignores what was established by dozens of preceding rulings adopted by Chilean courts after being urged by international treaties and commitments to apply universal criteria of justice regarding human rights and crimes against humanity. It also ignores the self-criticism that the Supreme Court itself made in September 2013 regarding its behavior and conduct in judicial cases during the dictatorship era and as a consequence of it in subsequent years. This ruling returns to those practices of complicity, granting impunity to uniformed criminals. By Darío Núñez

Source: resumen.cl, November 1, 2023

Former Army black beret sentenced for torture of political prisoners in Traiguén in 1973

The extraordinary visiting judge for human rights violation cases in the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, sentenced the former Army non-commissioned officer for his responsibility in the crimes against humanity of unlawful coercion of political prisoners committed between September and December 1973, at the Miraflores Regiment in Traiguén.

In the ruling (case file 24.428), the visiting judge sentenced the then-corporal Gabriel Humberto Díaz Morales to a penalty of 10 years of effective imprisonment and legal accessories of absolute perpetual disqualification for public offices and political rights and absolute disqualification for professional titles for the duration of the sentence, as the perpetrator of the crimes.

In the resolution, Judge Álvaro Mesa established that after the military coup of September 1973, a military prosecutor's office was organized at the "Miraflores" Regiment in Traiguén, in charge of the then-captain Jorge Bravo Vergara (deceased), which had the purpose of detaining and interrogating civilians who were recognized as militants of left-wing political parties or supporters of the Salvador Allende government, especially those who held positions in the deposed public administration, work in which the military had the support of Carabineros and Investigative Police personnel.

Most of the detainees for political reasons remained in the Traiguén jail. The detainees were transferred, on repeated occasions and at any hour of the day or night, from the Traiguén public jail to the "Miraflores" Regiment and vice versa, as they were located opposite each other.

At the Regiment, the detainees were taken to facilities located in the Officers' Casino; in an adjacent room, the group of interrogators led by Captain Bravo Vergara, Lieutenant Pereira (deceased), and Corporal Gabriel Díaz Morales, who had the specialty of a paratrooper (black beret) and who, after the military coup, was specially assigned to work in that unit and function, operated.

These detainees were kept face down and sometimes blindfolded. According to the statements of Captain Bravo Vergara himself, when interrogated, they were beaten with fists and on occasions, low-voltage electricity was used, among other evidence.

There were numerous detainees brought from the Traiguén jail and taken to the aforementioned Casino; to them are added some who were transferred from other penitentiary facilities, such as the jails of Angol and Victoria.

Among them are the plaintiffs Antonio Inostroza Segura, a teacher and regional secretary of the Communist Party, who was detained in September 1973 in Temuco and transferred to the commune of Victoria.

Subsequently, he was taken to the Victoria jail. In October 1973, he was transferred to the Traiguén Regiment and taken to the aforementioned torture center. He remained for about 13 days in that place, being interrogated by Captain Bravo under the application of torture consisting of beatings and the application of electric current.

After that period, he was again transferred to the Victoria jail and subsequently subjected to a War Council. Omar Enrique Cuevas Gajardo, by the year 1973, was working as a Sermena official in the commune of Traiguén.

On September 13, 1973, he voluntarily presented himself to the Military Prosecutor's Office at the "Miraflores" Regiment in Traiguén as he had been informed that he should go to that place. Once interrogated by Captain Bravo, he was sent to the Traiguén jail, incommunicado.

Luis Alberto Collao Montalva, an agricultural worker, was detained on October 27, 1973, by a military patrol that arrived at his home, being beaten by the military personnel and transferred to the "Miraflores" Regiment.

He was there for about a week, being interrogated daily, and then transferred to the Traiguén Public Jail, where he remained detained until 1974. Like others, while he was confined in the jail, he was periodically taken to the Regiment to be interrogated by Captain Jorge Bravo.

Rinaldo Torres Zapata, a Social Worker and militant of the Socialist Party, was detained in October 1973 by personnel of the Angol Investigative Police, transferred to the police unit, and on the same day admitted as a detainee to the "Húsares" Regiment in Angol.

Subsequently, on November 15, 1973, he was transferred to the Traiguén Regiment, to then be taken to the local jail, where he remained until the end of November, when he was transferred to the Angol Public Jail.

While at the Traiguén Regiment, he was subjected to interrogations with the application of physical coercion, consisting of beatings, application of electric current, and submersion in water and excrement, among others.

All these actions were directed by Captain Bravo. Carlos Silva Riffo, a former regional leader of the Socialist Party, was detained in September 1973 by personnel of the Angol Investigative Police and transferred to the public jail of that commune.

In the same month, he was taken to the "Miraflores" Regiment in Traiguén. There, he was subjected to interrogations and torture by Captain Bravo and Corporal Díaz. Jaime Pablo Sperberg Cristia, a pharmaceutical chemist, by September 1973 was working at the Traiguén hospital and was head of the Clinical and Bacteriological Laboratory of that healthcare center.

He was detained on September 15, 1973, by Traiguén Carabineros personnel and admitted to the public jail of that city. From that place, he was taken out by a military patrol that took him to the "Miraflores" Regiment, and they took him to an office where he was interrogated by Captain Bravo. By Darío Núñez

Source: resumen.cl, November 8, 2023