He was detained in July 1974 in the commune of Macul. Numerous witnesses saw him at the Londres 38 torture and extermination center. 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 No. 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 onto the back of the covered pickup truck as they were taking him away, but he was struck in the mouth by one of the individuals and fell to the ground. A week after the kidnapping, Romo went to his home again and told her that her brother was in good condition along with Héctor Garay Hermosilla, who is also forcibly disappeared. Both were members of the Revolutionary Student Front (FER) at 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 at 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, remaining forcibly disappeared to this date," the first-instance ruling states.

They laughed at Londres 38 along with Héctor Garay Hermosilla

At 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 proceedings.

She heard them calling roll twice a day for the detainees. On July 31, 1974, she heard the name 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 Liceo Manuel de Salas and member of the Revolutionary Student Front (FER), also saw him at 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 his nose and cheekbones under his 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 notes. 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 at 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 to be unaware of his presence. "The next day, when the mattresses on which we detainees lay were removed and replaced by chairs, I sat down, and on one of the sides, I observed that they were still sitting.

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

His mother found out at the hair salon that her son was at 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 "Pampino" was among the detainees, 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' appeared to have 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 had her come 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 at Londres 38, including Miguel Angel, Minister Crisosto incorporated statements from Osvaldo Romo, who stated that among other tortures, detainees were subjected to "the dry submarine, which consisted of covering the detainees' breathing with a plastic bag placed over their heads; their 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 left 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, food was scarce, and they were subjected to intense interrogations in which electricity was applied, especially to the genitals and breasts. Another form of torture consisted of keeping the detainees sitting on chairs, tied by their feet and hands, while current was applied with magnets, although common electric current was also applied, which burned 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 sought-after information was obtained, were the ones in charge of making them disappear," following an order from DINA superiors. The name of Miguel Ángel Acuña Castillo appeared among the 119 Chileans of Operation Colombo, in a list disseminated in the national press, after it appeared in publications that were released 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 quarrels."

The sentences "The publications that declared the victim Acuña Castillo dead had their origin in 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 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 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

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

Hernán Crisosto Greisse, minister on special assignment for human rights violation cases of 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 qualified kidnapping of Eduardo Ziede Gómez.

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

For their part, the following agents must serve 10 years in prison, also as authors of the crime of qualified 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. In the capacity of 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 accused: 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 an indemnity of $100,000,000 to the victim's spouse and $70,000,000 to the victim's son.

Source: nuevopoder.cl, August 18, 2015

Supreme Court sentenced 24 former DINA agents for kidnapping in Operation Colombo

The Supreme Court sentenced 24 former members of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the crime of qualified kidnapping of Miguel Ángel Acuña Castillo, a crime committed starting July 8, 1974, which is part of the disinformation maneuver known as "Operation Colombo." In a split decision (case roll 2.458-2018), the Second Chamber of the highest court sentenced agents César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann to 13 years of imprisonment as authors of the crime.

Meanwhile, the former 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 Enrique Fuentes Torres, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Gustavo Galvarino Carumán Soto, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Luis Salvador Villarroel Gutiérrez, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, 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 must serve 10 years of imprisonment as authors. In the case, 46 other agents were acquitted. During the investigation stage of the case, the minister on special assignment Hernán Crisosto managed to establish the following facts: "In the night hours of July 8, 1974, Miguel Ángel Acuña Castillo, a militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), was detained in the vicinity of his home located at Pasaje Talca No. 2033 in the commune of Macul, by state agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who introduced him into the back of a pickup truck and transferred him 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 Acuña Castillo, during his 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 who operated in said barracks with the purpose of obtaining information regarding the members of the MIR, to proceed with the detention of the members of that organization; That the last time the victim Acuña Castillo was seen alive occurred on an undetermined day in the month of July or August 1974, remaining forcibly disappeared to this date; That the name of Miguel Ángel Acuña Castillo 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, 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 quarrels that arose among those members; That the publications that declared the victim Acuña Castillo dead had their origin in disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad." In the civil aspect, the ruling that ordered the treasury to pay a total indemnity of $90,000,000 (ninety million pesos) to the victim's family members was confirmed.

Source: elclarin.cl, July 27, 2019

Operation Colombo: SC sentences 24 former DINA agents for the kidnapping of Miguel Acuña Castillo.

In a split decision, the Supreme Court sentenced 24 former members of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the crime of qualified kidnapping of Miguel Ángel Acuña Castillo, a crime committed starting July 8, 1974, which is part of the disinformation maneuver known as "Operation Colombo." Agents César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann were sentenced to 13 years of imprisonment as authors of the crime.

Meanwhile, former 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 Enrique Fuentes Torres, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Gustavo Galvarino Carumán Soto, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Luis Salvador Villarroel Gutiérrez, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, 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 must serve 10 years of imprisonment as authors. In the case, 46 other agents were acquitted. During the investigation stage of the case, the minister on special assignment Hernán Crisosto managed to establish the following facts: In the night hours of July 8, 1974, Miguel Ángel Acuña Castillo, a militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), was detained in the vicinity of his home located at Pasaje Talca No. 2033 in the commune of Macul, by state agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who introduced him into the back of a pickup truck and transferred him 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 Acuña Castillo, during his 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 who operated in said barracks with the purpose of obtaining information regarding the members of the MIR, to proceed with the detention of the members of that organization; That the last time the victim Acuña Castillo was seen alive occurred on an undetermined day in the month of July or August 1974, remaining forcibly disappeared to this date; That the name of Miguel Ángel Acuña Castillo 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, 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 quarrels that arose among those members; That the publications that declared the victim Acuña Castillo dead had their origin in disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad. In the civil aspect, the ruling that ordered the treasury to pay a total indemnity of $90,000,000 to the victim's family members was confirmed. Decision adopted with the dissenting votes of Minister Dolmestch and lawyer Abuauad, who were in favor of accepting the gradual prescription, extending its effects also to the convicted César Manríquez Bravo; Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann; Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González; Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García; Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires; Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez; Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos; José Enrique Fuentes Torres; Julio José Hoyos Zegarra; Gustavo Galvarino Caruman Soto; José Alfonso Ojeda Obando; Luis Salvador Villarroel Gutiérrez; Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera; Víctor Manuel Molina Astete; Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres; Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca; and Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte and, thus, annulling the criminal sentence, to apply in the replacement sentence the alleged partial prescription, reducing the imposed penalty, in consideration of the following: 1st That whatever the grounds for dismissing in the present case the concurrence of the prescription of the criminal action as a cause for the extinction of criminal responsibility, it is certain that the gradual prescription constitutes a qualified mitigating factor of criminal responsibility, whose effects affect the determination of the quantum of the corporal sanction, independent of the prescription, with different foundations and consequences. Thus, the former rests on the assumption of the forgetting of the crime, on procedural reasons, and on the need not to repress the conduct, which leads to leaving the criminal act unpunished; on the other hand, the mitigating factor—which is also explained thanks to humanitarian regulations—finds its reason for being in criminal policy motives related to events that occurred a long time ago, but which should not for that reason cease to be irremediably sanctioned, albeit with a lesser penalty. Thus, in cases like the present one, although the passage of time since the commission of the crime has been excessively prolonged, it does not cause the complete disappearance of the need for punishment, and nothing seems to oppose in the legal sphere that the courts resort to this mitigation of the penalty based on the time elapsed since the perpetration of the crime. 2nd That, in short, the gradual prescription forms a highly qualified mitigating factor whose effects affect only the rigor of the punishment and, due to its character as a rule of public order, its application is mandatory for judges, by virtue of the principle of legality that governs punitive law, within the framework of the powers granted by articles 65 and following of the Penal Code. 3rd That no constitutional, legal, or International Conventional Law restriction is observed for its application, since those rules are only limited to the extinctive effect of criminal responsibility that the prescription of the criminal action entails. Therefore, concurring the assumptions of article 103 of the Punitive Code, no reason is seen that hinders considering the mitigating factor in question.

Source: diarioconstitucional.cl, July 29, 2019

Operation Colombo: 36 former DINA agents sentenced for kidnappings of members of the Villa Francia Christian community

The Seventh Chamber of the Santiago Court of Appeals sentenced 36 former agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the crimes of qualified kidnapping of Enrique Segundo Toro Romero, Eduardo Enrique Lara Petrovich, and José Caupolicán Villagra Astudillo, members of the Christian community of Villa Francia in the commune of Estación Central.

In a unanimous ruling, the chamber—composed of ministers Jaime Balmaceda, Maritza Villadangos, and lawyer (i) Jaime Guerrero—ratified the sentence that, in criminal matters, sentenced César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann to 15 years and one day of imprisonment as authors of the crimes.

Meanwhile, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González, Ciro Torré Sáez, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes, José Enrique Fuentes Torres, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, Hiro Álvarez Vega, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Gustavo Galvarino Carumán Soto, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, Manuel Rivas Díaz, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, Olegario Enrique González Moreno, Lautaro Eugenio Díaz Espinoza, Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, Carlos Alfonso Sáez Sanhueza, Juan Alfredo Villanueva Alvear, Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda, Rafael de Jesús Riveros Frost, Leonidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, Demóstenes Eugenio Cárdenas Saavedra, and Hernán Patricio Valenzuela Salas must serve 10 years and one day of imprisonment. In the civil aspect, with the dissenting vote of Minister Balmaceda, the Treasury was ordered to pay a total indemnity of $540,000,000 (five hundred and forty million pesos) to the victims' family members. In the investigation of the case, the minister on special assignment Hernán Crisosto established that on the night of July 10, 1974, Enrique Segundo Toro Romero, an affiliate of the Communist Party, was detained at his home located at Calle Guillermo Saavedra 5440, Villa Francia, in the commune of Estación Central, by DINA agents. The same occurred with Eduardo Lara Petrovich, also an affiliate of the PC, who was kidnapped on July 15, 1974, at his workplace, "Industria IRT," located at Av. Vicuña Mackenna No. 3333, commune of San Joaquín, while José Villagra Astudillo, linked to the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), was detained on July 15, 1974, at his home located at Calle Luis Infante Cerda No. 5447, Villa Francia. All were transferred to the clandestine detention center known as "Yucatán" or "Londres 38," in the center of Santiago, and subsequently were taken to the clandestine detention center known as "Cuatro Álamos," located at Calle Canadá No. 3000, centers that were guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access. The investigations add that during their stay at the Londres 38 and Cuatro Álamos barracks, they were subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents who operated in said barracks "with the purpose of obtaining information, among those relative to members of their political group and Christian community." The last time they were seen alive dates back to July and/or August 1974. Their names later 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, in which it was reported that they had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to leftist groups, due to internal quarrels, which was later established to be part of disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad.

Source: elmostrador.cl, December 10, 2018

This Tuesday, the Supreme Court sentenced 24 former DINA agents for the kidnapping and forced 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 arrested 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 taken 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 U. de Concepción, a member of the Partido Socialista, and had previously been a member of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (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 perpetrators 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 should be recalled 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 Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR). Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, one of those convicted for this crime, has accumulated more than 650 years in prison with this new sentence.

Source: cambio21.cl, August 14, 2018

Operation Colombo: 28 former DINA agents are sentenced for qualified kidnapping

The Santiago Court of Appeals sentenced 28 former agents of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA) as perpetrators of the crime of qualified kidnapping of Teobaldo Antonio Tello Garrido, which was perpetrated on August 22, 1974, within the framework of the so-called Operation Colombo.

In a unanimous ruling, the Eighth Chamber of the appellate court sentenced César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann to 13 years in prison.

Meanwhile, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires, Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, Hermón Helec Alfaro Mundaca, José Ojeda Obando, Rosa Humilde Ramos Hernández, José Abel Aravena Ruiz, Teresa del Carmen Osorio Navarro, Pedro René Alfaro Fernández, Luis René Torres Méndez, Rodolfo Valentino Concha Rodríguez, Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, Jerónimo del Carmen Neira Méndez, Silvio Antonio Concha González, Palmira Isabel Almuna Guzmán, Leonidas Emiliano Méndez, Luis Rigoberto Videla Inzunza, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, and Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González must serve 10 years in prison. In the case of Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett and Samuel Enrique Fuenzalida Devia, they must serve 4 years and 541 days in prison, respectively. "The present case originated to investigate the circumstances of the forced disappearance of Teobaldo Antonio Tello Garrido, after having been detained by State agents belonging to the Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia (DINA) on August 22, 1974, and held in the detention centers 'Ollagüe', 'Villa Grimaldi', and 'Cuatro Álamos', facilities that were guarded by armed guards. Where Teobaldo Tello was subjected to torture by agents of that organization, his whereabouts remaining unknown to this day," the ruling maintains. The resolution adds that the crime constitutes a crime against humanity, "since qualified kidnappings—referred to by International Human Rights Law as 'forced disappearances'—are part of a generalized and systematic attack against a specific group of the civilian population, composed, in this case, by members and supporters of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR), the status held by the victim at that time." Regarding civil matters, the sentence ordering the State to pay $80 million to the victim's family members was confirmed.

Source: primeranota.cl, September 3, 2019

Supreme Court sends 59 former DINA agents to prison for Operation Colombo

Operation Colombo was a major intelligence operation and a communication setup by the DINA, which attempted to make 119 people kidnapped in Chile appear as having been killed abroad. The Second Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court revoked the sentence that had acquitted more than 60 former agents of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA) and convicted them as responsible for the disappearance of 16 leftist militants, mostly from the MIR, in the process known as Operation Colombo, which in this case was perpetrated between June 17, 1974, and January 6, 1975, during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. The ruling was issued by ministers Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Jorge Dahm, Leopoldo Llanos, María Teresa Letelier, and Diego Simpertigue, who revoked the sentence issued by the Court of Appeals and sentenced former DINA chiefs and officers César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Miguel Krassnoff, and Raúl Iturriaga Neumann to 15 years and one day of major imprisonment in its maximum degree as perpetrators of the crimes of qualified kidnapping of the victims. Similarly, the court sentenced 53 former agents to an effective penalty of 10 years and one day of major imprisonment in its medium degree as perpetrators of the same crime, who had previously been acquitted by the capital's appellate court, despite having been convicted in the first instance as accomplices and perpetrators. Furthermore, this time all must enter prison, with some of them already being incarcerated for other crimes against humanity. These are former DINA agents Fernando Eduardo Lauriani Maturana, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Manuel Andrés Carevic, Rosa Humilde Ramos Hernández, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, Jose Abel Aravena Ruiz, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, Nelson Aquiles Ortiz Vignolo, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Manuel Heriberto Avendaño Gonzalez, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, Alejandro Francisco Astudillo Adonis, Daniel Alberto Galaz Orellana, Francisco Maximiliano Ferrer Lima, Leoncio Enrique Velásquez Guala, José Enrique Fuentes Torres, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Pedro René Alfaro Fernández, 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, Manuel Rivas Diaz, Daniel Valentín Cancino Varas, Juan Evangelista Duarte Gallegos, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, Leónidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, Jorge Antonio Lepileo Barrios, Lautaro Eugenio 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, Palmira Isabel Almuna Guzmán, Sylvia Teresa Oyarce Pinto, Osvaldo Pulgar Gallardo, José Avelino Yévenes Vergara, Olegario Enrique González Moreno, Werner Zanghellini, and Hector Flores Vergara. Jaime Alfonso Fernández Garrido received a sentence of 5 years and one day of major imprisonment in its minimum degree as a perpetrator of the crime of qualified kidnapping of Ida Vera Almarza. Meanwhile, Samuel Fuenzalida Devia was sentenced to 541 days and one day for the same crime, but will not serve time in prison. This is an extensive process that had its first instance sentence in 2017 at the hands of minister Hernán Crisosto Greisse. In the course of the investigation, some agents have died, such as Basclay Zapata, Ciro Torré, Manzo Duran, and Ricardo Lawrence, among others. For Nelson Caucoto, the plaintiff lawyer representing 13 of the 16 victims, this is "a transcendent ruling in Chilean judicial history, since the Supreme Court has restored the sense of justice for crimes of this nature, which had literally been left in a situation of unacceptable impunity. The highest court has once again rejected the partial statute of limitations and the appeals of the defense of the convicted, and has accepted the appeals of the plaintiffs," he noted. Caucoto adds that "it is a modern ruling based on international law and domestic legislation. It is undoubtedly the case that justice operates here as a healing process for so many relatives of victims who still survive, and it is a pity that others did not live to see this end." Operation Colombo was a major intelligence operation and a communication setup by the DINA, which attempted to make 119 people kidnapped in Chile by the DINA appear as having been killed abroad, having allegedly perished after fighting among themselves. This process investigated the fate of 16 of those 119 victims. These are Francisco Aedo Carrasco, Jorge Elías Andrónicos Antequera, Juan Carlos Andrónicos Antequera, Jaime Buzio Lorca, Mario Calderón Tapia, Cecilia Castro Salvadores, Rodolfo Espejo Gómez, Agustín Fioraso Chau, Gregorio Gaete Farías, Mauricio Jorquera Encina, Isidro Pizarro Meniconi, Marcos Quiñones Lembach, Sergio Reyes Navarrete, Ida Vera Almarza, Juan Carlos Rodríguez Araya, and Jilberto Urbina Pizarro.

Source: radio.uchile.cl, March 3, 2023

Operation Colombo: Supreme Court sentences 25 DINA agents for the crime of a MIR detective in 1974

The Supreme Court confirmed the sentence that convicted 25 former agents of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA) for their responsibility in the qualified kidnapping of photographer Teobaldo Antonio Tello Garrido, a forcibly disappeared person since August 22, 1974, and one of the 119 victims who appeared on the lists of the international disinformation maneuver known as "Operation Colombo." Teobaldo Tello, 25 years old, married, was a detective for the Investigative Police, a photographer, and a militant of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR).

He was arrested and kidnapped in the afternoon of August 22 on a public street when he was preparing to hold a clandestine contact in the center of Santiago. His arrest was part of a repressive raid on members of the MIR linked to the Investigative Police and the Identification Cabinet.

In the sentence (file 36.979-2020), the Second Chamber of the highest court—composed of ministers Haroldo Brito, Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Leopoldo Llanos, and lawyers Eduardo Morales and Gonzalo Ruz—rejected the cassation appeals filed by the convicted and ruled out any error in the challenged sentence.

The ruling of the highest court sentenced former Army officers and DINA leaders César Raúl Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann to 13 years in prison for their responsibility as perpetrators of the crime.

Meanwhile, also sentenced as perpetrators of the crime to 10 years in prison were former officers Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García and Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, and former agents Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Silvio Antonio Concha González, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Teresa del Carmen Osorio Navarro, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, José Abel Aravena Ruiz, Rosa Humilde Ramos Hernández, Pedro René Alfaro Fernández, Luis René Torres Méndez, Rodolfo Valentino Concha Rodríguez, Jerónimo del Carmen Neira Méndez, Palmira Isabel Almuna Guzmán, Leonidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, Luis Rigoberto Videla Inzulza, and Jorge Segundo Madariaga Acevedo, the latter three being officials of the Investigative Police commissioned to the DINA. Former agent Samuel Enrique Fuenzalida Devia must serve a sentence of 541 days in prison, with the benefit of conditional remission, as a perpetrator of the crime. Finally, former agent Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett was sentenced to 4 years in prison, with the benefit of supervised release, as an accomplice to the crime. The sentence dismissed any infringement on the facts established by the first-instance courts, as they are crimes against humanity. "Regarding the cause contained in article 546 N°2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, given the nature of the proven events, which remain unalterable for this Court since the cause that would allow their modification was dismissed, there is no doubt that they were committed as a crime against humanity, since the illicit act investigated occurred in a context of grave, massive, and systematic human rights violations, verified by State agents, with the victim in this case constituting an instrument within a general policy of exclusion, harassment, persecution, or extermination of a group of numerous people who, in the period immediately following September 11, 1973, were labeled as ideologically belonging to the deposed political regime or who for any circumstance were considered suspicious of opposing or hindering the realization of the social and political construction envisioned by those holding power, guaranteeing impunity for the executors of said program through non-interference in their methods, both by concealing the reality when faced with requests for relevant reports from ordinary courts of justice, and by using state power to persuade local and foreign public opinion that the complaints formulated to that effect were false and responded to a campaign aimed at discrediting the authoritarian military regime." It adds: "Crimes against humanity are those injustices that not only contravene the legal interests commonly guaranteed by criminal laws, but at the same time imply a denial of the moral personality of man, such that for the configuration of this illicit act there is an intimate connection between common crimes and an added value that arises from the disregard and contempt for the dignity of the person, because the main characteristic of this figure is the cruel way in which various criminal acts are perpetrated, which are in evident and manifest contradiction with the most basic concept of humanity; also highlighting the presence of cruelty toward a special class of individuals, thus conjugating an eminent intentional element, as a specific interior tendency of the agent's will. In short, they constitute an outrage to human dignity and represent a grave and manifest violation of the rights and freedoms proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, reaffirmed and developed in other relevant international instruments." In the judicial investigation and first-instance ruling, visiting minister Hernán Crisosto Greisse established that the kidnapped Teobaldo Tello was taken by his captors to the clandestine detention facility called "Ollagüe," located at José Domingo Cañas N° 1367, in the commune of Ñuñoa, and subsequently transferred to the clandestine detention facilities of "Villa Grimaldi," located at Lo Arrieta N° 8200, in the commune of La Reina, and "Cuatro Álamos," located at Canadá N° 3000, in Santiago, facilities that were controlled by the DINA. During his stay at the José Domingo Cañas, Villa Grimaldi, and Cuatro Álamos barracks, he remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied up, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents with the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of the MIR, in order to proceed with the arrest of members of that organization. In these facilities, Tello Garrido was seen by other surviving detainees with his arms and legs broken as a result of the torture. The last time he was seen alive was on an undetermined day in September 1974. The name of Teobaldo Antonio Tello Garrido 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, which stated that he had died in Argentina, along with 59 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes among those members. The aforementioned publications were the product of disinformation maneuvers carried out by the DINA, in what has become known as "Operation Colombo."

Source: resumen.cl, September 22, 2023

Operation Colombo: Supreme Court issues sentences against 32 DINA agents in cases of two victims

The Supreme Court issued replacement sentences condemning 32 former agents of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA) for their responsibility in the qualified kidnapping of two victims of the so-called Operation Colombo.

In separate cases and rulings, the highest court issued a resolution on the cases of Ismael Darío Chávez Lobos, detained on July 26, 1974, and Jorge Alejandro Olivares Graindorge, detained on July 27, 1974, both in the commune of Quinta Normal, in Santiago.

In the first case, referring to Ismael Chávez Lobos, in a unanimous ruling (file 79.461-2020), the Second Chamber of the highest court—composed of ministers Jorge Dahm, Leopoldo Llanos, minister María Teresa Letelier, and lawyers Pía Tavolari and Gonzalo Ruz—established an error of law in the sentence issued by the Santiago Court of Appeals in June 2020, by acquitting the agents who performed operational functions and served as guards at the Londres 38 facility of responsibility for the proven facts.

For this reason, in the replacement sentence, it qualifies them as guilty and convicts them for the crime, while increasing the sentences of the other convicted individuals. At the same time, it accepted the cassation appeals filed by the plaintiffs and, issuing a replacement sentence, sentenced former DINA leaders and former Army officers César Raúl Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann to 10 years and one day in prison, as perpetrators of the crime.

Meanwhile, also sentenced as perpetrators of the crime to 10 years in prison were former Carabineros officer Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García and Army officer Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, and former agent José Enrique Fuentes Torres.

While former agents Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Manuel de la Cruz Rivas Díaz, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, Hiro Álvarez Vega, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Olegario Enrique González Moreno, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, Hernán Patricio Valenzuela Salas, Juan Alfredo Villanueva Alvear, Lautaro Eugenio Díaz Espinoza, Leónidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, Rafael de Jesús Riveros Frost, Carlos Alfonso Sáez Sanhueza, Máximo Ramón Aliaga Soto, and José Avelino Yévenes Vergara must serve 5 years and one day in prison as perpetrators of the crime. In the second case, referring to Jorge Olivares Graindorge, in a unanimous ruling (file 122.171.2020), the Second Chamber composed of the same ministers as the previous case established an error of law in the sentence issued by the Santiago Court of Appeals in July 2020, by mistakenly acquitting agents who performed operational and guard functions at the Londres 38 facility. For this reason, in the replacement sentence, it qualifies and convicts them as guilty of the crime. Likewise, it increases the sentences of the other convicted individuals and sentenced former DINA leaders and former Army officers César Raúl Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann to 10 years and one day in prison, as perpetrators of the crime. Meanwhile, also sentenced as perpetrators of the crime to 10 years in prison were former officers Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García and Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, and former agent José Enrique Fuentes Torres. In the same way, for this crime, former agents Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Manuel de la Cruz Rivas Díaz, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, Hiro Álvarez Vega, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Olegario Enrique González Moreno, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, Hernán Patricio Valenzuela Salas, Juan Alfredo Villanueva Alvear, Lautaro Eugenio Díaz Espinoza, Leónidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, Rafael de Jesús Riveros Frost, Carlos Alfonso Sáez Sanhueza, Máximo Ramón Aliaga Soto, and Osvaldo Enrique Pulgar Gallardo must serve 5 years and one day in prison as perpetrators of the crime. In both cases, twelve other agents convicted in the first instance died during the course of the process, among them former officers Gerardo Urrich González, Ricardo Lawrence Mires, Ciro Torré Sáez, and Sergio Castillo González, and agents Basclay Zapata Reyes, Risiere del Altez España, Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, José Nelson Fuentealba Saldías, Hugo Rubén Delgado Carrasco, José Mario Friz Esparza, Claudio Orlando Orellana de la Pinta, and Gustavo Galvarino Carumán Soto, who were acquitted of these crimes. The victims Ismael Darío Chávez Lobos, 22 years old, was a Social Sciences student at the Universidad de Chile and a militant of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR). He was arrested at night on July 26, 1974, at his home located at Calle Los Copihues N° 1977 in the commune of Quinta Normal, by agents belonging to the DINA, who transported him to the clandestine detention facility "Londres 38," located at that address in the city of Santiago. Jorge Alejandro Olivares Graindorge, 23 years old, a gardener by trade, also a militant of the MIR, was arrested by DINA agents on a public street in the afternoon of July 27, 1974, near his home located at Pasaje Salta 2258, in the commune of Quinta Normal. He was also transported by the agents to the clandestine detention facility "Londres 38." From this place of detention and torture, the trail of both detainees is lost. Subsequently, in July 1975, they appeared mentioned on the lists of the international disinformation maneuver known as "Operation Colombo," carried out by the DINA, which included 119 forcibly disappeared people.

Source: resumen.cl, December 4, 2023

Operation Colombo: Supreme Court confirms sentences of 24 former DINA agents for qualified kidnapping of UdeC leader in Santiago in 1974

The Supreme Court rejected the cassation appeals in form and substance filed by the defense against the sentence that convicted agents of the dissolved Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA) for their responsibility in the crime of qualified kidnapping of sociology student Ariel Martín Salinas Argomedo, committed starting September 25, 1974, in Santiago.

The name of Ariel Salinas Argomedo subsequently appeared on the list of 119 forcibly disappeared people included in the disinformation maneuver implemented by the DINA and the dictatorship known as "Operation Colombo." In a unanimous ruling (file 135.568-2020), the Second Chamber of the highest court—composed of ministers Haroldo Brito, Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Jorge Dahm, minister María Teresa Letelier, and lawyer Pía Tavolari—accepted the cassation appeal in form filed by the plaintiff, the Human Rights Program of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, and consequently invalidated the challenged sentence, only in the part that acquitted the accused Manuel Heriberto Avendaño González, and in a replacement sentence, convicted him to 10 years in prison as a perpetrator of the crime. The Supreme Court ruling confirmed the sentences of former Army officers and former DINA leaders César Raúl Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, who must serve 13 years in prison for their responsibility as perpetrators of the qualified kidnapping. Meanwhile, in addition to the aforementioned Manuel Heriberto Avendaño González, former officers Francisco Maximiliano Ferrer Lima, Fernando Eduardo Lauriani Maturana, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Palmira Isabel Almuna Guzmán, and former agents Hermón Helec Alfaro Mundaca, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Silvio Antonio Concha González, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Luis Rigoberto Videla Inzunza, Teresa del Carmen Osorio Navarro, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, José Abel Aravena Ruiz, Alejandro Francisco Astudillo Adonis, Rosa Humilde Ramos Hernández, Pedro René Alfaro Fernández, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, and Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos must serve 10 years of imprisonment, all convicted as perpetrators of the crime. Twelve other agents, also convicted in the first-instance ruling issued by minister Hernán Crisosto Greisse in October 2015, died during the course of the process. Regarding the case of the accused Manuel Avendaño González, the Criminal Chamber points out: "(...) under such conditions, the appeal proposed by the Human Rights Program of the Ministry must be accepted, since from the mere reading of the challenged sentence, it is evident that it contains foundations that are completely contradictory, canceling each other out, making the decision that acquits the accused Avendaño González, which is declared in the operative part, devoid of any foundation, configuring the denounced vice of invalidation." "In effect, at the time of the events, these accused were part, as hierarchical superiors and operational agents, together with other defendants whose participation would be analyzed in the following considerations, of the groups belonging to the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional that carried out the kidnapping of the members of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria, among whose members was Salinas Argomedo, in such a way that, despite not remembering his specific name, it is indisputable to conclude, just as the a quo does, that they took part in the illegitimate deprivation of his liberty immediately and directly in the manner provided for by the recently cited norm and that, for the same reason, they are punishable co-perpetrators of this illicit act."

Operation Colombo

Ariel Martín Salinas Argomedo was a former sociology student at the Universidad de Concepción. The young man, 26 years old, married and father of a daughter, was a militant of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR), was part of the university leadership of the MIR in Concepción, and, until the military coup, was president of the student center of the sociology program at the UdeC.

After the coup, he had to go into hiding to avoid being arrested. He moved to Santiago to continue his militant activity and a year later was arrested. In the first-instance ruling, visiting minister Hernán Crisosto Greisse established that in the morning of September 25, 1974, Ariel Salinas was arrested on a public street by agents belonging to the Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia (DINA), who transported him to the clandestine DINA detention facility called "Ollagüe," located at José Domingo Cañas N° 1367 in the commune of Ñuñoa.

Subsequently, he was transferred to the clandestine detention facilities called "Villa Grimaldi," located at Lo Arrieta N° 8200, in La Reina, and "Cuatro Álamos," located at Canadá N° 3000, in the commune of Santiago, facilities that were guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access.

According to the testimony of surviving prisoners, during his stay at the José Domingo Cañas, Villa Grimaldi, and Cuatro Álamos barracks, the detainee Ariel Salinas remained without contact with the outside world.

In the first two places, he was blindfolded and tied up, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating in said barracks. The last time Ariel Salinas Argomedo was seen alive by other detainees occurred on an undetermined day in November 1974, and he has been missing since that date.

Source: resumen.cl, February 26, 2024