Miguel Krassnoff, Marcelo Moren Brito, and Raúl Iturriaga Neumann are among those implicated.

The minister for extraordinary causes regarding human rights violations at the Santiago Court of Appeals, Hernán Crisosto, sentenced 77 agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) this Monday for their responsibility in the kidnapping of Héctor Garay Hermosilla in 1974.

Garay Hermosilla, a member of the Revolutionary Student Front (FER), was 19 years old when he was detained near his home on July 8, 1974. Days later, his name appeared in the national press on a false list of 119 people killed due to alleged internal disputes within the MIR, in what was termed "Operation Colombo." According to the judge's findings, "the publications that declared the victim Garay Hermosilla dead originated from disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad."

According to the reconstruction of events carried out by the presiding minister, the DINA agents who captured Garay "forced him into the back of a gray Chevrolet C-10 pickup truck and took him to the home of a friend of the victim, who was also forced into the aforementioned truck, to be taken to an unknown destination."

"Subsequently, it was established through testimonies that Héctor Marcial Garay Hermosilla passed through the clandestine detention center known as 'Londres 38,' which was guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access," the ruling continues, establishing that to this date, there is no further information regarding Garay's whereabouts.

The convicted In the resolution, the presiding minister sentenced the following to 13 years in prison: César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Marcelo Luis Moren Brito, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, as authors of the crime perpetrated in 1974.

Meanwhile, the following former agents must serve 10 years in prison, also as authors: Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires, Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez, Sergio Hernán Castillo González, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, José Nelson Fuentealba Saldías, Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes, José Enrique Fuentes Torres, José Mario Friz Esparza, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, Claudio Orlando Orellana de la Pinta, Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, Gustavo Galvarino Caruman Soto, Hiro Álvarez Vega, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Olegario Enrique González Moreno, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda, Carlos Alfonso Sáez Sanhueza, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, Hernán Patricio Valenzuela Salas, Hugo Rubén Delgado Carrasco, Juan Alfredo Villanueva Alvear, Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, Lautaro Eugenio Díaz Espinoza, Leónidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, Rafael de Jesús Riveros Frost, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Máximo Ramón Aliaga Soto, Manuel Rivas Díaz, Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, Risiere del Prado Altez España, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, and Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle.

As accomplices to the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Garay Hermosilla, the presiding minister sentenced the following to 4 years in prison: Luis Eduardo Mora Cerda, José Jaime Mora Diocares, Camilo Torres Negrier, Carlos Justo Bermúdez Méndez, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, Fernando Adrián Roa Montaña, Gerardo Meza Acuña, Héctor Raúl Valdebenito Araya, Jaime Humberto Paris Ramos, Jorge Laureano Sagardia Monje, José Dorohi Hormazábal Rodríguez, José Manuel Sarmiento Sotelo, José Stalin Muñoz Leal, Juvenal Alfonso Piña Garrido, Luis René Torres Méndez, Manuel Antonio Montre Méndez; Moisés Paulino Campos Figueroa, Nelson Aquiles Ortiz Vignolo, Nelson Eduardo Iturriaga Cortés, Pedro Segundo Bitterlich Jaramillo, Reinaldo Alfonso Concha Orellana, Sergio Hernán Castro Andrade, Víctor Manuel de la Cruz San Martín Jiménez, Gustavo Humberto Apablaza Meneses, Héctor Carlos Díaz Cabezas, Jorge Antonio Lepileo Barrios, Óscar Belarmino la Flor Flores; Rufino Espinoza Espinoza, Héctor Manuel Lira Aravena, Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett, Sergio Iván Díaz Lara, Juan Miguel Troncoso Soto, and Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel.

Meanwhile, Rodolfo Valentino Cocha Rodríguez and Armando Segundo Cofre Correa were acquitted due to a lack of participation in the events.

Source: t13.cl, August 31, 2015

Magistrate Hernán Crisosto established that the dictatorship's intelligence agents participated as authors of the aggravated kidnapping of Bernardo Castro López, who later appeared on a supposed list of people killed in clashes in Argentina.

The minister for extraordinary causes of the Santiago Court of Appeals designated for human rights violation cases, Hernán Crisosto, issued a sentence on January 6 regarding the investigation into the aggravated kidnapping of Bernardo de Castro López, an event that occurred beginning on September 14, 1974.

In the case, the magistrate sentenced the following former agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) as authors: Juan Manuel Guillermo Contreras Sepúlveda, César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, to serve 13-year prison sentences.

Likewise, Minister Crisosto sentenced the following as authors of aggravated kidnapping to 10 years in prison: Orlando Manzo Durán, Pedro René Alfaro Fernández, Armando Segundo Cofré Correa, Héctor Alfredo Flores Vergara, Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, Manuel Rivas Díaz, Risiere del Prado Altez España, Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, Manuel Heriberto Avendaño González, Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda, Alejandro Francisco Astudillo Adonis, Demóstenes Eugenio Cárdenas Saavedra, Hernán Patricio Valenzuela Salas, and Alejandro Francisco Molina Cisternas.

Meanwhile, as accomplices, he sentenced Nelson Eduardo Iturriaga Cortez and José Dorohi Hormazábal Rodríguez to 4 years in prison, without benefits; and acquitted Basclay Zapata Reyes.

THE RULING

According to the resolution, Minister Hernán Crisosto considered the following facts proven: "That in the afternoon of September 14, 1974, Bernardo de Castro López, a militant of the Socialist Party, was detained at his home located at Calle Bilbao N° 1236, in the commune of Providencia, and was taken to a barracks of the Chilean Investigative Police where he was interrogated and then handed over to DINA agents, who took him to the clandestine detention center known as 'Venda Sexy,' located at Calle Irán N° 3037, in Santiago, and subsequently he was transferred to the clandestine detention center known as 'Cuatro Álamos,' located at Calle Canadá N° 3000, in the commune of Santiago, facilities that were guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access," he states in his first point.

In a second point, he notes that "During his stay at the 'Venda Sexy' barracks, De Castro López remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied up, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating in said barracks for the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of his political group, in order to proceed with the detention of the members of that organization, an isolation that continued at the Cuatro Álamos Center."

"That the last time the victim De Castro López was seen alive by other detainees occurred on an undetermined day in the month of October 1974, and he remains disappeared to this date," he states in the third point.

In the fourth, that "the name of Bernardo de Castro López appeared on a list of 119 people, published in the national press after it appeared on a list published in the Argentine magazine LEA, dated July 15, 1975, in which it was reported that Bernardo de Castro López had died in Argentina, along with 59 other people belonging to leftist groups, due to internal disputes that arose among those members; and that the publications that declared the victim De Castro López dead originated from disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad."

As a fifth point, he established that "the facts established in the previous consideration constitute the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Bernardo de Castro López, provided for and sanctioned in Article 141, paragraph 3 of the Penal Code of the time, in relation to the first paragraph of the same article, since the deprivation of liberty or confinement of the victim lasted for more than 90 days, and therefore caused serious damage to the person, which ultimately resulted in his disappearance."

Source: La Nación, January 8, 2015

Miguel Angel Acuña Castillo: The disappearance of the 19-year-old in Londres 38

He was detained in July 1974 in the commune of Macul. Numerous witnesses saw him at the torture and extermination center of Londres 38. He is one of the victims of "Operation Colombo." The justice system sentenced 78 former DINA agents for this crime against humanity.

The minister of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Hernán Crisosto, issued a first-instance sentence for the kidnapping and disappearance of Miguel Angel Acuña Castillo.

The magistrate established that the young man, a militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), was detained in the vicinity of his home located at Pasaje Talca N° 2033 in the commune of Macul by State agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), among them Osvaldo Romo Mena, alias "el Guatón Romo."

His sister, Rosa Acuña Castillo, declared that her father tried to climb into the back of the covered pickup truck at the moment they were taking him away, but he was struck in the mouth by one of the subjects, falling to the ground.

A week after the kidnapping, Romo went to their home again and told them that her brother was in good condition along with Héctor Garay Hermosilla, who is also disappeared. Both were members of the Revolutionary Student Front (FER) at the Liceo 7 in Ñuñoa.

Judge Crisosto determined that the DINA agents "transferred him to the clandestine detention center known as 'Yucatán' or 'Londres 38'."

Acuña Castillo belonged to the secondary student structure of the MIR's Military Political Group 3 (GPM3), an organization that grouped militants from the eastern zone of the capital and was led by Agustín Reyes González, whose trail was lost forever in Londres 38.

There, he "remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied up, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents" and, the last time he was seen alive, "occurred on an undetermined day in the month of July or August 1974, and he remains disappeared to this date," the first-instance ruling notes.

Laughing in Londres 38 with Héctor Garay Hermosilla

In the "Yucatán" barracks, he was seen by Erika Hennings, who was detained on July 30, 1974. "I can say that he was very young, I think they called him 'El Pampa'," she asserted during the process. She heard the detainees being called for roll call twice a day.

On July 31, 1974, she heard the name of Miguel Angel Acuña Castillo, who answered "present." Later, she did not hear him called again. "They took them out of Londres 38 just like other detainees, among whom she remembers María Inés Alvarado," a 21-year-old forcibly disappeared person.

Hugo Chacaltana Silva, detained on May 4, 1974, a former student of the Liceo Manuel de Salas and member of the Revolutionary Student Front (FER), also saw him in Londres 38. He recounted that in the early hours of July 8 to 9, 1974, Miguel Angel Acuña arrived along with Héctor Garay Hermosilla, whom they called "Titín"; he was able to see them through a gap that formed between the nose and the cheekbones of the blindfold.

Chacaltana noted that he met Castillo in 1971, when both were secondary students. Both coincided in meetings held at the time between members of the FER, the judicial ruling states. He remembers "Miguel Ángel as a young man of great leadership capacity and great physical resistance."

He stopped seeing him on September 11, 1973. He met him again in Londres 38. He arrived along with Héctor Garay to the same room where he remained lying on the floor. "At that moment, I did not address Miguel Ángel," on the contrary, he pretended not to notice his presence. "The next day, when the mattresses on which we detainees lay were removed and replaced by chairs, I sat down and, to one side, I observed that they were still sitting.

It struck me that both were talking and laughing, which made me think that they were unaware of the magnitude of what awaited them. Miguel Ángel approached him in Londres 38, saying, 'I know you'."

His mother found out at the hair salon that her son was in Londres 38

León Gómez, detained on July 15, 1974, and transferred to Londres 38, saw Miguel Angel along with Héctor Garay, whom he knew. Someone commented to him that among the detainees was "Pampino," which he corroborated upon hearing him "with his typical jokes that he made to the guards, as if giving the impression that what was happening in the place had no importance.

Even Titín and Pampino would drive the guards crazy. They were very irreverent."

David Cuevas Sharon, detained on May 4, 1974, also testified to having seen him. "Despite showing signs of mistreatment, 'El Pampino' seemed to have a great presence of mind; he was very physically strong." He shared space with him for at least five days.

When Cuevas was released, Acuña Castillo remained a prisoner. His maternal grandmother had a hair salon in Ñuñoa, and one of her clients was Miguel Angel's mother. In a conversation, "she found out about the problem she had with a disappeared son.

Given this, my grandmother made her go to the hair salon, where she met Pampino's mother and told her what she knew about him, specifically the place where he had been imprisoned with him."

Regarding the torments applied to the detainees in Londres 38, including Miguel Angel, Minister Crisosto incorporated statements from Osvaldo Romo, who stated that among other tortures, the detainees were subjected to "the dry submarine, which was covering their breathing with a plastic bag placed on their heads; the detainees' eyes would look like 'fried eggs,' and blood would come out of their noses and eardrums.

After the interrogations and duress, the detainees would be exhausted."

Another former agent, Samuel Fuenzalida Devia, specified in this regard that "the general treatment of the prisoners was to keep them blindfolded, they were not allowed to wash, there were no beds for them to sleep on, the food was scarce, and they were subjected to intense interrogations in which electricity was applied to them, especially to their genitals and breasts.

Another form of torture consisted of keeping the detainees sitting in chairs, tied by their hands and feet, while current was applied to them with magnets, although common electric current was also applied, which would burn those people, a procedure in which many people died."

Eugenio Fieldhouse Chávez maintains that as an official of the Investigative Police, in mid-June 1974, he was assigned to that repressive agency and indicated that the same DINA agents who intervened in the detention and interrogation of the detainees, once the information sought was obtained, were in charge of making them disappear, upon the order of DINA superiors.

The name of Miguel Ángel Acuña Castillo appeared among the 119 Chileans of Operation Colombo, on a list disseminated in the national press, after it appeared in publications that appeared only once in Brazil and Argentina, "in which it was reported that Miguel Ángel Acuña Castillo had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes."

The convictions

"The publications that declared the victim Acuña Castillo dead originated from disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad," determined Judge Crisosto, who sentenced 78 former DINA agents for his disappearance.

The magistrate issued a sentence of 13 years of major imprisonment in its medium degree to Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda; César Manríquez Bravo; Pedro Espinoza; Marcelo Luis Moren Brito; Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko; and Raúl Iturriaga Neumann.

Likewise, he sentenced the following to 10 years of major imprisonment in its minimum degree: Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González; Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García; Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires; Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez; Sergio Hernán Castillo González; Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos; José Nelson Fuentealba Saldías; Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes; José Enrique Fuentes Torres; José Mario Friz Esparza; Julio José Hoyos Zegarra; Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante; Claudio Orlando Orellana de la Pinta; Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar; Gustavo Galvarino Caruman Soto; Hiro Álvarez Vega; José Alfonso Ojeda Obando; Luis Salvador Villarroel Gutiérrez; Olegario Enrique González Moreno; Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica; Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera; Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda; Carlos Alfonso Sáez Sanhueza; Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo; Hernán Patricio Valenzuela Salas; Hugo Rubén Delgado Carrasco; Juan Alfredo Villanueva Alvear; Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos; Lautaro Eugenio Díaz Espinoza; Leónides Emiliano Méndez Moreno; Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda; Rafael De Jesús Riveros Frost; Víctor Manuel Molina Astete; Manuel Rivas Díaz; Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle; Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres; Risiere del Prado Altez España; Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca; and Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte.

As accomplices to the kidnapping and disappearance of the 19-year-old, he sentenced the following to 4 years of minor imprisonment in its maximum degree: Luis Eduardo Mora Cerda; José Jaime Mora Diocares; Camilo Torres Negrier; Carlos Justo Bermúdez Méndez; Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández; Fernando Adrián Roa Montaña; Gerardo Meza Acuña; Héctor Raúl Valdebenito Araya; Jaime Humberto Paris Ramos; Jorge Laureano Sagardia Monje; José Dorohi Hormazabal Rodríguez; José Manuel Sarmiento Sotelo; José Stalin Muñoz Leal; Juvenal Alfonso Piña Garrido; Luis René Torres Méndez; Manuel Antonio Montre Méndez; Máximo Ramón Aliaga Soto; Moisés Paulino Campos Figueroa; Nelson Aquiles Ortiz Vignolo; Nelson Eduardo Iturriaga Cortes; Pedro Segundo Bitterlich Jaramillo; Reinaldo Alfonso Concha Orellana; Sergio Hernán Castro Andrade; Víctor Manuel de la Cruz San Martin Jiménez; Gustavo Humberto Apablaza Meneses; Héctor Carlos Díaz Cabezas; Jorge Antonio Lepileo Barrios; Oscar Belarmino La Flor Flores; Rufino Espinoza Espinoza; Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel; Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett; Héctor Manuel Lira Aravena; and Sergio Iván Díaz Lara.

Regarding Víctor Manuel De la Cruz San Martín Jiménez, due to having fallen into dementia, the fulfillment of the sentence is suspended, and he must, in due course, be handed over under custody bail to a family member.

Source: Villa Grimaldi.cl, February 3, 2015

Hernán Crisosto Greisse, a minister for extraordinary cases of human rights violations at the Santiago Court of Appeals, issued a conviction against 77 former agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Eduardo Ziede Gómez.

The crime was committed starting on June 15, 1974, within the framework of the so-called "Operation Colombo." In the resolution, the following agents were sentenced to 13 years in prison as authors of the crime: César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Espinoza Bravo, Marcelo Moren Brito, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Iturriaga Neumann.

Furthermore, the following agents must serve 10 years in prison, also as authors of the crime of aggravated kidnapping: Gerardo Urrich González, Gerardo Godoy García, Ricardo Lawrence Mires, Ciro Torré Sáez, Sergio Hernán Castillo González, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, José Nelson Fuentealba Saldías, Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes, José Enrique Fuentes Torres, José Mario Friz Esparza, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, Claudio Orlando Orellana de la Pinta, Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, Gustavo Galvarino Caruman Soto, Hiro Álvarez Vega, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Olegario Enrique González Moreno, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda, Carlos Alfonso Sáez Sanhueza, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, Hernán Patricio Valenzuela Salas, Hugo Rubén Delgado Carrasco, Juan Alfredo Villanueva Alvear, Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, Lautaro Eugenio Díaz Espinoza, Leónidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, Rafael de Jesús Riveros Frost, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Manuel Rivas Díaz, Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, and Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte. As accomplices, the following must serve 4 years in prison without benefits: Luis Eduardo Mora Cerda, José Jaime Mora Diocares, Camilo Torres Negrier, Carlos Justo Bermúdez Méndez, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, Fernando Adrián Roa Montaña, Gerardo Meza Acuña, Héctor Raúl Valdebenito Araya, Jaime Humberto Paris Ramos, Jorge Laureano Sagardia Monje, José Dorohi Hormazábal Rodríguez, José Manuel Sarmiento Sotelo, José Stalin Muñoz Leal, Juvenal Alfonso Piña Garrido, Luis René Torres Méndez, Manuel Antonio Montre Méndez, Máximo Ramón Aliaga Soto, Moisés Paulino Campos Figueroa, Nelson Aquiles Ortiz Vignolo, Nelson Eduardo Iturriaga Cortés, Pedro Segundo Bitterlich Jaramillo, Reinaldo Alfonso Concha Orellana, Sergio Hernán Castro Andrade, Víctor Manuel de la Cruz San Martin Jiménez, Gustavo Humberto Apablaza Meneses, Héctor Carlos Díaz Cabezas, Jorge Antonio Lepileo Barrios, Óscar Belarmino la Flor Flores, Rufino Espinoza Espinoza, Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel, Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett, Héctor Manuel Lira Aravena, Luis Fernando Espinace Contreras, Juan Miguel Troncoso Soto, and Sergio Iván Díaz Lara. Likewise, a definitive dismissal due to death was issued for the defendants: Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, Osvaldo Romo Mena, Luis Urrutia Acuña, José Ampuero Ulloa, Orlando Inostroza Lagos, Luis Villarroel Gutiérrez, and Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda. In the civil aspect, the ruling ordered the State of Chile to pay compensation of $100,000,000 to the victim's spouse and $70,000,000 to the victim's son.

Source: nuevopoder.cl, August 18, 2015

Massive conviction of 24 former DINA agents for kidnapping and murdering a young medical student. Krassnoff accumulates 655 years in prison

The Supreme Court convicted 24 former DINA agents this Tuesday for the kidnapping and disappearance of Jorge Arturo Grez Aburto, who has been a forcibly disappeared person since May 23, 1974, within the framework of "Operation Colombo." Grez Aburto was detained on May 23, 1974, at the age of 28 in Santiago Centro by two members of the DINA, who transported him to Londres 38, a center for political imprisonment and torture.

From there, he was moved to other locations where he was seen alive until he disappeared in July 1974. DINA agents indicate that he was murdered during torture and his body was never located. Jorge Grez was a Philosophy and Medicine student at the University of Concepción, a member of the Socialist Party, and previously a member of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR).

There are testimonies of his time at the Londres 38 facility, after which there is no news of his whereabouts. He was also held at the Estadio Chile. The ruling In a unanimous ruling, César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Espinoza Bravo, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Gerardo Ulrrich González were sentenced to 13 years in prison, while Raúl Iturriaga Neumann, Manuel Carevic Cubillos, Ciro Torré Sáez, Sergio Castillo González, José Fuentealba Saldías, José Fuentes Torres, Julio Hoyos Zegarra, Nelson Paz Bustamante, Claudio Orellana de la Pinta, Enrique Gutiérrez Rubilar, José Ojeda Obando, Hugo Delgado Carrasco, Juan Duarte Gallegos, Leónidas Méndez Moreno, Pedro Araneda Araneda, Rafael Riveros Frost, and Víctor Manuel Molina Astete were sentenced to 10 years as authors of the crime. At the same time, Luis Mora Cerda, José Hormazábal Rodríguez, and Reinaldo Concha Orellana were given a four-year sentence for being accomplices to the act. It is worth remembering that on Tuesday, August 7, the same Supreme Court issued the sentence for the crimes committed against María Cristina López Stewart and Álvaro Vallejos Villagrán, members of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR). Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, one of those convicted for this crime, accumulates more than 650 years in prison with this new sentence.

Source: cambio21.cl, August 14, 2018

77 DINA agents convicted for kidnapping of MIR member in "Operation Colombo"

Hernán Crisosto Greisse, a minister for extraordinary cases of human rights violations at the Santiago Court of Appeals, issued a conviction against 77 former agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Eduardo Ziede Gómez.

The crime was committed starting on June 15, 1974, within the framework of the so-called "Operation Colombo." In the resolution, the following agents were sentenced to 13 years in prison as authors of the crime: César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Espinoza Bravo, Marcelo Moren Brito, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Iturriaga Neumann.

Furthermore, the following agents must serve 10 years in prison, also as authors of the crime of aggravated kidnapping: Gerardo Urrich González, Gerardo Godoy García, Ricardo Lawrence Mires, Ciro Torré Sáez, Sergio Hernán Castillo González, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, José Nelson Fuentealba Saldías, Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes, José Enrique Fuentes Torres, José Mario Friz Esparza, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, Claudio Orlando Orellana de la Pinta, Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, Gustavo Galvarino Caruman Soto, Hiro Álvarez Vega, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Olegario Enrique González Moreno, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda, Carlos Alfonso Sáez Sanhueza, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, Hernán Patricio Valenzuela Salas, Hugo Rubén Delgado Carrasco, Juan Alfredo Villanueva Alvear, Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, Lautaro Eugenio Díaz Espinoza, Leónidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, Rafael de Jesús Riveros Frost, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Manuel Rivas Díaz, Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, and Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte. As accomplices, the following must serve 4 years in prison without benefits: Luis Eduardo Mora Cerda, José Jaime Mora Diocares, Camilo Torres Negrier, Carlos Justo Bermúdez Méndez, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, Fernando Adrián Roa Montaña, Gerardo Meza Acuña, Héctor Raúl Valdebenito Araya, Jaime Humberto Paris Ramos, Jorge Laureano Sagardia Monje, José Dorohi Hormazábal Rodríguez, José Manuel Sarmiento Sotelo, José Stalin Muñoz Leal, Juvenal Alfonso Piña Garrido, Luis René Torres Méndez, Manuel Antonio Montre Méndez, Máximo Ramón Aliaga Soto, Moisés Paulino Campos Figueroa, Nelson Aquiles Ortiz Vignolo, Nelson Eduardo Iturriaga Cortés, Pedro Segundo Bitterlich Jaramillo, Reinaldo Alfonso Concha Orellana, Sergio Hernán Castro Andrade, Víctor Manuel de la Cruz San Martin Jiménez, Gustavo Humberto Apablaza Meneses, Héctor Carlos Díaz Cabezas, Jorge Antonio Lepileo Barrios, Óscar Belarmino la Flor Flores, Rufino Espinoza Espinoza, Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel, Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett, Héctor Manuel Lira Aravena, Luis Fernando Espinace Contreras, Juan Miguel Troncoso Soto, and Sergio Iván Díaz Lara.

Source: latercera.cl, August 17, 2015

Court convicts former DINA agents for kidnappings within the framework of Operation Colombo

The Santiago Court of Appeals convicted four former members of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for the aggravated kidnapping of secretary and nutrition and dietetics student María Angélica Andreoli Bravo.

The crime was perpetrated starting in August 1974 within the framework of the so-called "Operation Colombo." In a unanimous ruling (case file 1.700-2015), the Sixth Chamber of the appellate court—composed of ministers Marisol Rojas, Elsa Barrientos, and acting lawyer Héctor Mery—sentenced agents Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann to 13 years in prison as authors of the crime.

Meanwhile, César Manríquez Bravo must serve 10 years in prison as an author. In the case of the agents: Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires, Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez, Sergio Hernán Castillo González, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, José Nelson Fuentealba Saldías, José Enrique Fuentes Torres, José Mario Friz Esparza, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, Claudio Orlando Orellana de la Pinta, Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, Gustavo Galvarino Carumán Soto, Hiro Álvarez Vega, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Luis Salvador Villarroel Gutiérrez, Olegario Enrique González Moreno, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda, Carlos Alfonso Sáez Sanhueza, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, Hugo Rubén Delgado Carrasco, Juan Alfredo Villanueva Alvear, Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, Lautaro Eugenio Díaz Espinoza, Leónidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, Rafael de Jesús Riveros Frost, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Manuel Rivas Díaz, Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, Risiere del Prado Altez España, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, Osvaldo Pulgar Gallardo, Luis Eduardo Mora Cerda, José Jaime Mora Diocares, Camilo Torres Negrier, Carlos Justo Bermúdez Méndez, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, Fernando Adrián Roa Montaña, Gerardo Meza Acuña, Héctor Raúl Valdebenito Araya, Jaime Humberto Paris Ramos, Jorge Laureano Sagardia Monje, José Dorohi Hormazábal Rodríguez, José Manuel Sarmiento Sotelo, José Stalin Muñoz Leal, Juvenal Alfonso Piña Garrido, Luis René Torres Méndez, Manuel Antonio Montre Méndez, Máximo Ramón Aliaga Soto, Moisés Paulino Campos Figueroa, Nelson Aquiles Ortiz Vignolo, Nelson Eduardo Iturriaga Cortés, Pedro Segundo Bitterlich Jaramillo, Reinaldo Alfonso Concha Orellana, Sergio Hernán Castro Andrade, Víctor Manuel de la Cruz San Martín Jiménez, Gustavo Humberto Apablaza Meneses, Héctor Carlos Díaz Cabezas, Jorge Antonio Lepileo Barrios, Óscar Belarmino la Flor Flores, Rufino Espinoza Espinoza, Héctor Manuel Lira Aravena, Sergio Iván Díaz Lara, Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett, Carlos López Inostroza, and Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel, they were acquitted of the charges. During the investigation stage of the case, the visiting minister Hernán Crisosto Greisse established that: "on the afternoon of August 6, 1974, María Angélica Andreoli Bravo, a member of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), was detained at her home located at Bilbao No. 5989 in the commune of Las Condes, Santiago, by agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who placed her in the back of a pickup truck and transported her to the clandestine detention center known as 'Yucatán' or 'Londres 38,' located at that address in the city of Santiago, which was guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access. That the victim, Andreoli Bravo, during her stay at the Londres 38 barracks, remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied up, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating in said barracks regarding her party activities and the names and addresses of her political group companions in order to proceed with the detention of its members, being also seen subjected to interrogations under torture at the DINA barracks known as Villa Grimaldi. That the last time the victim, Andreoli Bravo, was seen alive occurred on an undetermined day in the month of August or September 1974, and she remains disappeared to this date. That the name of María Angélica Andreoli Bravo appeared on a list of 119 people, published in the national press after it appeared on a list published in the magazine Novo O’ Día of Curitiba, Brazil, dated June 25, 1975, which reported that María Angélica Andreoli Bravo had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes that arose among those members. That the publications that declared the victim, Andreoli Bravo, dead had their origin in disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad."

Source: elclarin.cl, December 26, 2017

Justice for 16 victims of Operation Colombo

More than 1,200 former agents of the DINA and its successor—the CNI—have been prosecuted, but only 142 are serving effective prison sentences for torturing, imprisoning, making bodies disappear, staging false confrontations, or murdering while simulating accidents or illnesses.

The dictatorship created a vast mechanism to terrorize the population. However, there were men and women who kept the flame of freedom alive and organized in the underground with the purpose of building a democratic country.

Justice is approaching for 16 forcibly disappeared persons. 106 former DINA agents were convicted in a first-instance sentence issued by minister Hernán Crisosto. The 16 disappeared persons are part of the 119 victims of Operation Colombo.

The DINA set up that operation in collaboration with intelligence agencies from the Southern Cone of Latin America. They disseminated in Brazil and Argentina reports of alleged confrontations and a list of 119 victims.

In reality, all of them had been massacred in Chile. The defense for the former DINA agents argued that the organization had a legal existence and acted within the framework of a state of emergency under a government led by the Armed Forces and Order.

In this regard, minister Hernán Crisosto argued that "the functions of the Armed Forces are not to rise up against the constitutionally current government, nor to apprehend supporters or social leaders aligned with the deposed regime; much less, of course, to murder them or make them disappear." Furthermore—the magistrate adds—"we are facing crimes against humanity, committed by State agents in the context of serious human rights violations, within the framework of harassment, persecution, or extermination of a group of people whom the military regime identified as ideological adherents to the deposed political regime, or whom the repressive groups considered suspicious of hindering the regime's purposes or the impunity of the intelligence service agents." Another of the grounds for exemption from criminal liability invoked by the former agents was that they were following superior orders. In this regard, judge Crisosto pointed out that according to article 334 of the Code of Military Justice, to be exempt from liability, the military member must represent the illegality of the order to the superior, a matter that none of the convicted individuals proved. Likewise, judge Crisosto justified the compensation granted to the victims' families by stating that "the disappearance of a son, a daughter, a father, a mother, a brother, a sister, a spouse, a partner, and even a brother-in-law, in the circumstances in which it occurred—that is, amidst the conviction that during their confinement they were tortured, humiliated, subjected to cruel, inhuman treatment, harmful to their psychic and moral integrity, far from any due respect for the dignity inherent to human beings, without the most elementary pity for their fellow man, and far from any moral principle—has caused the plaintiffs psychological suffering that has provoked moral damage that the State, as responsible for the actions of its agents, must compensate."

CARLOS ANTONIO VERGARA

(Published in "Punto Final," edition No. 879, July 7, 2017). The victims Francisco Aedo Carrasco, architect, 63 years old, socialist; Juan Andrónicos Antequera, 23 years old, university student, MIR; Jorge Andrónicos Antequera, 25 years old, electrical engineering graduate, State Technical University, MIR; Jaime Buzio Lorca, 21 years old, student at the UTE, Revolutionary Communist League; Mario Eduardo Calderón Tapia, journalist, 31 years old, MIR; Cecilia Castro Salvadores, 24 years old, law student at the University of Chile, MIR; Juan Carlos Rodríguez Araya, 30 years old, engineering student at the University of Chile; Rodolfo Espejo Gómez, 18 years old, socialist; Agustín Fiorasso Chau, 23 years old, Spanish teacher, MIR; Gregorio Gaete Farías, 22 years old, worker and night school student, socialist; Mauricio Jorquera Encina, 19 years old, sociology student at the University of Chile, MIR; Isidro Pizarro Meniconi, 21 years old, technician, MIR; Marcos Esteban Quiñones Lembach, 26 years old, public employee; Sergio Reyes Navarrete, 26 years old, Corfo official, MIR; Jilberto Patricio Urbina Chamorro, 25 years old, medical student at the Catholic University, MIR; Ida Vera Almarza, 31 years old, Bolivian architect, MIR. The convicted agents Sentenced to 20 years as authors: César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, and Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko. Sentenced to 13 years as authors: Orlando Manzo Durán, Fernando Eduardo Lauriani Maturana, Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Ricardo Lawrence Mires, Ciro Torre Sáez, Manuel Carevic Cubillos, Rosa Humilde Ramos Hernández, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, José Abel Aravena Ruiz, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, Nelson Aquiles Ortiz Vignolo, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Gerardo Meza Acuña, Manuel Heriberto Avendaño González, José Nelson Fuentealba Saldías, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, Alejandro Francisco Astudillo Adonis, Demóstenes Eugenio Cárdenas Saavedra, Daniel Alberto Galaz Orellana, Francisco Maximiliano Ferrer Lima, Leoncio Enrique Velásquez Guala, Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González, Sergio Hernán Castillo González, Teresa del Carmen Osorio Navarro, José Enrique Fuentes Torres, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Pedro René Alfaro Fernández, Hiro Alvarez Vega, Gustavo Galvarino Carumán Soto, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, José Manuel Sarmiento Sotelo, Luis René Torres Méndez, Rodolfo Valentino Concha Rodríguez, Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, Juan Angel Urbina Cáceres, Manuel Rivas Díaz, Risiere del Prado Altez España, Daniel Valentín Cancino Varas, Juan Duarte Gallegos, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, Guido Arnoldo Jara Brevis, Leonidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, Jorge Antonio Lepileo Barrios, Lautaro Díaz Espinoza, Pedro Ariel Aravena Aravena, Carlos Alfonso Sáez Sanhueza, Juan Carlos Villanueva Alvear, Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda, Rafael de Jesús Riveros Frost, Silvio Antonio Concha González, Luis Fernando Espinace Contreras, Hernán Patricio Valenzuela Salas, Luis Rigoberto Videla Inzunza, Palmira Isabel Almuna Guzmán, Sylvia Teresa Oyarce Pinto, Osvaldo Pulgar Gallardo, José Yévenes Vergara, and Olegario Enrique González Moreno. Sentenced to 10 years and one day as authors: Werner Enrique Zanghellini Martínez and Héctor Alfredo Flores Vergara. Sentenced to 6 years as authors: Heriberto del Carmen Acevedo and Jaime Alfonso Fernández Garrido. Sentenced to 5 years and one day in prison as accomplices: José Jaime Mora Diocares, Armando Segundo Cofré Correa, Moisés Paulino Campos Figueroa, Oscar Belarmino La Flor Flores, Sergio Iván Díaz Lara, Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel, Jaime Humberto Paris Ramos, Jorge Laureano Sagardía Monje, José Stalin Muñoz Leal, Víctor Manuel de la Cruz San Martín Jiménez, Juvenal Piña Garrido, Camilo Torres Negrier, Manuel Antonio Montre Méndez, Sergio Hernán Castro Andrade, Nelson Eduardo Iturriaga Cortes, Carlos Justo Bermúdez Méndez, Fernando Adrián Roa Montaña, Reinaldo Alfonso Concha Orellana, Osvaldo Octavio Castillo Arellano, Gustavo Humberto Apablaza Meneses, Hugo Hernán Clavería Leiva, Juan Carlos Escobar Valenzuela, Carlos Enrique Miranda Mesa, Víctor Manuel Alvarez Droguett, Juan Ignacio Suárez Delgado, Raúl Alberto Soto Pérez, José Dorohi Hormazabal Rodríguez, Rufino Espinoza Espinoza, Héctor Carlos Díaz Cabezas, Jorge Segundo Madariaga Acevedo, and Miguel Angel Yáñez Ugalde. Sentenced to 3 years and one day with the benefit of supervised release as accomplices: Jorge Luis Venegas Silva, Edinson Antonio Fernández Sanhueza, and Pedro Mora Villanueva. Sentenced to 541 days in prison as author: Samuel Fuenzalida Devia.

Source: puntofinal.cl, July 20, 2017

Operation Colombo: Court issues sentence for kidnapping of Bernardo Castro

The Santiago Court of Appeals convicted 20 former agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Bernardo de Castro López, a crime perpetrated starting on September 14, 1974.

In a unanimous ruling (case file 823-2015), the Third Chamber of the appellate court—composed of ministers María Soledad Melo, Jaime Balmaceda, and Maritza Villadangos—sentenced the former agents: César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann to 10 years and one day in prison as authors of the crime.

Meanwhile, Orlando Manzo Durán, Pedro René Alfaro Fernández, Armando Segundo Cofré Correa, Héctor Alfredo Flores Vergara, Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, Manuel Rivas Díaz, Risiere del Prado Altez España, Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, Manuel Heriberto Avendaño González, Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda, Alejandro Francisco Astudillo Adonis, Demóstenes Eugenio Cárdenas Saavedra, Hernán Patricio Valenzuela Salas, and Alejandro Francisco Molina Cisternas were sentenced to 5 years and one day in prison.

In the case, the court acquitted Nelson Eduardo Iturriaga Cortez and José Dorohi Hormazábal Rodríguez. During the investigation stage, the visiting minister Hernán Crisosto established the following facts: 1) That on the afternoon of September 14, 1974, Bernardo de Castro López, a member of the Socialist Party, was detained at his home located at Calle Bilbao No. 1236, in the commune of Providencia, being taken to a barracks of the Chilean Investigative Police where he was interrogated and then handed over to DINA agents, who took him to the clandestine detention center known as "Venda Sexy," located at Calle Irán No. 3037, in Santiago, and subsequently he was transferred to the clandestine detention center known as "Cuatro Álamos," located at Calle Canadá No. 3000, in the commune of Santiago, facilities that were guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access. 2) That De Castro López, during his stay at the "Venda Sexy" barracks, remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied up, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating in said barracks with the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of his political group, in order to proceed with the detention of the members of that organization, an isolation that continued at the Cuatro Álamos center. 3) That the last time the victim, De Castro López, was seen alive by other detainees occurred on an undetermined day in the month of October 1974, and he remains disappeared to this date. 4) That the name of Bernardo de Castro López appeared on a list of 119 people, published in the national press after it appeared on a list published in the magazine "LEA" of Argentina, dated July 15, 1975, which reported that Bernardo de Castro López had died in Argentina, along with 59 other people belonging to leftist groups, due to internal disputes that arose among those members; and that the publications that declared the victim, De Castro López, dead had their origin in disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad."

Source: elclarin.cl, January 30, 2018