The minister on special assignment for human rights violation cases at the Temuco Court of Appeals, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, charged the retired Carabineros: Baltazar Segundo Echeverría Ortega, Juan Angel Gajardo Morales, Luis Diber Aguilera Ortíz, and Iván Humberto Sanhueza Torres, as perpetrators of the crime of unlawful coercion against Manuel Marcelino Ramírez Zurita, committed in the commune of Renaico in February 1987.

During the investigation stage (Case File 63.535), Minister Mesa established the following facts:

A.- That on February 18, 1987, around 06:00 in the morning, in the commune of Renaico, Manuel Marcelino Ramírez Zurita was arrested on a public street by Carabineros personnel from that locality, as he was in a state of intoxication along with three other people, all of whom were taken to the commune's Carabineros station.

B.- That at the police station's guardroom, the detainees were asked for their identities, and upon Ramírez Zurita's refusal, he was struck in the chest by a police officer. Afterward, the detainees were placed in the same holding cell at that facility.

After a few minutes, due to his anxiety about going to work, Ramírez Zurita began calling out to the police officers on duty at the time, banging on the cell doors to be heard. A few minutes later, two Carabineros arrived—one of them Luis Aguilera Ortiz—who, under the orders of the sergeant in charge of the station at that hour, Baltazar Echeverría Ortega, proceeded to remove Ramírez Zurita from the cell and take him to another area of the police facility.

There, Carabineros Luis Diber Aguilera Ortiz and Juan Ángel Gajardo Morales first proceeded to douse him with a hose, but as that was not enough, they held him firmly by the arms and tried to submerge him in a water drum.

However, this maneuver could not be completed due to the resistance offered by the detainee, at which point Iván Sanhueza Torres—under the orders of the sergeant in charge of the police facility—proceeded to assist by forcing the detainee's head into the water. The mistreatment suffered by Manuel Ramírez Zurita was heard by the other detainees, and some of them even observed what happened to him.

C.- That after a few minutes, Ramírez Zurita was taken back to the cells, but placed in one adjacent to the one he had initially occupied, where there were no other detainees. Prior to this, the police officers who had previously removed him from the cell and submerged him in water proceeded to open the door of the cell where the other detainees were held and showed them the state of Ramírez Zurita.

His cellmates were able to observe that his clothing and his entire upper body were wet, and furthermore, that he was crying. Subsequently, the detainees heard how Ramírez Zurita, alone in the cell, was crying and stating that he had been mistreated and injured.

D.- That around 12:00 hours on the same day, the Lieutenant of the unit proceeded to conduct an exterior patrol of the station, noticing that a red cloth was hanging from one of the bars on the cell windows. He immediately entered the facility, observing that Ramírez Zurita had committed suicide, using the shirt he was wearing when he was arrested.

E.- That finally, according to the autopsy protocol and the statement of the forensic doctor, Ramírez Zurita presented blood infiltrations on the inner side of the scalp and abrasions in the right scapular and left external malleolar regions, which were explained as the result of the actions of third parties, caused by blows with a blunt object, such as a baton or hose.

Minister Álvaro Mesa Latorre was appointed as an instructor for human rights cases on September 27, 2011. At the time of assuming his post, he received 41 cases in the summary stage. He currently oversees 106 cases, and in 25 of them, he has issued indictments, resulting in a total of 80 indictments.

Furthermore, there are 89 cases in the summary stage, 11 in the plenary stage, and 11 have been adjudicated. Of the latter, all sentences have been convictions, with 5 of them being final. On the other hand, 6 have been temporarily dismissed, 2 have been definitively dismissed, and he has declared himself incompetent in 2.

To date, there are 120 people under prosecution and 45 accused. In his investigative work, the instructing minister of the Temuco Court of Appeals is assisted by 5 judicial clerks and 8 detectives from the Investigative Brigade for Crimes against Human Rights of the Chilean Investigative Police.

Source: araucaniacuenta.cl, July 30, 2016

Minister Álvaro Mesa sentenced four retired Carabineros as perpetrators of the torture of Manuel Ramírez Zurita in Renaico.

The Minister sentenced the retired Carabineros officers Baltazar Segundo Echeverría Ortega, Juan Ángel Gajardo Morales, Luis Diber Aguilera Ortíz, and Iván Humberto Sanhueza Torres to three years in prison.

The Minister on special assignment for human rights violation cases for the Courts of Appeals of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, sentenced the retired Carabineros officers Baltazar Segundo Echeverría Ortega, Juan Ángel Gajardo Morales, Luis Diber Aguilera Ortíz, and Iván Humberto Sanhueza Torres to three years in prison as perpetrators of the crime of torture against Manuel Marcelino Ramírez Zurita, an illicit act committed in the commune of Renaico on January 18, 1987.

In the case (File number 63.535), the instructing Minister granted the four convicted individuals the benefit of a conditional remission of the sentence for a period of three years and sentenced them to the suspension of public offices or positions during the term of the sentence and the payment of court costs.

Regarding the civil action, the instructing Minister granted, with costs, the civil lawsuit filed by the defense of Manuel Ramírez, ordering the State to pay the victim's family a total of $45,000,000 (forty-five million pesos) as compensation for damages for moral injury.

In the investigation, Minister Álvaro Mesa established that:

A.- That on January 18, 1987, around 06:00 hours, in the commune of Renaico, Manuel Marcelino Ramírez Zurita was arrested on a public street by Carabineros personnel from that locality, as he was in a state of intoxication along with three other people, all of whom were taken to the commune's Carabineros station.

B.- That at the police station's guardroom, the detainees were asked for their identities, and upon Ramírez Zurita's refusal, he was struck in the chest by a police officer. Afterward, the detainees were placed in the same holding cell at that facility.

After a few minutes, due to his anxiety about going to work, Ramírez Zurita began calling out to the police officers on duty at the time, banging on the cell doors to be heard. A few minutes later, two Carabineros arrived—one of them Luis Aguilera Ortíz—who, under the orders of the sergeant in charge of the station at that hour, Baltazar Echeverría Ortega, proceeded to remove Ramírez Zurita from the cell and take him to another area of the police facility.

There, Carabineros Luis Diber Aguilera Ortíz and Juan Ángel Gajardo Morales first proceeded to douse him with a hose, but as that was not enough, they held him firmly by the arms and tried to submerge him in a water drum.

However, this maneuver could not be completed due to the resistance offered by the detainee, at which point Iván Sanhueza Torres—under the orders of the sergeant in charge of the police facility—proceeded to assist by forcing the detainee's head into the water. The mistreatment suffered by Manuel Ramírez Zurita was heard by the other detainees, and some of them even observed what happened to him.

C.- That after a few minutes, Ramírez Zurita was taken back to the cells, but placed in one adjacent to the one he had initially occupied, where there were no other detainees. Prior to this, the police officers who had previously removed him from the cell and submerged him in water proceeded to open the door of the cell where the other detainees were held and showed them the state of Ramírez Zurita.

His cellmates were able to observe that his clothing and his entire upper body were wet, and furthermore, that he was crying. Subsequently, the detainees heard how Ramírez Zurita, alone in the cell, was crying and stating that he had been mistreated and injured.

D.- That around 12:00 hours on the same day, the Lieutenant of the unit proceeded to conduct an exterior patrol of the station, noticing that a red cloth was hanging from one of the bars on the cell windows. He immediately entered the facility, observing that Ramírez Zurita had committed suicide, using the shirt he was wearing when he was arrested.

E.- That finally, according to the autopsy protocol and the statement of the forensic doctor, Ramírez Zurita presented blood infiltrations on the inner side of the scalp and abrasions in the right scapular and left external malleolar regions, which were explained as the result of the actions of third parties, caused by blows with a blunt object, such as a baton or hose.

Source: pjud.cl, May 31, 2018