Eduardo Alejandro Campos Barra, married, a militant of the MIR, was detained on September 13, 1973, under unknown circumstances. That day, he was seen leaving a property located in the Roosevelt neighborhood, in the commune of Las Barrancas (today Pudahuel), in the company of a Carabineros Lieutenant surnamed Quijada and two other police officers from that institution.

At 8:00 PM on September 13, he telephoned his sister, Silvia Adriana, telling her that he was temporarily in San Bernardo. That was the last communication he had with his family. At the end of September of that year, two detectives appeared at his wife's house, stating that Eduardo Campos had been executed by firing squad at the San Bernardo Infantry School.

His family has carried out countless efforts before the authorities who appear responsible for the act, but they have refused to contribute to its clarification. Furthermore, when information was requested by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the Military Government reported to said body in 1974 that Eduardo Alejandro Campos Barra "has no legal existence." This, despite the fact that his birth is duly registered in the Civil Registry, as is his marriage.

His family still does not know the fate he met at the hands of his captors.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On August 8, 1975, a complaint for alleged disappearance was filed before the San Bernardo Criminal Court, case file 44.452, in which the circumstances of his disappearance were set forth. During its processing, negative reports were received from the Ministry of the Interior, SENDET, the Medical Institute, the DINA, and various hospitals in the capital.

With this new information, the San Bernardo Court requested data from the Igi Llaima Transport Company, whose executives reported that the passenger lists were in the possession of the Army School of Non-Commissioned Officers.

When that military unit was requested to provide the information, it responded after a long period that the safe-conduct lists had been incinerated. On the other hand, efforts to identify Lieutenant Quijada, who at the time of the events was serving in the Pudahuel Precinct, were unsuccessful, as the aforementioned Police Unit responded to the Court that the Lieutenant had been transferred to a smaller unit, claiming ignorance of his whereabouts.

Meanwhile, the institution's leadership stated that no official named Quijada had served in the Pudahuel Precinct.

On October 28, 1979, the case was temporarily dismissed on the grounds that the existence of a punishable act had not been proven. This resolution was confirmed by the Santiago Court of Appeals. Subsequently, in 1980, the proceedings were reopened at the request of the aggrieved party.

In this new stage of the process, a statement was requested via official letter from the former director of the San Bernardo Infantry Regiment; it is unknown whether the aforementioned officer responded to the minute sent by the Court. Without any new relevant evidence being provided to the case, it was dismissed again.

The anthropomorphic data of Eduardo Alejandro Alberto Campos Barra were attached to case 4449 AF of the 22nd Criminal Court of Santiago for the crime of illegal inhumation in Patio 29 of the General Cemetery of unidentified persons who died between September and December 1973.

The investigating judge of the case ordered the excavation of 108 graves in September 1991. From there, 125 bodies were exhumed and sent to the Legal Medical Institute. At present (late 1992), the forensic identification reports are pending.

Source: Vicariate of Solidarity

Although the body of Eduardo Campos remains forcibly disappeared, after 50 years, the facts of his disappearance have been clarified, with convictions handed down to one of his torturers and murderers, as well as an accessory.

Eduardo was an automotive technician and a militant of the Revolutionary Workers' Front (FTR) of the MIR. Upon being captured on September 13, 1973, by a patrol, he managed to break free, killing two soldiers and wounding a third. Upon being recaptured, he was subjected to torture at the San Bernardo Infantry School and summarily executed hours later.

The Extraordinary Visiting Minister of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Marianela Cifuentes, has issued a first-instance sentence in the case investigating the disappearance of the automotive technician and militant of the Revolutionary Workers' Front of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (FTR - MIR), Eduardo Campos Barra, who was 29 years old at the time of his disappearance.

The event took place on September 14, 1973, when soldiers from the Mortar Company of the San Bernardo Infantry School made him disappear into the Maipo River.

The sentence convicts former officer Luis Carlos Villarroel, a captain at the time of the events who reached the rank of Brigadier during the dictatorship, to twelve years of major imprisonment in its medium degree, as the perpetrator of the crime of qualified homicide in its consummated degree, committed against Campos Barra.

In addition, Villarroel was sentenced to 540 days of minor imprisonment in its minimum degree for his participation as the perpetrator of the crime of applying torture in its consummated degree.

Former non-commissioned officer Juan Enrique Ruiz Salazar, also involved in the case, was sentenced to three years and one day of major imprisonment in its minimum degree, as an accessory to the crime of qualified homicide in its consummated degree committed against the victim.

In his case, the actual fulfillment of the sentence is suspended, and he is granted the alternative benefit of supervised release, with the obligation to remain under supervision during the term of the sentence.

Minister Cifuentes issued an indictment against the accused in April 2022, and after 50 years, this case has finally received its first-instance ruling. This fact underscores the persistence and sustained struggle of Eduardo Campos Barra's sisters in the search for justice, highlighting the delay of the judicial process and the need to face crimes against humanity that occurred during the military dictatorship in Chile, where impunity still reigns.

"It is a long-awaited sentence. In this case, the sisters of Mr. Eduardo Campos Barra have fought an untiring battle to achieve justice for half a century, and this first-instance sentence is the fruit of this true odyssey," stated plaintiff lawyer Francisco Bustos of the Caucoto Abogados law firm.

"Undoubtedly, the time that has passed has enabled the biological impunity of various individuals, especially of higher rank, who should also have been prosecuted. Also among those prosecuted, others have died, such as Zúñiga.

All in all, it is an important sentence against two of the perpetrators which, in the case of officer Villarroel, also considers the aggravating circumstance of executing the crime with the assistance of armed people," he stated.

In that sense, Bustos reported that "for our part, we will defend the sentence before the higher courts, and the final destination of Mr. Eduardo Campos Barra remains to be discovered."

The Facts

According to the investigation led by Minister Marianela Cifuentes, the following facts were established: "1st. That on the night of September 13, 1973, in the vicinity of the bridge over the Maipo River, Eduardo Alejandro Alberto Campos Barra, a salesman for the company DISTRA S.A. and a member of the Revolutionary Workers' Front (FTR), linked to the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), was detained by soldiers of the Mortar Company of the San Bernardo Infantry School, under the command of Second Lieutenant Fernando Javier Duarte Martínez Conde, who were on duty at the southern end of the Maipo River bridge, controlling compliance with the curfew. 2nd. That, moments later, while the patrol remained at the guard post around a campfire, the detainee Eduardo Campos Barra, using a firearm he had hidden in his clothing, fired at the conscript soldiers, causing the deaths of Carlos Ismael Acevedo Isamit and David Rafael Díaz Quezada and injuring Carlos Jaime Cárdenas López, after which he was subdued by military personnel and transferred to the San Bernardo Infantry School, located at Calle Balmaceda No. 500 in the commune of San Bernardo. 3rd. That in the early hours of September 14, 1973, in the facilities of the Intelligence Department II of the San Bernardo Infantry School, Campos Barra was interrogated and subjected to torture by Captain Luis Villarroel Contreras, among others; that is, he was stripped naked, submerged in a drum of water, beaten, and wounded with a corvo knife. Then, without any legally processed trial against him, the Deputy Director of the San Bernardo Infantry School, Lieutenant Colonel Pedro Montalba Calvo, ordered his execution. 4th. That, immediately thereafter, Eduardo Campos Barra was taken, naked, to a dump located at the rear of the San Bernardo Infantry School, a place where, in front of a hundred soldiers, Captain Luis Carlos Villarroel Contreras, Commander of the Mortar Company of the San Bernardo Infantry School—that is, the company to which the deceased soldiers belonged—asked for volunteers to form a firing squad, which was composed of, among others, soldiers Luis Alberto Zúñiga Chihuailaf and Juan Carlos Céspedes Hernández, who, following his order, fired at the detainee, causing his death. 5th. That, subsequently, Campos Barra's body was placed in a sack and loaded onto a truck driven by Corporal 2nd Class Juan Enrique Ruiz Salazar, in which the patrol under the command of Sergeant 1st Class Francisco Nibaldo Cáceres López also traveled, tasked with throwing the body into the Maipo River, from which it has not been recovered to date. 6th. That on November 5, 1973, in response to a request for information made by the Fifth Criminal Court of Santiago, the Director of the San Bernardo Infantry School, Colonel Leonel Konig Altermatt, failing to tell the truth about what happened, informed the judicial authority that Eduardo Campos Barra died at the hands of a patrol of soldiers in the vicinity of the bridge over the Maipo River, as a result of their defensive reaction to the attack by Campos Barra, adding that his body fell into the channel of the aforementioned river."

Source: laizquierdadiario.com, December 7, 2023

Date: 12-07-2023

Former Army members convicted for torture and homicide of automotive worker in San Bernardo in 1973

The Extraordinary Visiting Minister for human rights violation cases of the San Miguel Court of Appeals, Marianela Cifuentes Alarcón, convicted former Army officer Luis Carlos Villarroel Contreras and former non-commissioned officer Juan Enrique Ruiz Salazar for their responsibility in the crimes of qualified homicide and the application of torture against Eduardo Alejandro Alberto Campos Barra, committed in September 1973 inside the San Bernardo Infantry School, located on Cerro Chena.

In the ruling (case file 3-2002), the visiting minister sentenced Luis Villarroel Contreras, an Army captain at the time of the events, to effective prison terms of 12 years and 540 days, as the perpetrator of the crimes of qualified homicide and the application of torture.

Meanwhile, Juan Enrique Ruiz Salazar, a corporal 2nd class at the time of the events, was sentenced to 3 years and one day of imprisonment, with the benefit of supervised release, as an accessory to the crime of qualified homicide.

Eduardo Campos, 29 years old, married, was an automotive technician and worked as a salesman for a company selling items in that sector. He was a member of the Revolutionary Workers' Front (FTR), linked to the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR). He lived in the Roosevelt neighborhood, in the current commune of Pudahuel, and left his home on September 13.

He was reportedly detained in the hours that followed. According to the judicial investigation carried out by Minister Marianela Cifuentes, during the night of that day, he was detained by a military patrol in the vicinity of the bridge over the Maipo River, south of the capital.

The patrol that detained him belonged to the Mortar Company of the San Bernardo Infantry School, under the command of Second Lieutenant Fernando Javier Duarte Martínez Conde, who were on duty at the southern end of the Maipo River bridge, controlling compliance with the curfew.

Moments after the detention, while the patrol remained at the guard post around a campfire, the detainee Eduardo Campos Barra, using a firearm he had hidden in his clothing, fired at the conscript soldiers, causing the deaths of Carlos Ismael Acevedo Isamit and David Rafael Díaz Quezada and injuries to Carlos Jaime Cárdenas López.

However, he was subdued by other members of the military patrol and transferred to the San Bernardo Infantry School, located at Calle Balmaceda No. 500 in the commune of San Bernardo.

In the early hours of September 14, 1973, in the facilities of the Intelligence Department II of the San Bernardo Infantry School, Campos Barra was interrogated and subjected to torture by Captain Luis Carlos Villarroel Contreras, among other uniformed personnel.

He was stripped naked, submerged in a drum of water, beaten, and wounded with a corvo knife. Then, without any trial, the deputy director of the aforementioned Infantry School, Lieutenant Colonel Pedro Montalba Calvo, ordered his execution.

Immediately thereafter, Eduardo Campos Barra was taken, naked, to a dump located at the rear of the San Bernardo Infantry School, a place where, in front of a hundred soldiers, Captain Luis Carlos Villarroel Contreras, Commander of the Mortar Company of the San Bernardo Infantry School—that is, the company to which the deceased soldiers belonged—asked for volunteers to form a firing squad, which was composed of, among others, soldiers Luis Alberto Zúñiga Chihuailaf and Juan Carlos Céspedes Hernández, who, following his order, fired at the detainee, causing his death.

Then, Campos Barra's body was placed in a sack and loaded onto a truck driven by Corporal 2nd Class Juan Enrique Ruiz Salazar, in which a patrol under the command of Sergeant 1st Class Francisco Nibaldo Cáceres López also traveled, tasked with throwing the body into the Maipo River, from which it has not been recovered to date.

Subsequently, on November 5, 1973, in response to a request for information made by the Fifth Criminal Court of Santiago, the Director of the San Bernardo Infantry School, Colonel Leonel Konig Altermatt, failing to tell the truth about what happened, informed the judicial authority that Eduardo Campos Barra died at the hands of a patrol of soldiers in the vicinity of the bridge over the Maipo River, as a result of their defensive reaction to the attack by Campos Barra, adding that his body fell into the channel of the river.

by Darío Núñez

Source: resumen.cl, December 6, 2023

Date: 12-06-2023

Minister Marianela Cifuentes convicts retired Army personnel for qualified homicide and application of torture

In the ruling (case file 3-2002), the visiting minister sentenced Villarroel Contreras, an Army captain at the time of the events, to effective prison terms of 12 years and 540 days, as the perpetrator of the crimes of qualified homicide and the application of torture.

Meanwhile, Juan Enrique Ruiz Salazar, a corporal 2nd class at the time of the events, was sentenced to 3 years and one day of imprisonment, with the benefit of supervised release, as an accessory to the crime of qualified homicide.

The Extraordinary Visiting Minister for human rights violation cases of the San Miguel Court of Appeals, Marianela Cifuentes Alarcón, convicted retired Army officer Luis Carlos Villarroel Contreras and former non-commissioned officer Juan Enrique Ruiz Salazar for their responsibility in the crimes of qualified homicide and the application of torture against Eduardo Alejandro Alberto Campos Barra.

These crimes were committed in September 1973 inside the San Bernardo Infantry School, located on Cerro Chena.

In the civil aspect, the sentence ordered the state to pay a total compensation of $180,000,000 for moral damages to the victim's sisters.

In the resolution, Minister Cifuentes Alarcón established the following facts:

"1st. That on the night of September 13, 1973, in the vicinity of the bridge over the Maipo River, Eduardo Alejandro Alberto Campos Barra, a salesman for the company DISTRA S.A. and a member of the Revolutionary Workers' Front (FTR), linked to the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), was detained by soldiers of the Mortar Company of the San Bernardo Infantry School, under the command of Second Lieutenant Fernando Javier Duarte Martínez Conde, who were on duty at the southern end of the Maipo River bridge, controlling compliance with the curfew. 2nd.

That, moments later, while the patrol remained at the guard post around a campfire, the detainee Eduardo Campos Barra, using a firearm he had hidden in his clothing, fired at the conscript soldiers, causing the deaths of Carlos Ismael Acevedo Isamit and David Rafael Díaz Quezada and injuries to Carlos Jaime Cárdenas López, after which he was subdued by military personnel and transferred to the San Bernardo Infantry School, located at Calle Balmaceda No. 500 in the commune of San Bernardo. 3rd.

That in the early hours of September 14, 1973, in the facilities of the Intelligence Department II of the San Bernardo Infantry School, Campos Barra was interrogated and subjected to torture by Captain Luis Villarroel Contreras, among others; that is, he was stripped naked, submerged in a drum of water, beaten, and wounded with a corvo knife.

Then, without any legally processed trial against him, the Deputy Director of the San Bernardo Infantry School, Lieutenant Colonel Pedro Montalba Calvo, ordered his execution. 4th. That, immediately thereafter, Eduardo Campos Barra was taken, naked, to a dump located at the rear of the San Bernardo Infantry School, a place where, in front of a hundred soldiers, Captain Luis Carlos Villarroel Contreras, Commander of the Mortar Company of the San Bernardo Infantry School—that is, the company to which the deceased soldiers belonged—asked for volunteers to form a firing squad, which was composed of, among others, soldiers Luis Alberto Zúñiga Chihuailaf and Juan Carlos Céspedes Hernández, who, following his order, fired at the detainee, causing his death. 5th. That, subsequently, Campos Barra's body was placed in a sack and loaded onto a truck driven by Corporal 2nd Class Juan Enrique Ruiz Salazar, in which the patrol under the command of Sergeant 1st Class Francisco Nibaldo Cáceres López also traveled, tasked with throwing the body into the Maipo River, from which it has not been recovered to date. 6th. That on November 5, 1973, in response to a request for information made by the Fifth Criminal Court of Santiago, the Director of the San Bernardo Infantry School, Colonel Leonel Konig Altermatt, failing to tell the truth about what happened, informed the judicial authority that Eduardo Campos Barra died at the hands of a patrol of soldiers in the vicinity of the bridge over the Maipo River, as a result of their defensive reaction to the attack by Campos Barra, adding that his body fell into the channel of the aforementioned river."

Source: pjud.cl, December 4, 2023

Date: 12-04-2023

Lawsuits filed against Pinochet rise to 152

The complaints filed against Augusto Pinochet now total 152 after three new documents were presented yesterday afternoon, Friday, at the Santiago Court of Appeals. The three appeals, defended by human rights lawyer Nelson Caucoto, have joined those already in the possession of Judge Juan Guzmán Tapia.

The first of the new complaints was filed for the kidnapping and disappearance of Eduardo Alejandro Campos Barra, an automotive technician and militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR) on September 13, 1973.

The second accusation involves, in addition to Pinochet, former General Manuel Contreras, former agent Osvaldo Romo, and those who may be responsible for the kidnapping and disappearance of Agustín Alamiro Meza, a 27-year-old MIR militant whose trail was lost on January 1, 1975.

The last of these three complaints, also filed against Pinochet, Contreras, and Romo, concerns the kidnapping and disappearance of Eduardo Gustavo Aliste González, a 19-year-old student, about whom nothing has been known since September 24, 1974.

Source: yahool, July 29, 2000

Date: 07-29-2000