Calle Conferencia Operation

At the beginning of May 1976, Mario Jaime ZAMORANO DONOSO, Onofre Jorge MUÑOZ POUTAYS, Uldarico DONAIRE CORTEZ, and Jaime Patricio DONATO AVENDAÑO, all members of the Central Committee of the PC, and Elisa del Carmen ESCOBAR CEPEDA, a leader of said party and liaison for Mario Zamorano, were detained in a "trap" set up by DINA agents at the property located at Calle Conferencia No. 1587.

According to statements made during the respective legal proceedings by Juan Becerra Barrera, the owner of said property, on the dawn of April 30, 1976, men in civilian clothes arrived at his home and informed him that his sister-in-law, María Teresa Guajardo, had been in an accident and that they needed him to accompany them to identify the body.

Juan Becerra got into the vehicle with these individuals, and moments later, he was handcuffed, blindfolded, and taken to a place he later identified as Villa Grimaldi.

At that location, he realized that his sister-in-law, María Teresa Guajardo, had been detained since the previous day. Both were tortured and interrogated regarding the activities and whereabouts of Mario Zamorano, an old friend of Juan Becerra.

Under torture, the latter admitted to the friendship and that a meeting in which Zamorano would participate was to take place at his house between May 4 and 5 of that year.

Subsequently, both Juan Becerra and María Guajardo were transported back to the Calle Conferencia property, along with Juan Becerra’s spouse, María Angélica Gutiérrez, and her cousin, Eliana Vidal, who had also been detained.

Along with the aforementioned individuals, two daughters of the Becerra-Gutiérrez couple, a cousin of Juan Becerra, Lastenia Palacios, and five armed DINA agents remained in the house on Calle Conferencia; the agents forbade them from leaving and ordered them to maintain the appearance of a normal life.

On May 4, 1976, around 7:30 p.m., Mario Zamorano arrived at the property and was immediately detained, suffering a gunshot wound to the thigh during the operation. A short time later, Onofre Muñoz entered and was also detained. Both were taken from the location to an unknown destination.

On May 5, 1976, Uldarico Donaire and Jaime Donato arrived at the house separately; both were detained and subsequently transported to an unidentified location. The following day, May 6, Elisa Escobar arrived and was also detained, being transported away about half an hour later to an unknown destination.

The agents remained at the Calle Conferencia property until May 7, and before withdrawing, a doctor arrived at the site to examine the occupants of the house.

In parallel, and during those same days, the home of Juan Becerra’s mother, Mercedes Barrera Pérez, was occupied by a group of armed civilians who held its occupants captive. The then-auxiliary bishop of Santiago, Monsignor Enrique Alvear Urrutia, arrived at that location and verified the described situation; he was himself "detained" for a few hours by these agents, who identified themselves by showing him their identification cards (Tifas).

The Ministry of the Interior denied the detention of those affected. However, in a verbal note, the Government of Chile informed the United Nations that Mario Zamorano and Onofre Muñoz had left the national territory bound for Argentina on May 13, 1976, a claim which was refuted by the Argentine authorities.

Furthermore, according to information provided by Dinacos in public statements issued on July 14 and July 17, 1976, security agencies detected the operation of several PC "mailbox houses" in May of that year, where several members of the party had been detained.

Additionally, the magazine *Qué Pasa*, in its edition of August 12, 1976, published an article titled "From the MIR to the PC," which reported the detention of several members of the latter party, including José Weibel, an event that occurred in March of that year; in April, Bernardo Araya; and in May, Miguel Morales, Uldarico Donaire, and Víctor Díaz.

All the individuals mentioned are currently forcibly disappeared.

Regarding all these individuals, and in view of the evidence presented, the Commission has reached the conviction that they are victims of forced disappearance committed by State agents, in violation of their human rights.

Elisa del Carmen Escobar Cepeda, single, a worker and member of the Communist Party, was detained on May 6, 1976, in a "ratonera" (trap) set up by the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA) at Calle Conferencia 1587, in the Estación Central neighborhood of Santiago.

DINA agents began the repressive operation against the leadership of the Communist Party on the afternoon of April 29, when they detained one of the workers at the leather handbag factory that operated in a workshop at the aforementioned house on Calle Conferencia, María Teresa Zúñiga.

Subsequently, in the early hours of April 30, at approximately 3:00 a.m., agents arrived at the home of the factory owner, Juan Becerra, at Conferencia 1587. They informed him that his sister-in-law, María Zúñiga, had suffered an accident and that his presence was required to identify her body.

After leaving with the individuals, they blindfolded him and transported him to Villa Grimaldi, where he was able to meet his sister-in-law, who was also being held by the agents. There, they were tortured.

In the morning, the detainees were taken to their home, along with Juan Becerra's spouse, María Angélica Gutiérrez, and her cousin, Eliana Vidal, who had also been detained. Everyone was forced to remain in the house at Calle Conferencia 1587, appearing to act normally.

Later, around 11:00 a.m., the agents arrived at the home of Juan Becerra's mother, located at Alejandro del Fierro 5113. They established themselves there, detaining everyone who arrived at the location.

A couple of hours later, the DINA agents positioned themselves at the house on Calle Conferencia. In both homes, several people were held until May 6, the day they left the houses because their repressive operation had concluded.

Even the then-Auxiliary Bishop of Santiago, Monsignor Enrique Alvear Urrutia, was "held" for a few hours at the Alejandro del Fierro house, as he had gone to that location due to a report made by the wife of one of the detainees in that house, Julio Maigret Leyton.

Elisa Escobar went to the house on Calle Conferencia on Monday, May 3, 1976, with the intention of giving notice that Mario Zamorano would arrive with other people at 7:00 p.m. the following day. As on other occasions, the victim left money for the food of the participants in the meeting that was to take place.

María Angélica Gutiérrez, Juan Becerra's wife, was unable at any point during the conversation to warn her that DINA agents were in the house. Elisa Escobar left the place without knowing what was truly happening. According to the homeowners' later accounts, those inside the home even warned the agents stationed outside the property not to detain her, but to follow her at all times.

On May 4, at approximately 7:30 p.m., Mario Zamorano arrived and was immediately detained by the agents. In the ensuing struggle, one of them shot the victim in one of his legs. Shortly after, Jorge Muñoz Poutays arrived and was also detained instantly.

The following day, May 5, Communist leaders Jaime Donato Avendaño and Uldarico Donaire Cortés were detained upon arriving at the address. All were taken from the location and transported to the DINA's secret detention and torture center, known as Villa Grimaldi, called "Cuartel Terranova" by that organization, located at Av.

José Arrieta 8.200, in the commune of Peñalolén. They have remained forcibly disappeared since that date.

Finally, on May 6, around 1:30 p.m., Elisa Escobar Cepeda arrived at the house at Calle Conferencia 1587. Upon entering, she had barely finished asking for Mario Zamorano when the agents detained her. Shortly after, they took her out of the house and drove her away in a taxi.

On May 9, 1976, Elisa Escobar was taken by DINA agents to the home of Communist leader Lenín Díaz Silva. After remaining there for a while, they left in an unknown direction accompanied by an agent who was waiting for them at the door. Since that time, both have remained in the status of forcibly disappeared (further details can be consulted in the case of Mario Zamorano Donoso).

According to statements provided by Communist militant Isaac Godoy Castillo, who was detained by the DINA in August 1976 and held at "Villa Grimaldi," he was able to see Lenín Díaz and other detainees there, which suggests that Elisa Escobar was also taken to that facility.

These detentions are documented in statements by the Military Junta's National Social Communication Division (DINACOS), which, in separate public statements on July 14 and 17, 1976, announced a series of operations carried out by security services in which 32 Communist Party "mailbox houses" (safe houses) were dismantled, along with the detention of militants of that party.

Furthermore, the magazine "Que Pasa," in its August 12, 1976 edition, published an article titled "From the MIR to the PC," which revealed details of the actions directed against the Communist Party by the security services, even providing the names of detainees who are currently in the status of disappeared.

Judicial and/or Administrative Proceedings

On May 28, 1976, Cecilia Escobar filed a Writ of Amparo (Habeas Corpus) on behalf of her sister Elisa before the Santiago Court of Appeals. The writ was registered under case number 462-76. It was not until June 9 that the Minister of the Interior, Division General Raúl Benavides Escobar, informed the Court that the victim was not in detention.

On June 16, 1976, the Court rejected the Amparo based on the information provided by the Minister of the Interior. On the 17th of the same month, the resolution was appealed, and the Court of Appeals' ruling was confirmed by the Supreme Court on June 21.

On July 5, 1976, the 9th Criminal Court initiated case number 16.611 for the Presumed Disappearance of Elisa Escobar.

On September 9, 1976, the magistrate was requested to constitute himself at the Villa Grimaldi facility, where the victims of the reported kidnapping were being held. This procedure was never carried out, despite its importance for the investigation of the facts.

On November 15, 1976, Cecilia Escobar informed the Judge that the victim had been detained in a "ratonera" at Calle Conferencia 1587.

On August 30, 1977, said case (number 16.611) was consolidated with case number 16.455 of the same Court regarding the presumed disappearance of Lenín Díaz Silva.

In May 1978, International Police informed the Judge that Lenín Díaz and Elisa Escobar had no record of leaving the country.

On September 8, 1978, the Minister of the Interior, Sergio Fernández F., communicated to the Judge that his Secretariat had not issued any order affecting the persons indicated in the case, nor was there any record that they had been detained by the Security Services.

On March 26, 1979, case number 6.799, processed in the 11th Criminal Court for the kidnapping of Mario Zamorano, Jorge Muñoz, and Jaime Donato, was consolidated with the present case, number 16.455 of the 9th Criminal Court.

On July 5, 1979, Visiting Minister Servando Jordán López took over the processing of case number 16.455. It is noted in the proceedings that in a statement provided by General (R) Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, he claimed not to remember who the agents in charge of DINA records were, adding that everything belonging to the DINA was transferred to the CNI, which contrasts with the statement by the former Director of the CNI, General Odlanier Mena, who stated that the files belonging to the DINA were incinerated.

Finally, said case was referred on April 28, 1980, to the 2nd Military Prosecutor's Office of Santiago, where it would subsequently be consolidated with case number 553-78 ("Complaint against Contreras and others") being heard by the Military Tribunal.

The aforementioned complaint had been filed on August 1, 1978, by the relatives of 70 disappeared persons, including those of Elisa Escobar Cepeda, before the 10th Criminal Court of Santiago for the crime of aggravated kidnapping against General (R) Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, Army Colonel Marcelo Luis Moren Brito, and Army Lieutenant Colonel Rolf Gonzalo Wenderoth Pozo.

The identities of other agents of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA), information on the aforementioned organization's secret detention centers, and other data regarding its structure and the resources at the DINA's disposal were also provided to the Tribunal.

Without carrying out any proceedings, on August 10 of that year, the Judge of the 10th Criminal Court declared herself incompetent and referred the records to the Military Justice system; after several appeals, in May 1979, the case was established in the 2nd Military Prosecutor's Office of Santiago under number 553-78.

In 1983, the Tribunal reviewed the four volumes of the Extraordinary Visit for cases of forcibly disappeared persons in the Metropolitan Region, which was substantiated by Minister Servando Jordán; they contained important information regarding the actions of the DINA and the responsibility of that security organization in the cases of hundreds of forcibly disappeared persons.

Without any proceedings being carried out for four years, on November 20, 1989, Army Lieutenant Colonel Enrique Ibarra Chamorro, General Military Prosecutor, requested the application of the Amnesty Decree Law (D.L. 2.191) for this case, because the process had the exclusive purpose of investigating alleged crimes that occurred during the period between September 11, 1973, and March 10, 1978, and because, during the 10 years of processing, it had not been possible to "determine the responsibility of any person." On November 30, 1989, the request was accepted by the 2nd Military Court, which dismissed the case totally and definitively, even though it was still in the summary stage, because "the criminal responsibility of the persons allegedly implicated in the reported facts had been extinguished." The complaining parties appealed this resolution to the Court Martial, which confirmed the ruling in January 1992. A Complaint Appeal was then filed before the Supreme Court of Justice, which, as of December 1992, had not yet issued its resolution.

Source: Vicariate of Solidarity