Minister Carroza sentences retired Carabineros for homicides committed in 1973.

The Minister on special assignment for human rights violations cases of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Mario Carroza, handed down a sentence against three retired Carabineros. The Minister on special assignment for human rights violations cases of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Mario Carroza, handed down a sentence against three retired Carabineros for their responsibility in the qualified homicides of Ramón Beltrán Sandoval, Abraham Romero Jeldres, Rodolfo Rojas González, Juan Inostroza Mallea, and Carlos Ibarra Espinoza, crimes committed in September 1973 in the Portezuelo sector of the Quilicura commune. To that effect, it should be noted that in the ruling, Magistrate Carroza sentenced Juan Guzmán Valencia, Leonidas Bustos San Juan, and René Ortega Troncoso to 10 years and one day of effective imprisonment as co-perpetrators of the homicides. Likewise, he acquitted Rolando Luengo Luengo due to a lack of participation. By virtue of the evidence recorded during the investigation stage, the Minister was able to establish that "on September 26, 1973, in the northern sector of the Metropolitan Region, Conchalí commune, Carabineros officials belonging to various units of the jurisdiction carried out several procedures without a judicial warrant, some jointly with personnel from the Army and Investigations, in sectors such as Villa Araucanía, the La Arboleda and Carlos Cortés Díaz camps, and the El Cortijo, Eneas Gonel, and Santa Mónica neighborhoods, and detained, without any legal justification, among others, the residents Ramón Bernardo Beltrán Sandoval, Abraham José Romero Jeldres, Rodolfo Ismael Rojas González, Juan Luis Inostroza Mallea, and Carlos Alejandro Ibarra Espinoza. In the early hours of September 27, 1973, officials from the Eneas Gonel Marín police station, in compliance with orders issued by the head of the police unit, removed the detainees from the barracks and, in a pickup truck, transported them to the Portezuelo sector, Quilicura commune, where the officials and the detainees got out; they made the detainees kneel and executed them by shooting them in the cranial region."

Source: diarioconstitucional.cl, October 1, 2015

Sentences confirmed for homicide and kidnapping cases during the dictatorship

The Santiago Court of Appeals confirmed the sentences handed down in two cases of human rights violations, proceedings that were investigated—in the first instance—by visiting ministers Mario Carroza and Leopoldo Llanos, respectively.

In the first case, the First Chamber of the appellate court increased to 15 years and one day the sentences to be served by retired Carabineros Juan Guzmán Valencia, Leonidas Bustos San Juan, and René Ortega Troncoso for their responsibility in five counts of qualified homicide, committed in September 1973 in the Portezuelo sector, Quilicura commune.

Likewise, the chamber confirmed the acquittal of Rolando Luengo Luengo due to a lack of participation in the events. In the first instance, visiting minister Mario Carroza sentenced the three former police officers to 10 years and one day of imprisonment as perpetrators of the homicides of Ramón Beltrán Sandoval, Abraham Romero Jeldres, Rodolfo Rojas González, Juan Inostroza Mallea, and Carlos Ibarra Espinoza.

During the investigation stage, it was established that: "On September 26, 1973, in the northern sector of the Metropolitan Region, Conchalí commune, Carabineros officials belonging to various units of the jurisdiction carried out several procedures without a judicial warrant, some jointly with personnel from the Army and Investigations, in sectors such as Villa Araucanía, the La Arboleda and Carlos Cortés Díaz camps, and the El Cortijo, Eneas Gonel, and Santa Mónica neighborhoods, and detained, without any legal justification, among others, the residents Ramón Bernardo Beltrán Sandoval, Abraham José Romero Jeldres, Rodolfo Ismael Rojas González, Juan Luis Inostroza Mallea, and Carlos Alejandro Ibarra Espinoza. In the early hours of September 27, 1973, officials from the Eneas Gonel Marín police station, in compliance with orders issued by the head of the police unit, removed the detainees from the barracks and, in a pickup truck, transported them to the Portezuelo sector, Quilicura commune, where the officials and the detainees got out; they made the detainees kneel and executed them by shooting them in the cranial region."

Londres 38 Case

In the second case, the Fourth Chamber of the appellate court reduced to 3 years and one day of imprisonment—with the benefit of supervised release—the sentence for DINA agents Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko and Basclay Zapata Reyes for their responsibility in the crime of qualified kidnapping of José Ramírez Rosales, a crime committed starting on July 27, 1974.

In the first instance, Minister Leopoldo Llanos sentenced the former state agents to 10 years and one day of imprisonment. Regarding civil matters, the appellate court reduced to 50 million pesos the amount the state must pay as compensation for moral damages to Nelly Berenguer Rodríguez, the victim's spouse.

According to the evidence gathered during the investigation stage, Minister Llanos was able to establish the following sequence of events: "Londres N°38" was a secret detention and torture center located in downtown Santiago, which operated from late 1973 until approximately the final days of August 1974, and which held numerous detainees who were interrogated and tortured with different types of flagellation, including the application of electric current on the so-called "parrilla" (grill).

They were also taken out of the location to cooperate in other detentions. "On July 27, 1974, around one in the morning, MIR militant José Manuel Ramírez Rosales, an artisan, married, with one child, was detained at his home located in the Villa Carlos Cortés in the La Granja commune.

The detention was carried out in the presence of his spouse, Nelly Berenguer Rodríguez, by three individuals in civilian clothes who, posing as officials of the Investigative Police, indicated to the affected party that they would take him to the La Cisterna Investigations Police Station so that he could provide some statements." "Subsequently, Ramírez Rosales was seen by witnesses at the Londres 38 detention center, after which there has been no news of his whereabouts; to date, he has not made contact with his relatives, nor have any procedures been carried out before state agencies; there is no record of him entering or leaving the country, nor is there any record of his death."

Source: biobiochile.cl, May 5, 2016