Elvin Alfonso Altamirano Monje, a councilman from Puerto Cisnes, was detained in September 1973 and his body was found a month later in a mass grave at the Puerto Aysén municipal cemetery.

The visiting judge of the Coyhaique Court of Appeals, Luis Sepúlveda Coronado, initiated proceedings against retired Army officer Aquiles Vergara Muñoz as the person responsible for the qualified homicide of Elvin Alfonso Altamirano Monje, which occurred in September 1973 in Puerto Aysén.

The judicial investigation determined that Elvin Alfonso Altamirano Monje "was detained, outside of any legal process, without an order from a competent authority, and taken to a Carabineros facility that was under the command of military and Carabineros officers."

The resolution adds that "after being deprived of his liberty for almost a month, his body appeared buried in a mass grave at the Puerto Aysén municipal cemetery; his death was caused by thoracic trauma from ballistic projectiles, a violent death caused by a third party, with the superior commanders of the facility where he was detained and last seen being absolutely identified in the case."

Elvin Altamirano was 34 years old at the time of his death. He was a farmer, a councilman for Puerto Cisnes, and a socialist militant.

According to the official version of the time, Altamirano had been killed on the road between Puerto Aysén and Coyhaique while being transported, when he attempted to escape by taking advantage of a mechanical failure in the vehicle transporting him, the Rettig Report notes.

The Commission adds in the document that "it is not plausible that the victim attempted to escape" and "in the event that such an escape attempt had occurred, police forces have sufficient capacity to prevent such situations without the need to kill detainees under their custody."

Source: La Nación, October 3, 2014

One of the Murderers of Puerto Cisnes Socialist Councilman Elvin Altamirano Monje Prosecuted

The visiting judge of the Coyhaique Court of Appeals, Luis Sepúlveda Coronado, initiated proceedings against retired Army officer Aquiles Vergara Muñoz as responsible for the qualified homicide of Elvin Alfonso Altamirano Monje, 34, a farmer—a crime against humanity perpetrated in September 1973 in Puerto Aysén.

According to the investigation of the facts: "It has been absolutely proven that Elvin Alfonso Altamirano Monje was detained, outside of any legal process, without an order from a competent authority, and taken to a Carabineros facility that was under the command of military and Carabineros officers; subsequently, after being deprived of his liberty for almost a month, his body appeared buried in a mass grave at the Puerto Aysén municipal cemetery; his death was caused by thoracic trauma from ballistic projectiles, a violent death caused by a third party, with the superior commanders of the facility where he was detained and last seen being absolutely identified in the case," the resolution states.

Judge Sepúlveda established that after September 11, 1973, Elvin Alfonso Altamirano Monje "was called to present himself before the new authorities."

"On September 22, 1973, he was apprehended in Puyuhuapi by Carabineros from Puerto Cisnes and, along with other detainees, transported by boat to Puerto Chacabuco, and then to the Puerto Aysén police station, which was under the command of Army Captain Aquiles Vergara and Carabineros Lieutenant Miguel Rojas."

"There, he was the victim of cruel torture that included beatings, walking barefoot, denial of food, and being thrown in a drum from the side of a hill."

"On October 12, he was taken from a cell in the police station and executed in the stables area, although the official version is that the 'law of flight' had been applied to him."

"Afterward, his body was taken to the Puerto Aysén cemetery and buried clandestinely." Upon learning of this, his family recovered him and buried him in the Puyuhuapi cemetery.

Magistrate Luis Sepúlveda Coronado issued an arrest warrant for the accused to the Human Rights Investigative Brigade and also ordered the seizure of assets for one million pesos to cover the expenses the investigation may cause the State.

Source: VillaGrimaldi.cl, October 4, 2014

Supreme Court Issues Sentences for Kidnappings and Executions in Aysén

The Supreme Court issued a final judgment in a series of human rights violation cases committed in the Aysén Region in October 1973, which were investigated by the visiting judge of the Coyhaique Court of Appeals, Luis Sepúlveda Coronado.

In the sentence, the ministers of the Criminal Chamber—Milton Juica, Hugo Dolmestch, Carlos Künsemüller, Haroldo Brito, and Lamberto Cisternas—rejected the cassation appeals filed for the episodes known as Puerto Cisnes, Puerto Aysén, and Villa Los Torreones, and accepted the cassation appeals for the Coyhaique episode.

In the ruling, the Second Chamber of the high court confirms the appealed sentences for the homicide of Jorge Vilugrón Reyes, perpetrated on October 8, 1973, in Puerto Cisnes; the homicide of Julio Cárcamo Rodríguez, which occurred on October 2, 1973, at the Second Carabineros Precinct of Puerto Aysén; and for the homicide of Moisés Ayanao Montoya, executed on October 25, 1973, in the Villa Los Torreones sector (the route connecting Puerto Aysén with Coyhaique).

Meanwhile, the appeal was accepted and a replacement sentence was issued for the qualified kidnappings of Juan Vera Oyarzún, José Rosendo Pérez Ríos, and Néstor Hernán Castillo Sepúlveda, which occurred starting on October 27, 1973, in Coyhaique.

Puerto Cisnes Episode

In this case, the sentences of 3 years and one day of imprisonment, with the benefit of supervised release, issued against José Tocol Navarro and Luis Pineda Muñoz as perpetrators of the crime of homicide, were maintained; as were the sentences of 541 days of imprisonment, with the benefit of conditional remission, against Carlos Henríquez Reuquén, Héctor Andrade Calderón, and Ramón Concha Pérez, in the capacity of accomplices.

In this proceeding, it was established that "in the first days of October 1973, commissions were formed in Puerto Aysén and Puerto Cisnes to carry out detention duties, composed of Army and Carabineros personnel, and that on one occasion they used a boat to go to a sector called La Junta, where they gathered the residents in the local gymnasium and detained four people without an order from a competent court, among whom was Jorge Orlando Vilugrón Reyes.

Afterward, they put them on a boat, at which time Vilugrón fractured a leg, remaining confined on the boat. Subsequently, a mock War Council was held, in which he was sentenced to death, tied to a post where a hood was placed on his head and a red disk on his chest, being executed by a firing squad on October 8, 1973, at 07:10.

Once the execution was concluded, Vilugrón's death was confirmed, and the crew of the vessel took the body in a coffin with weights and threw it into the sea."

Puerto Aysén Episode

In the episode known as Puerto Aysén, the Criminal Chamber confirmed the sentences of 3 years and one day of imprisonment against Aquiles Vergara Muñoz as the perpetrator of the crime of homicide, with the benefit of supervised release; and 541 days of imprisonment against Miguel Rojas Quiroga as an accessory to the crime, with the benefit of conditional remission of the sentence.

In this case, it was proven that "in the first days of October 1973, Army Captain Aquiles Vergara Muñoz was assigned with a squad from the Artillery battalion under his command to the city of Puerto Aysén to contribute to internal order in the face of possible insubordination and curfew violations, tasks that were autonomous.

It adds that on October 2, 1973, Carabineros officer Óscar Carrasco Leiva was going to his house around 8:00 PM when he was intercepted by 'cachorro Alvarado' and 'alicate,' who insulted and threatened him, which he reported to his superior, who ordered his detention, being apprehended by force, receiving blows with rifle butts and kicks to the body, and finally, transferred to the Second Precinct, where they were placed in cells.

During the night or early morning, they were taken from their cell and transferred to the stables, where Captain Vergara Muñoz shot them with his pistol and then formed an irregular firing squad composed of Carabineros who executed them with their service weapons, resulting in their deaths without a prior trial and without the victims having the possibility to defend themselves or repel the aggression.

Later, the bodies were taken to the morgue, where the doctor confirmed the death through an external examination without performing an autopsy and issued the medical death certificate, leaving the immediate cause as acute anemia and the underlying cause as a projectile wound, dated October 20, 1973, upon the request of the Carabineros Commissioner of Puerto Aysén, with the naked bodies being taken to the Puerto Aysén cemetery and thrown into a previously prepared mass grave."

Villa Los Torreones

In this episode, the ruling sentencing José Maricahuin Carrasco to 5 years of imprisonment as the perpetrator of the crime of homicide, with the benefit of supervised release, was confirmed; as was the sentence of 541 days of imprisonment for Juan González Andaur and Nelson Ojeda Soto, with the benefit of supervised release.

In this case, it was determined that "on October 25, 1973, a patrol was formed for the detention of Segundo Montoya, who lived in the Villa Los Torreones sector, composed of members of the Army who were mobilized in a Unimog truck with the purpose of arresting him and transferring him to the Regimiento N° 14 Aysén in Coyhaique.

Given that he was not found at the required address, the people present were interrogated, among whom was his nephew Moisés Ayanao Montoya, 19 years old at the time, who was beaten and then shot upon attempting to flee or while running by order of the captors, resulting in his death at the same location from the impacts.

Afterward, his body was placed on a tarp on a horse and transported to the Regimiento N° 14 Aysén in Coyhaique, and subsequently taken clandestinely to the El Claro neighborhood cemetery in Coyhaique, where a grave was dug and his body was buried without notifying the family."

Coyhaique Case In the Coyhaique episode, the Criminal Chamber accepted the cassation appeal and issued a replacement sentence, sentencing Miguel Ángel Rondón to 10 years and one day of imprisonment, without benefits, for his responsibility as the perpetrator of three qualified kidnappings; and sentencing Gustavo Rivera Toro to 3 years and one day of imprisonment for his responsibility as an accessory, with the benefit of supervised release granted.

In this case, it was established that "due to the military pronouncement, four people—namely, Juan Vera Oyarzún, Néstor Castillo Sepúlveda, José Miguel Chacón Coliague, and Efraín Ruiz—decided to leave the city and seek political asylum in Argentina because they were leaders of political parties opposed to the military regime, for which they crossed through an unauthorized border crossing and requested political asylum, being transferred to the Alto Río Mayo Gendarmerie Barracks on September 23, 1973, where José Rosendo Pérez Ríos and José Gómez were also located.

They remained in that place until October 27, 1973, the date on which Vera, Castillo, and Pérez were taken from the police facility at night and handed over to a patrol of soldiers and a Carabineros officer, all Chilean.

They arrived at the Regimiento N° 14 Aysén, where they were locked on the second floor of the Intelligence Department, with no news of their subsequent whereabouts or their death. The deprivation of liberty of Juan Vera Oyarzún, Néstor Castillo Sepúlveda, and José Rosendo Pérez Ríos was proven, originating from the illegal detention they were victims of by a military patrol and a Carabineros officer, being taken to the regiment where they were last seen alive, with their respective whereabouts unknown and the bodies never having been located."

Source: El Divisadero.cl, September 8, 2014

Aysén Human Rights Group Laments Low Sentences and Silence Pact Among Military

After the Supreme Court issued a final judgment in some of the human rights violation cases in Aysén that occurred during the Military Dictatorship, the Coyhaique Human Rights Group lamented the lack of proportionality between the nature of the crimes for which they were convicted and the sanctions imposed in the rulings corresponding to the "Villa Los Torreones," "Puerto Aysén," and "Puerto Cisnes" episodes.

According to what was reported by Ninón Neira, president of the Human Rights Group, although the effort to reach the truth is valued, it is regrettable that the sentences do not adjust to the dimensions of what happened.

At the same time, she denounced that a pact of silence still exists among military and civilians, which has not allowed for the discovery of the bodies of the forcibly disappeared in Aysén, for which they made a public call to General (r) Gustavo Rivera Toro and Sub-officer Miguel Ángel Rondón to provide the information that would allow the relatives of the detainees to end this ordeal.

The Supreme Court decided to confirm the rulings of the "Villa Los Torreones," "Puerto Aysén," and "Puerto Cisnes" episodes, thus establishing sentences of 5 years of imprisonment for José Maricahuin Carrasco as the perpetrator of the crime of homicide, with the benefit of supervised release; and 541 days of imprisonment for Juan González Andaur and Nelson Ojeda Soto, with the benefit of supervised release, in the "Villa Los Torreones" case.

In the episode called "Puerto Aysén," the Criminal Chamber confirmed the sentences of 3 years and one day of imprisonment against Aquiles Vergara Muñoz, father of the well-known TV host Ivette Vergara, as the perpetrator of the crime of homicide, with the benefit of supervised release; and 541 days of imprisonment against Miguel Rojas Quiroga as an accessory to the crime, with the benefit of conditional remission of the sentence.

In the "Puerto Cisnes" episode, finally, the sentences of 3 years and one day of imprisonment, with the benefit of supervised release, issued against José Tocol Navarro and Luis Pineda Muñoz as perpetrators of the crime of homicide, were maintained; as were the sentences of 541 days of imprisonment, with the benefit of conditional remission, against Carlos Henríquez Reuquén, Héctor Andrade Calderón, and Ramón Concha Pérez, in the capacity of accomplices.

Regarding the "Coyhaique" episode, the Supreme Court accepted the cassation appeals filed by the Human Rights Program of the Ministry of the Interior and Public Security and by the Judicial Prosecutor of the Puerto Montt Court of Appeals, proceeding to annul the sentence issued by the Puerto Montt Court of Appeals on October 25, 2013, and issuing a replacement sentence in which it resolved to sentence Miguel Ángel Rondón to 10 years and one day of imprisonment, without benefits, for his responsibility as the perpetrator of three qualified kidnappings; and to sentence Gustavo Rivera Toro to 3 years and one day of imprisonment for his responsibility as an accessory, with the benefit of supervised release granted.

Source: ElPatagonDomingo.cl, September 11, 2014