Francisco Javier Alejandro Rozas Contador, 22 years old, single, private photographer, and member of the MIR, was detained on December 20, 1974, around noon, by plainclothes agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) at his home at Calle Compañía 1741, apartment 4, in Santiago.

According to his girlfriend, Bernardita Santelices Díaz, the victim had previously been detained in September 1973 for two days, after which he was released unconditionally.

On December 20, he was in his apartment with Narciso Alfredo Gálvez Fuentes and María Isabel Joui Petersen—the latter is also a forcibly disappeared person—playing a game of chess, when approximately six individuals entered the home.

They did not show a detention or search warrant, nor did they identify themselves. They brought with them Alfredo Gonzalo Reveco Sapiaín, who had been apprehended on December 17, 1974, and taken to the home of Rozas Contador.

Upon asking for the identification of those present, they realized that María Isabel Joui Petersen, whom they had been searching for, was there. Thus, they detained Francisco Rozas Contador, María Isabel Joui Petersen, and Narciso Alfredo Gálvez Fuentes.

Once the search of the apartment was completed, they were taken from the premises blindfolded and bound, and forced into a red 1974 Chevrolet pickup truck with a black canopy and license plate BI-896 (Conchalí, 1974).

They were transported in this vehicle to "Venda Sexy," a clandestine detention center located at the corner of Calle Irán and Los Plátanos in the commune of Macul, which was under the control of the DINA. María Isabel Joui Petersen and Francisco Rozas Contador remain forcibly disappeared to this day.

There are testimonies confirming the detention and presence of Francisco Rozas Contador at that location. In case 83.109 of the Second Criminal Court of Major Quantities of Santiago, regarding the alleged disappearance of María Isabel Joui, Alfredo Gonzalo Reveco Sapiains—who was detained at the Tres Alamos Camp at the time—testified before the court on November 3, 1975.

He stated that he was arrested on November 17, 1974, by members of the DINA because they wanted to know the address of a person they wished to locate. On December 20, 1974, they took him in a pickup truck to an apartment located on Calle Compañía.

Once there, several agents entered and detained Francisco Javier Alejandro Rozas, whom Reveco knew, and María Isabel Joui Petersen. The witness noted that the DINA had been looking for the latter to detain her, but that he was unaware she was there.

All three were taken blindfolded to a house, the location of which he did not know. He remained in that place until December 30, 1974. During his stay, Reveco continued to relate, he was at all times in a room with about 17 to 20 other prisoners, and across from it was another room for women.

At that facility, he met Renato Sepúlveda Guajardo, who told him he was the husband of María Isabel Joui. On some occasions, DINA guards allowed María Isabel to visit her husband; on one occasion, they were even allowed to have a snack together.

Through their conversations, he learned of María Isabel's political affiliation, and according to what she told her husband, she had arrived at Rozas Contador's house only twenty minutes before they were both detained.

The witness concluded by stating that he was transferred on December 30, 1974, to the 4 Alamos camp, a place where María Isabel and Renato Sepúlveda never arrived, as they remained at the secret detention center.

Narciso Alfredo Gálvez Fuentes, in a sworn statement before a notary, provided a very detailed account of the events. He stated that on December 20, 1974, at approximately 1:00 PM, he was visiting the home of Francisco Javier Alejandro Rozas Contador, playing a game of chess while being watched by a friend of Francisco, María Isabel Joui Petersen.

They were violently interrupted by three armed plainclothes subjects who forced them to stand with their arms raised and leaning against a wall. They were ordered to give their names. When Francisco Rozas gave his, the agents remarked, "You are the one called René." When María Isabel Joui gave her name, they said, "Our lucky day, you are the girl Ximena," implying that they were also looking for her to detain her, but did not expect to find her at Rozas's house.

The witness insisted to his captors that he had no responsibility for anything and that his presence there was due to his romantic relationship with one of Francisco Rozas's sisters. One of the subjects, upon hearing this, told him: "If you are not involved, don't worry, but if you are, you won't get out of this alive."

A fourth agent, armed with a ZIC rifle, entered the place and they proceeded to conduct a complete search of the premises. They found a photographic laboratory belonging to a relative of Rozas and also took numerous photographs of various social events, such as weddings, baptisms, etc., which they found next to the photographic equipment.

After this search, they bound and blindfolded each of the detainees with items found in the house. In that condition, they were forced into the back of a red C-10 pickup truck with a canopy. Inside, Alfredo Gonzalo Reveco Sapiaín was already being held as a detainee.

They were all transported to a place that the witness could not identify, but assumed was in the eastern part of the city. Indeed, through other testimonies, it is possible to know that this facility corresponded to the so-called "Venda Sexy," a secret detention center located at Calle Irán and Los Plátanos, in the commune of Macul.

Upon getting out of the vehicle, Francisco Rozas, María Isabel Joui, and the witness were taken into one of the rooms of the house, while Reveco was taken to another. They were immediately put into a large room, and an individual with a hoarse and authoritative voice proceeded to take their personal information after having taken all their belongings.

Subsequently, Francisco Rozas and María Isabel Joui were taken from that place, and an hour later, Narciso Gálvez was taken to another room where they proceeded to interrogate him under severe duress in order to force him to declare his alleged militancy.

His torturers told him that if he did not tell them everything, he would suffer the fate of "that one who is dead." They were referring to a person who was lying on the floor and who, upon hearing this, let out a moan; the witness was able to recognize him as his friend Francisco Javier Alejandro Rozas, who appeared very mistreated.

After that day's torture session ended, Gálvez was taken to a room where he realized there were several other detainees, and that Francisco Rozas was next to him. There he also saw Renato Sepúlveda Guajardo, who, as a medical student, was providing help to another detainee he knew as Isidro, who had a bullet wound in his thigh and the ankle of the same foot.

Sepúlveda himself noted that during the interrogations he had been subjected to, they had fractured two of his ribs.

Narciso Gálvez continued to relate that on December 21, his friend Alejandro was taken out to be interrogated and returned after a while quite beaten. He also saw that on some occasions, María Isabel Joui and her husband Renato Sepúlveda were allowed to be together for moments.

The witness remembers December 23 as a day of particular agitation. Shortly after 8:00 AM, they called Francisco Rozas Contador for a new interrogation. They also called him and moved him to a room where there was a desk and a typewriter.

He was able to realize that María Isabel Joui was in that same place, and they were interrogating her about her political participation; he heard her acknowledge her militancy in the MIR, while at the same time reproaching the agents for having ideas she described as "fascist."

After the interrogation, they returned him to the first-floor room where he had been previously, while María Isabel remained in the same place.

Francisco Rozas Contador had already been returned to that confinement room. In the afternoon, after lunch, Renato Sepúlveda was allowed to go out to see his wife, and upon returning, he told the others that he had been with her.

That day, December 23, was the last day that Narciso Gálvez Fuentes had information about or saw the three forcibly disappeared victims.

Ms. Amelia Luisa Rozas Contador, the victim's sister, provided a sworn statement before a notary stating that on February 14, 1977, three young subjects dressed in civilian clothes appeared at her home, identified themselves as DINA agents by showing their credentials, and were traveling in a white Chevrolet vehicle, license plate MA-740, Las Condes.

They asked for her brother, Francisco Rozas Contador, saying that he was at liberty because they had seen lists published in Argentina. Faced with the victim's mother's refusal, the individuals insisted on the fact and showed a form that the mother signed on the back without knowing its content, out of fear of the security agents, noting that she had known nothing of her son since December 1974.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On January 6, 1975, a writ of amparo (habeas corpus), roll 17-75, was filed before the Santiago Court of Appeals, in which the victim's girlfriend, Ms. Bernardita Santelices Díaz, and one of his sisters, Eugenia Rozas Contador, placed on record what they knew up to that date regarding the detention of Francisco Rozas Contador, without prejudice to the fact that during its processing, they added information about the circumstances of Francisco Rozas Contador's apprehension.

On February 13, 1975, the Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal based on the negative responses from the consulted authorities: the Commander-in-Chief of the Combat Aviation Command, the Commander-in-Chief of the State of Siege Zone, and the Minister of the Interior, and ordered that the corresponding Criminal Court of Major Quantities of Santiago be notified to investigate the possible commission of a crime.

On February 6, 1975, Ms. Bernardita Santelices Díaz provided new information to the Court of Appeals, which led to the opening of a new amparo file, roll 192-75. It concerned the license plate of the vehicle in which her boyfriend was detained, BI-896 of Conchalí, and she requested that the Traffic Department of the Municipality of Conchalí be notified to report on this plate.

The Court proceeded to send new official letters to the usual offices: the Minister of the Interior, the Combat Aviation Command, and the Chief of the State of Siege Zone, and this time also to the Municipality of Conchalí.

All of them, except for the Municipality which did not respond, invariably replied that they had no information regarding the detention of Francisco Rozas Contador. It was ordered that this appeal, roll 192-75, be joined to the previous one, roll 17-75, with the same resolution as stated before, that is, to notify the corresponding Criminal Court of Major Quantities.

On February 26, 1975, Ms. Bernardita Santelices Díaz filed a complaint for alleged disappearance regarding her boyfriend, Francisco Javier Rozas Contador, in the Second Court of Major Quantities of Santiago, which was assigned roll 83.118. The case initiated by the Court of Appeals under roll 83.138 was joined to this one.

During the process, various authorities and organizations of the time were notified: the Minister of the Interior, SENDET (National Executive Secretariat of Detainees), the Headquarters of the State of Emergency Zone, the Combat Aviation Command, the Commander-in-Chief of the II Army Division, and the Minister of National Defense, all of whom stated they had no information regarding the victim's detention.

Information was also requested from the Traffic Department of the Municipality of Conchalí regarding license plate BI-896, which was the one carried by the pickup truck in which the DINA agents took Francisco Rozas Contador.

The response was that this plate indeed belonged to a red Chevrolet pickup truck, 1970 model, and that it was issued in March 1974, with Ms. Zunilda Cantillana Peña as the owner.

Summoned to testify by the Court, Ms. Zunilda Cantillana Peña acknowledged ownership of the vehicle, adding that due to a rollover, it was in a garage for repairs from 1972 to 1973 and that, subsequently, once fixed, she had only used it for personal errands and had never rented or lent it to the Armed Forces or Carabineros.

On January 16, 1976, accepting a request from the complainant, Bernardita Santelices Díaz, the Court ordered the appearance of Alfredo Gonzalo Sapiaín Reveco, who was arrested at the Tres Alamos camp and was a witness to the detention and imprisonment of Francisco Rozas Contador.

However, SENDET reported that the witness had been forced to leave the country on November 8, 1975. Therefore, the only statement that Reveco Sapiains was able to make regarding his knowledge of the circumstances of the victim's detention is the one contained in case roll 83.109 of the Second Criminal Court of Major Quantities of Santiago, regarding the alleged disappearance of María Isabel Joui Petersen, which was mentioned above.

Without reaching any conclusion regarding the detention and whereabouts of the victim, the summary was declared closed on March 29, 1976, and the case was temporarily dismissed, a resolution that was approved by the Court of Appeals on May 28, 1976.

To date, it has not been possible to establish the fate of Francisco Javier Rozas Contador, who remains in the status of a forcibly disappeared person.

Source: Corporación Report

During the civil-military dictatorship, at least a hundred people linked to culture, the arts, and heritage were executed or disappeared. September 11 marked the beginning of the most painful period we have ever lived, caused by State agents and complicit civilians.

Today we commemorate 48 years of that tragedy that still mourns all of Chile. More than three thousand people—men, women, children, and young people, including primary, secondary, and university students; pregnant women, the elderly, the blind, and the disabled—were directly affected, and hundreds of thousands became family members and victims of the dictatorship.

Those who survive fight tirelessly for justice, reparation, and the non-repetition of genocidal acts by the State. Men and women whose contribution to society came from their social struggle, their militancy, and also from their trades and occupations as shoemakers, laborers, textile workers, doctors, linotypists, dressmakers, secretaries, union and neighborhood leaders, municipal officials, public employees, railway workers, newspaper vendors, carpenters; peasant, mining, forestry, and construction workers; and engineers.

Also those who were just passing through, on a mission, studying, or had formed a family in Chile, coming from Vietnam, France, Spain, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, England, Ecuador, among other countries.

Some of their murderers and accomplices, who are serving light sentences in luxury prisons, have deprived us of them, but they have also deprived us of nearly a hundred artists and creators whom we have identified, with the desire to offer a tribute to those who, from the realms of culture, the arts, and heritage, were victims of state terrorism.

We have recognized 82 people whose creativity was expressed in audiovisual media, crafts, theater, architecture, photography, visual arts, literature, and music. In this note, you will be able to find the names of the people whose information allows them to be associated with an artistic language, according to the available information; however, it is highly possible that many more remain to be identified.

You will also find a link to the information that, among all the people who make the site www.memoriaviva.com possible, is made available to us so that we can contribute to not forgetting until there is justice. For them… No forgiveness, no forgetting!!

Source: prensaopal.cl 8/09/2021 Date: 08-09-2021

CNCA pays tribute to artists who were victims of the dictatorship

In the framework of the "Month of Memory," the National Council of Culture and the Arts held a tribute to artists who were victims of the military dictatorship, an event where the writer Jorge Montealegre presented his book "Eclipsed Memories.

Grief and community resilience in political imprisonment." An emotional tribute to artists, cultural practitioners, and artisans who were victims of the dictatorship took place this Friday, September 9, in Valparaíso, at the Extension Center of the Council of Culture and the Arts (Centex).

The head of the Memory and Human Rights Unit of the National Council of Culture and the Arts, Francia Jamett Pizarro, highlighted the institution's role in observing symbolic reparation policies. "The celebration of commemorations and tributes to victims of human rights violations are part of the values and principles of the Council expressed in the 2011-2016 Cultural Policies.

This recognition of the artists who were victims of the dictatorship responds to an institutional commitment that seeks to highlight their lives and their works, and to build new narratives around symbolic reparation," the official expressed.

The writer, Jorge Montealegre, presented his book "Eclipsed Memories. Grief and community resilience in political imprisonment," where he recounts how artistic and cultural creation, under the conditions of living in prisoner camps, allowed those who were imprisoned for political reasons to endure the ongoing human rights violations they suffered with more dignity.

The "Month of Memory" cycle, organized by the CNCA, began last Friday, September 2, with a symbolic internal tribute to remember the legacy of Galia Díaz Riffo and Romina Irarrázabal Faggiani, officials who died five years ago in the Juan Fernández plane crash.

Source: cultura.gob.cl 9/09/2016 Date: 09-09-2016

Former DINA agents sentenced for the disappearance of victims during the dictatorship

The Santiago Court of Appeals confirmed the sentences against Pedro Espinoza, Rolf Wenderoth, Miguel Krassnoff, and Raúl Iturriaga. The convictions are for their responsibility in the aggravated kidnapping of Francisco Rozas Contador and Renato Sepúlveda Guajardo.

The Santiago Court of Appeals confirmed prison sentences this Tuesday for four former DINA agents for their responsibility in the aggravated kidnapping of Francisco Rozas Contador and Renato Sepúlveda Guajardo.

Thus, the judiciary rejected the appeals filed by the accused against the first-instance sentence and confirmed the sentence of 15 years and one day in prison against Brigadier Pedro Espinoza Bravo for both crimes.

It also confirmed the 10-year and one-day prison sentence for former Colonel Rolf Wenderoth Pozo and Brigadier Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko as perpetrators of the aggravated kidnapping of Sepúlveda Guajardo.

For his part, retired General Raúl Iturriaga Neumann received 10 years and one day as a criminal sanction as the perpetrator of the aggravated kidnapping of Rozas Contador. The four convicted men were part of the leadership of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) and have accumulated sentences of 200 or more years in prison after being convicted in dozens of trials for human rights violations.

Likewise, the appellate court ratified the acquittal of Gerardo Urrich González, as his participation in both crimes was not proven. Renato Sepúlveda Guajardo, a 21-year-old medical student at the University of Chile, was arrested for his participation in the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR) on December 12, 1974, at the north campus of the Faculty of Medicine while he was in class.

After his detention, he was transferred to the facility known as "Venda Sexy" and later to the "Villa Grimaldi" detention center. Meanwhile, Francisco Javier Alejandro Rozas Contador, a 22-year-old photographer and also a member of the MIR, was detained by DINA agents on December 20, 1974, from his home located in downtown Santiago, and was transferred to the "Venda Sexy" barracks.

Source: cooperativa.cl 5/01/2016 Date: 05-01-2016

Sentences handed down for disappearances at Venda Sexy, José Domingo Cañas, and Villa Grimaldi

These are the cases of Renato Sepúlveda Guajardo and Francisco Javier Rozas Contador, ruled on by Judge Leopoldo Llanos, and that of Eduardo Francisco Miranda Lobos, a case under the charge of Judge Hernán Crisosto.

The judges in extraordinary visitation for human rights cases of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Leopoldo Llanos and Hernán Crisosto, handed down sentences in two cases regarding human rights violations, crimes perpetrated in 1974 in the Metropolitan Region.

In the first case, Judge Llanos handed down a sentence for the aggravated kidnappings of Renato Sepúlveda Guajardo and Francisco Javier Rozas Contador, which occurred in December 1974 in Santiago. The victims were detained in the clandestine centers known as "La Venda Sexy" and "Villa Grimaldi." In the case, Judge Llanos sentenced Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda and Pedro Espinoza Bravo to 15 years and one day in prison; Marcelo Moren Brito, Rolf Wenderoth Pozo, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Iturriaga Neumann to 10 years and one day in prison.

He also acquitted Gerardo Urrich González. According to the investigation, the magistrate was able to determine that "RENATO ALEJANDRO SEPÚLVEDA GUAJARDO, 21 years old, a medical student at the University of Chile and member of the MIR, was detained on December 12, 1974, at 09:00 hours at the north campus of the Faculty of Medicine of the aforementioned University while he was in class; and was transferred to the facility known as 'Venda Sexy' and later to 'Villa Grimaldi'." Likewise, it was proven that "FRANCISCO JAVIER ALEJANDRO ROZAS CONTADOR, 22 years old, photographer and member of the MIR, was detained on December 20, 1974, from his home located at Compañía No. 1741, Apt. 4, at around 12:00 hours, by DINA agents, and was transferred to the 'Venda Sexy' barracks. The consequences of these detentions are that the aforementioned persons are in the status of disappeared, since, while deprived of liberty, they have not made contact with their relatives; nor have they carried out administrative procedures before State or private organizations, nor do they have records of entry or exit from the country, and their death has not been confirmed." Eduardo Miranda Lobos and "Operation Colombo" Meanwhile, Judge Hernán Crisosto handed down a sentence in the investigation into the aggravated kidnapping of Eduardo Francisco Miranda Lobos, which occurred starting October 8, 1974, in Santiago, who was also a victim of the so-called "Operation Colombo." In this case, Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Espinoza Bravo, and Marcelo Moren Brito were sentenced to 13 years in prison. In addition, Alejandro Astudillo Adonis, Demóstenes Cárdenas Saavedra, Orlando Manzo Durán, and Manuel Avendaño González were acquitted. In the inquiry, Judge Crisosto was able to determine that "on October 8, 1974, while Eduardo Francisco Miranda Lobos, a member of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), was walking from his house to a commercial establishment located on Calle San Pablo in Santiago, he was detained on the public thoroughfare by agents of the National Intelligence Directorate and taken to clandestine detention centers run by the DINA. Subsequently, Miranda Lobos was seen by witnesses at the clandestine DINA detention barracks called 'José Domingo Cañas,' which was guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access, and was also seen at the detention center for opponents of the military regime called 'Tres Álamos'." "Eduardo Francisco Miranda Lobos, during his stay at the José Domingo Cañas barracks, remained without contact with the outside world, permanently guarded by DINA agents in charge of that facility, was subjected to interrogation under duress, and was transferred at some point to other detention centers, being seen for the last time by a witness on October 17, 1974, and remains disappeared to this day," the judicial text states. The resolution adds that: "the name of Eduardo Francisco Miranda Lobos appeared on a list of 119 people, published in the national press after it appeared on a list published in the Argentine magazine 'Lea' on June 15, 1975, which reported that Miranda Lobos had died in Argentina, along with other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal quarrels that arose between those members and clashes with security forces, and that the publications that declared the victim Miranda Lobos dead had their origin in disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad."

Source: villagrimaldi.cl 03/09/2014 Date: 03-09-2014

The Instituto Nacional pays tribute to its victims of the dictatorship

On Monday, September 30, 2013, the Instituto Nacional held a solemn commemoration ceremony for September 11, in which tribute was paid to the institutanos (students/alumni of the institute) who were victims of the dictatorship.

The event took place starting at 1:00 PM in the main hall, where a plaque was unveiled in honor of the 33 institutanos who fell after the coup. Acosta Castro, Patricio Ricardo Allende Gossens, Salvador Bruce Catalán, Alan Roberto Cabezas Quijada, Antonio Sergio Carmona Acevedo, Augusto Heriberto Carrasco Tapia, José Humberto Donoso Dañobeitía, Manuel Francisco Huerta Corvalán, Enrique Lelio García Posada, Ricardo Jorquera Encina, Mauricio Edmundo Klein Pipper, Jorge Letelier del Solar, Orlando Lorca Tobar, Carlos Enrique Martínez Rodríguez, Mario Muñoz Navarro, Jorge Eduardo Nordenflycht Farías, Roberto Paredes Barrientos, Juan Antonio Eduardo París Roa, Enrique Peña Hen, Jorge Peña Solari, Mario Fernando Pincheira Núñez, Héctor Ricardo Poupin Ossiel, Arsenio Radrigán Plaza, Anselmo Osvaldo Rojas Castañeda, Alfredo Ropert Contreras, Enrique

ROZAS CONTADOR FRANCISCO JAVIER ALEJANDRO

Silva Soto, Ricardo Cristian Silva Peralta, Claudio Guillermo Superby Jeldres, Mario Edmundo Tognola Ríos, Claudio Valenzuela Leiva, Luis Oscar Valenzuela Rivera, Fernando Abraham Vallejo Ferdinand, Osvaldo Vega Riquelme, Víctor Zúñiga Arellano, Víctor Manuel

Source: RESUMEN.CL 5/10/2013 Date: 05-10-2013