Interpol Chile notified the arrest in Italy of Reinhard Doring Falkenberg, who was a fugitive from justice for his responsibility in crimes against humanity committed at Colonia Dignidad. Doring Falkenberg fled Chile in 2005, before being prosecuted for the kidnappings of Juan Maino, Elizabeth Rekas, and Antonio Elizondo, which occurred in 1976.

The information was communicated to the minister of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Paola Plaza. Now, the judge investigating human rights violations during the 1973-1990 period must decide whether to request his extradition from Italy. The detainee, born in 1946, was allegedly involved in various crimes committed at Colonia Dignidad, a German settlement founded by Paul Schäfer.

Source: biobiochile.cl, September 28, 2018

He was on vacation: Reinhard Doring Falkenberg, former Colonia Dignidad leader, arrested in Italy

Reinhard Doring Falkenberg escaped from Chile in 2005 after being accused of kidnapping at the German enclave. At the time of his arrest, he was on vacation in Forte dei Marmi. Now, the Chilean justice system must request the extradition of Doring, who was one of the individuals who collaborated closely with Schäfer during his time in hiding in Chile and helped finance him.

Italy has requested that the German citizen Reinhard Doring Falkenberg, arrested in the center of the country and accused of crimes committed in 1976 inside the so-called Colonia Dignidad, be kept in precautionary detention, according to sources from the Italian Ministry of Justice. "The Ministry of Justice has requested that the Florence Court of Appeal maintain precautionary custody in prison for Reinhard Doring Falkenberg, a German citizen arrested in Forte dei Marmi and sought by Chile for kidnapping committed in 1976," the sources indicated. "In the 70s, Doring lived in 'Colonia Dignidad,' a Chilean enclave of German Nazis fleeing Germany that was converted into a detention center during the regime of Augusto Pinochet." The 75-year-old detainee fled Chile in 2005, before being prosecuted for the disappearance of the Italian-Chilean Juan Maino, Elizabeth Rekas, and Antonio Elizondo in 1976 at the Colonia Dignidad settlement, founded by Paul Schäfer. Since then, he had been living in the city of Gronau, Germany, until he was arrested a few days ago at a hotel in Forte dei Marmi, in the Tuscany region of central Italy, where he was vacationing. Now, the Chilean justice system must request the extradition of Doring, who was one of the individuals who collaborated closely with Schäfer during his time in hiding in Chile and helped finance him.

Source: elmostrador.cl, September 29, 2021

Extradition from Italy authorized for German who was an accomplice to the kidnapping of three people at Colonia Dignidad

Reinhard Doring Falkenberg, who fled Chile in 2005 after being accused of kidnapping three people in 1976 inside the Colonia Dignidad settlement, was arrested in Italy at the end of September. The request by the Chilean justice system to extradite him was authorized this Friday.

It was at the end of September of this year that they captured Reinhard Doring Falkenberg in central Italy, who fled Chile in 2005 after being accused of kidnapping three people in 1976 inside the Colonia Dignidad settlement.

The country where he was arrested requested that the man be kept in preventive detention. Following that, the Chilean justice system requested the extradition of the accused, who collaborated with the leader of the German settlement, Paul Schäfer, but was not able to be prosecuted while he was in our country.

According to what is specified in the legal document, the Minister in Extraordinary Visit of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Paola Plaza, requested that the Supreme Court authorize the extradition from the Republic of Italy of the German citizen Reinhard Döring, who in our country is prosecuted as an accomplice to the crime of qualified kidnapping.

It should be noted that, as established in the document, "the governments of both countries have committed to 'deliver to the other party, in accordance with the rules and conditions established in this Treaty, the persons who are in their territory and who are sought by the Judicial Authority of the other party, because a criminal proceeding has been initiated against them or because they have been sentenced to a penalty involving the deprivation or restriction of personal liberty'." That said, following the international arrest warrant issued by the Chilean courts, "it is declared that it is appropriate to request the Government of the Republic of Italy for the extradition." It should be remembered that Doring was arrested at the end of last September in the town of Forte dei Marmi, in the Italian Tuscany, while he was on vacation. The man, who was one of those who helped finance Colonia Dignidad, resided in the German city of Gronau.

Source: chvnoticias.cl, November 12, 2021

Former Colonia Dignidad leader arrested in Italy released

The Chilean newspaper El Mercurio stated in its edition this Tuesday (11.23.2021) that the former Colonia Dignidad leader Reinhard Döring Falkenberg, arrested in Italy on September 22 at the request of the Chilean justice system, was released on Monday, November 22, on the grounds that the extradition request sent by the South American country's courts had not arrived on time.

Falkenberg immediately boarded a flight to Germany, a country with which Chile does not have an extradition treaty. No leader investigated for the crimes committed in the German enclave has been extradited to Chile, and it is likely that this signifies the end of the case against Falkenberg, who was a fugitive from justice for more than a decade and was arrested in Italy, where he traveled to spend a few days of rest.

The German citizen is under investigation in Chile, and sought by that country's justice system, for the disappearances of the Italian-Chilean photographer Juan Bosco Maino, Elizabeth Rekas Urra, and Antonio Elizondo Ormaechea, who were last seen in May 1976 at the now-defunct Colonia Dignidad (also known as Villa Baviera), a German enclave led by the former Nazi military officer Paul Schäfer that had close ties to the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

El Mercurio asserts that the Chilean Judiciary had been notified that the extradition request had indeed arrived in Italy on time.

Source: dw.com, November 23, 2021

Lawyer for Colonia Dignidad victims points to the Foreign Ministry as responsible for Döring's escape from Italy

On Monday, Italian courts released Reinhard Döring, who is being prosecuted in Chile for the murder of three Mapu youths during the dictatorship and was one of Paul Schäfer's closest associates. The judge indicated that he had not received the extradition request made by Chile, which was decided on November 12.

In the midst of this confusing process, Döring was released and returned to Germany, a country that does not extradite its citizens. This Monday, the Italian justice system released one of the former leaders of Colonia Dignidad and perpetrator of crimes against humanity, Reinhard Döring, who had remained a fugitive from justice for years.

Despite all the efforts to capture and extradite him to Chile, where he is being prosecuted, the accused was released and traveled quickly to Germany, where he has lived since 2005, a country that prevents the extradition of its citizens.

On September 28, Döring had been captured by Interpol in a seaside resort in Italy, where he was on vacation, as there was an arrest warrant against him for being prosecuted in Chile for human rights violations against three youths during the dictatorship, crimes that occurred in the German enclave of Colonia Dignidad, led by Paul Schäfer.

Reinhard Döring participated in the disappearance of the Mapu militants Juan Maino Canales, Elizabeth Rekas—who was pregnant when she was kidnapped—and Antonio Elizondo, crimes that occurred in 1976. He is also pointed out by several accounts from German settlers of the current Villa Baviera as one of Paul Schäfer's trusted leaders and one of the men who helped him live as a fugitive in hiding when he fled justice.

According to what was published by El Mercurio this Monday, Döring was released after the Lucca court argued that the documents from Chile to initiate the extradition process had not arrived on time. This, despite the fact that the Chilean courts had decided to resume the process against Döring and had requested the extradition on November 12.

The media outlet asserts that this occurred despite the fact that the judiciary had indeed sent the extradition request to the Italian Ministry of Justice last week. For lawyer Magdalena Garcés, representative of the plaintiffs in the case and who argued for the extradition before the Supreme Court, Döring's escape is the responsibility of the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "The primary responsibility lies with the Chilean State and particularly the Chilean government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is the central authority for coordination with Interpol.

Here, there is a responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in that it did not ensure or take all the necessary measures so that Döring would be brought to Chile. The judiciary did the work that corresponded to it, which was to make the extradition request; that went through the Supreme Court, the request was accepted, and the respective official letters were sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," Garcés states. "Döring did not flee for the first time; this is the second time he has fled.

Döring was an important person in Colonia Dignidad; he guarded detainees, he was part of those who did the work of exhuming remains that were later burned and their ashes thrown into the Perquilauquén River and a stream," she adds. "Döring was described by the young German settlers themselves as a person who enjoyed beating children and youths," the lawyer says.

The first time Döring fled was here in Chile, in 2005, when he managed to travel to Germany, a country that does not extradite its citizens. Added to the unsuccessful extradition request for Döring are others such as the escape of Walter Krug, who was found by Interpol in Argentina; that of Adriana Rivas, a former DINA official, from Australia, which is still being processed; and that of Pedro Barrientos, accused as the main perpetrator of the murder of Victor Jara, who is currently in the United States. "Here, a space of impunity is consolidated.

What we can think is that with a government with a minister (Hernán Larraín) who was a friend of Colonia Dignidad, with an ambassador like Sergio Romero who was also a friend of Colonia Dignidad, it is at least enough to presume that protection networks for Colonia Dignidad operate here," opines Magdalena Garcés.

It is not the first time that the history of Italy and Chile has crossed paths regarding the crimes of the dictatorship. One of the most remembered attacks carried out by the DINA was on the streets of Rome in 1975, when the Chilean DC politician Bernardo Leighton and his wife were shot by Italian neo-fascists in association with the fascist Stefano delle Chiaie, at the door of the apartment building where they lived.

It is known that in the seventies and eighties, Italian neo-fascists were connected to Latin American dictatorships and even participated in these types of operations.

Source: interferencia.cl, November 24, 2021

Extradition of former Colonia Dignidad leader complicated after being released in Italy

The Judiciary was notified on Friday that the request for Reinhard Döring Falkenberg to be sent to Chile for a human rights case had arrived within the deadline. The former Colonia Dignidad leader, Reinhard Döring Falkenberg, was arrested in Italy on September 22 while he was on vacation at a hotel in Lucca, Tuscany.

The German citizen was a fugitive and was wanted for his participation in the disappearances of the Italian-Chilean photographer Juan Bosco Maino Canales, Elizabeth de las Mercedes Rekas Urra, and Antonio Elizondo Ormaechea, committed on May 26, 1976, in the defunct Colonia Dignidad.

He had an international arrest warrant for more than a decade and it was expected that he would be extradited to Chile in the coming months, but the Lucca court released him this Monday, arguing that the documents from Chile to initiate the extradition process had not arrived on time, despite the fact that the Chilean Judiciary had been notified that the request had indeed arrived on time.

Source: emol.cl, November 23, 2021