Carahue and Puerto Saavedra

In the month of October 1973, four people who had been detained in Puerto Saavedra died. In three of the cases, the events took place on the night a military contingent arrived in that town. The lifeless bodies of all these individuals were abandoned and found by their relatives in the Imperial River or on the seashore, bearing numerous bullet wounds.

These individuals were Francisco Segundo CURAMIL CASTILLO, 18 years old, a farmer, and his uncle Mauricio HUENUCOI ANTIL, also a farmer, who, along with Bernardo NAHUELCOY CHIHUAICURA, 32 years old, a militant of the Partido Socialista, and a large group of other peasants from the Puerto Saavedra settlement, were detained by military personnel arriving from Temuco.

Francisco Pascual PORMA CHEUQUECOY, 42 years old, a socialist militant, was detained by carabineros at his home in Puerto Saavedra and taken to the local police station.

The Nahuelcoy family states that the carabineros informed them that he had been transferred to Temuco; nevertheless, his body was thrown into the sea and found by his widow, with his face destroyed by a gunshot wound and his teeth missing.

The lifeless body of Mauricio Huenucoi was found four days after his detention in the town of Nahuentué, on the banks of the mouth of the Imperial River, also bearing bullet wounds.

Under similar circumstances, the body of Francisco Segundo Curamil was found, as was that of Francisco Pascual Porma, which was lying on the beach with his skull destroyed.

Having analyzed the background of the cases presented, this Commission is convinced that Francisco Curamil, Mauricio Huenucoi, Bernardo Nahuelcoy, and Francisco Porma were detained and tortured by State agents, who, after executing them, attempted to hide their bodies. These acts constitute a grave violation of the human rights of these victims.