Basilio Eugenio Eugenio, a father of one, a shoemaker, and a member of the Communist Party, left his home on April 29, 1976, at approximately 14:00 hours, accompanied by his 13-year-old son, with the intention of going to the city center to purchase shoemaking materials.

After the purchases, the minor returned home, telling his mother that Basilio Eugenio had headed to his workshop, continuing on the San Pablo - Matadero bus route. When questioned, the bus driver, Patricio Gutiérrez Pizarro, stated that the victim had gotten off exactly at the intersection of Colo Colo and Arturo Prat streets in the Renca commune, where his shoe workshop was located.

Given that the victim, a man of strict personal habits, did not return home, his wife, Norma Delgado Ruiz, immediately undertook multiple efforts to locate Basilio Eugenio's whereabouts, visiting various detention centers, hospitals, healthcare centers, and the Legal Medical Institute of Santiago, among others. All of these efforts were fruitless.

Since then, nothing has been known about the fate or whereabouts of the victim.

In the report prepared by the National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation (created by the President of the Republic, Mr. Patricio Aylwin Azócar, with the purpose of investigating and making known to the country the most serious human rights violations committed between September 11, 1973, and March 10, 1990), it was stated that Basilio Eugenio Eugenio was detained on April 29, 1976, on a public street, by security agents who took him to an unknown destination.

Furthermore, the detention of Basilio Eugenio Eugenio occurred at a time when security agencies unleashed a strong offensive against the Communist Party, with many members and leaders of this political group being detained.

In press publications of the time, it was reported that in July 1976, the National Directorate of Social Communication (DINACOS) informed the public that the Government was engaged in a campaign against the Communist Party of Chile.

For its part, the magazine "Qué Pasa," in its issues 235 (dated October 23, 1975) and 277 (dated August 12, 1976), informed its readers that "in these months, the communist militants and leaders who have disappeared from their usual activities and homes have reached significant numbers," adding that "these are not isolated, loose, or unconnected events, but rather a sustained campaign."

In this same weekly, the opinions of Admiral José T. Merino Castro were transcribed, which were entirely consistent with the aforementioned. The Admiral stated at the time, referring specifically to the Communist Party of Chile, that "it is being sought and they are trying to eliminate it, sending them abroad, because it is not the spirit to kill anyone."

There is no doubt, then, that the detentions and disappearances of communist militants and leaders that occurred in 1976 must be linked to one another and respond to a prior methodical plan carried out by an organization endowed with material means and the guarantees of anonymity and impunity to act in a criminal manner and in open violation of fundamental human rights.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On May 7, 1976, Norma Delgado Ruiz, the victim's wife, filed a writ of amparo (habeas corpus) on his behalf before the Santiago Court of Appeals, which was registered under No. 368-76.

In the relevant petition, it was requested that the Minister of the Interior, the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), and the National Executive Secretariat for Detainees (SENDET) be officially notified, requests to which the Court acceded.

On May 27, at the request of the petitioner, the Court reiterated the requested reports, representing the urgency of obtaining a prompt response.

On the same date, the report from the Minister of the Interior, Division General Raúl Benavides Escobar, was added to the case files, stating that "Basilio Eugenio Eugenio is not being held by order of this Ministry." A certificate to the same effect was issued by the Secretary of the Court on June 1, 1976.

Without the requested reports from DINA and SENDET being provided, the 6th Chamber of the Court of Appeals rejected the filed writ of amparo on June 2, 1976. This resolution was appealed and confirmed by the Supreme Court on June 7 of the same year.

While the Supreme Court's resolution on the appeal of the rejection of the writ of amparo was still pending, on June 4, 1976, María Arsenia Eugenio Eugenio filed a complaint for the crime of kidnapping committed against her brother before the 10th Criminal Court of Santiago, which was registered under No. 2.666-4.

The Court ordered a summary investigation, issued the corresponding order to investigate, and decreed the appearance of the complainant to ratify the complaint, as well as that of Norma Delgado Ruiz—the victim's partner—without granting the request to send an official letter to the Ministry of the Interior to report on the situation affecting Basilio Eugenio Eugenio.

The investigation order dispatched to the Investigative Police did not yield any information that would allow for the determination of the fate or whereabouts of Basilio Eugenio. After interviewing some acquaintances of the victim, who had no news of him, and consulting the National Executive Secretariat for Detainees (SENDET) without results, the file was returned to the Court, which ordered it to be added to the case records.

That same year, Norma Delgado Ruiz and María Arsenia Eugenio Eugenio, the victim's partner and sister, respectively, gave statements before the Court.

On July 23, the procedural status of the case initiated before the same Court, Case No. 2.537-8, initiated by Ms. Norma Delgado, was certified in the records. It was stated that said process had been temporarily dismissed, and that resolution was approved by the Santiago Court of Appeals on July 22.

And, on July 26, 1976, the summary investigation was declared closed as the investigation was exhausted, and bearing in mind that the perpetration of the crime of kidnapping of Basilio Eugenio Eugenio was not fully justified in the records, the case was temporarily dismissed until new or better investigative data could be presented.

Source: Vicariate of Solidarity

According to the birth certificate of Basilio Eujenio Eujenio, the surname is spelled with the letter J and not with a G, as it appears in all publications.

FOLIO: 500496886040

Verification Code

bd1dbdca87ad

Source: registrocivil.cl