Ida Amelia Vera Almarza, daughter of Tomás Vera Cantoya, a Bolivian, and Ida Almarza Pensa; Chilean, born in La Paz, Bolivia, on January 5, 1943, of Bolivian and Chilean nationality by virtue of residing in Chile and being the daughter of a Chilean mother, with Chilean identity card No. 14.859 of Providencia, by profession an Architect, registered with the College of Architects under No. 2.770 of Chile.

Gigi, as everyone affectionately called Ida, was a role model for her sisters and friends; because of her spirit of solidarity and joy for life, her way of overcoming the many daily problems, the love with which she treated her fellow human beings, the dedication and tenacity with which she faced the things she did, and the simple way she overcame every goal she set for herself.

Together with her sisters, she began studying ballet, an activity in which she stood out, as in addition to her natural aptitude, she felt a special inclination for dance, to the point that when she had to define her life upon finishing her secondary studies, she seriously thought about continuing ballet professionally.

Perhaps her feelings of solidarity and social commitment took precedence here, and she finally decided to study Architecture, a career that would allow her to create and build tangible things without moving away from art.

In her short professional life, she had a distinguished performance in architecture competitions and projects that greatly enhanced her professional curriculum. She was detained by DINA agents at her home on Calle Joaquín Godoy 315, in the commune of La Reina, Santiago, on November 19, 1974, as recorded in the proceedings initiated by the Eleventh Criminal Court of Major Crimes of Santiago, under No. 1.302; it is also recorded in the journalistic information of the newspapers El Mercurio of Santiago and Las Últimas Noticias of November 20, 1974, under the circumstances that I proceed to detail. On the indicated day, around 4:00 PM, Ida Vera A. was detained upon arriving at her home, resulting in a gunshot wound to her leg and a blow to the head with the butt of a firearm. The owner of the house she was renting, Mr. Jorge Dahrmen Alcaíno, confirmed this in his statement in case No. 1.302. At the indicated time on November 19, 1974, Ida was heading to her home in her Dodge Dart automobile, owned by the architect Luis Canobra Bañados, who had lent it to her hours before the event, as verified in the proceedings. When DINA agents became aware that said vehicle was owned by Mr. Canobra, he was detained that same day around 8:00 PM, remaining in that status for 6 months at Tres Álamos (a detention center). Also, on that same day, November 19, at 11:30 PM, five people in civilian clothes who identified themselves as officials of the Carabineros Intelligence Service appeared at her parents' home to inquire about her. Below is a summary of the points that constitute definitive proof of the detention of Ida Vera Almarza. a) In case No. 1.302 of the Tenth Criminal Court of Major Crimes of Santiago, the following is recorded: - Statement of Jorge Darhmen Alcaíno, eyewitness to the detention (fs. 48) - Statement of Carabineros Lieutenant Hugo Guillermo Urrutia González, who arrived at the scene (fs. 54 back) - Statement of Carabineros First Corporal Elías Uribe Novoa, who drove the patrol car that arrived at the scene (fs. 56) - Statement of Carabineros Major Domingo Teodoro Zabaleta Mendoza, who also arrived at the scene (fs. 57) - Statement of Humberto Canobra Bañados, owner of the vehicle in which my daughter was traveling to her home (fs. 32) - Statement of Pablo Carolis Yori, an architect with whom my daughter worked (fs. 19) - Statement of Cristina Verónica Godoy Hinojosa, who was detained with her (fs. 61) - Statement of Bernardita Nuñez Rivera, who was detained with her (fs. 62) - Statement of Beatriz Constanza Bataszw Contreras, who was detained with her (fs. 63 back) - And in general, all the background information contained in the proceedings. b) Journalistic publications and photographs - El Mercurio newspaper of Santiago, November 20, 1974, pages 1 and 12, which reports "One-hour shootout in La Reina." - Las Últimas Noticias newspaper of Santiago, November 20, 1974, pages 1 and 15, which reports on "Spectacular shooting" and "Clash between MIR members and the military." Efforts made to locate the whereabouts of Ida Vera Almarza 1. On December 6, 1975, a writ of amparo (habeas corpus) under roll 1530-74 was filed before the Santiago Court of Appeals, which was rejected after having consulted the Ministry of the Interior, the Joint Command of the State of Siege Zone, the Combat Aviation Command, the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), and the National Executive Secretariat of Detainees (SENDET), all of which denied having carried out her detention. 2. Because the writ of amparo was rejected, the Santiago Court of Appeals ordered the Tenth Criminal Court of Major Crimes of Santiago to investigate the possible crime that may exist in her disappearance. This process began on January 31, 1975, under roll 1302. The aforementioned court instructed the process, with the writ of amparo serving as the lead document. From the proceedings, it can be concluded that she was detained by DINA personnel on November 19, 1974, in front of her home. 3. The proceedings were temporarily dismissed by the investigating judge, who estimated that more evidence could be provided to definitively establish the crime of illegal detention and her disappearance. 4. On February 17, 1975, invoking her status as a Bolivian citizen, the intervention of the Government of Bolivia was requested before the Government of Chile to inquire about Ida Vera Almarza, a request that was answered in a note dated February 21, 1975, by the Consul General of Chile in La Paz to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bolivia, in which it is stated: "Having consulted the corresponding Chilean authorities regarding the situation of Miss Ida Vera Almarza, they have stated that said citizen is not detained, nor are there charges against her." 5. On July 22, 1975, a SENDET official informed her mother that Ida Vera Almarza was detained on November 19, 1974, as recorded in an official letter dated January 29, 1975, from the Chilean Investigative Service. Two days later, on July 24, the Bolivian Consul in Chile, Mr. Vicente Donoso Torres, accompanied by her parents, met with Colonel Jorge Espinoza Ulloa, head of SENDET, who, upon having the official who provided the information come to his office and seeing the file of official letters, stated verbatim that it was a "presumed detention," and promised to investigate in more detail, an act that did not occur, as he refused to grant further interviews. 6. On January 25, 1976, a complaint was filed with the Organization of American States (OAS), which sent the background information to the honorable Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). On March 16, 1976, the IACHR communicated its favorable reception of the complaint and that it would request the corresponding information from the Government of Chile. The IACHR has insisted on numerous occasions on this matter, with the government of Chile systematically denying that Ida Vera is detained. The last response that the government of Chile has given to the IACHR, in a note dated January 27, 1977, states: "Case 2013. Ida Amelia Vera Almarza. The Ministry of Justice was notified to report on the status of the case regarding the presumed disappearance." 7. On September 25, 1976, Mr. Luis Reque, former executive secretary of the IACHR, at the inaugural conference before the Amnesty International Executive Committee, while exposing the human rights situation in Latin America, pointed to the case of Ida Vera Almarza as a typical case of detention and subsequent disappearance. 8. In August 1976, through Mr. Roberto Kozacs, head of the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration (ICEM), all the background information on this case was presented to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. For the family, as is easy to imagine, the fact of her having been detained was at first a shock and stupor, later transforming into pain, desperation, and helplessness due to how little, if anything, could be achieved by turning to the pertinent authorities. Under these circumstances, we turned to the Committee for Peace and later to the Vicariate of Solidarity, which welcomed us and provided us with the means and professionals for presentations to the Justice system, giving us their moral and spiritual support. At that same time, we began our participation within the Association of Relatives of the Forcibly Disappeared, which we consider to be the only institution, along with the Vicariate of Solidarity, that has been fighting for Truth and Justice to prevail in Chile.

Source: Vicariate of Solidarity

50 years after the coup d'état, the College of Architects of Chile, together with its Human Rights and Citizens Committee, extended a proposal to the Mayor of Santiago, Irací Hassler, to honor the memory of the forcibly disappeared architect Ida Amelia Vera Almarza, proposing that a street near our National Headquarters bear her name.

The street proposed to bear the name of the architect Ida Vera Almarza is the current Namur street, which connects Estados Unidos street with Avenida Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins. The request was filed by the College of Architects of Chile at the Illustrious Municipality of Santiago through our national president, Beatriz Buccicardi; and the vice president of internal affairs, Mario Neira.

Ida Amelia Vera Almarza Architect from the University of Chile, with ICA of the College of Architects of Chile No. 2.770; she was born on January 5, 1943, in La Paz, Bolivia. She was detained on November 19, 1974, at 31 years of age.

Until the date of her detention, Ida stood out in dance and professionally, both in research and by collaborating or forming teams with other colleagues on interesting and innovative housing projects. For her, social housing was of central importance in her work as an architect; while still a student, she reflected on the housing problem, caused by a housing policy with an approach she considered misguided.

Source: colegiodearquitectos.cl 19/7/2023

Date: 07-19-2023

College of Architects of Chile participates in a memorial service for Ida Amelia Vera Almarza

The Vice President of Internal Affairs of the College of Architects of Chile, Mario Neira, together with representatives of our Human Rights and Citizens Committee and Gender Committee, participated last Saturday, April 1, in a memorial service for Ida Amelia Vera Almarza, an architect forcibly disappeared on November 19, 1974.

The service, held at the Villa Grimaldi Peace Park and convened by the Vera Almarza family, took place following the conclusion of the "Operation Colombo" trial, in which a ruling issued by the Second Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court sentenced 59 former DINA agents as perpetrators of the aggravated kidnapping of 16 people, mostly members of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR).

The court also 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. The ceremony, in which a commemorative plaque honoring the life and memory of Ida Amelia Vera Almarza was unveiled, included a protocol greeting from the Vice President of Internal Affairs of the College of Architects of Chile, Mario Neira; and the president of the Human Rights and Citizens Committee, Viviana Teuche.

Source: colegiodearquitectos.cl 27/4/2023

Date: 04-27-2023

Accused of participating in Operation Colombo: Chile sentences 59 former agents of the main repressive organ of the Pinochet dictatorship

Operation Colombo attempted to simulate the death of 119 people in alleged internal clashes between militants of leftist organizations. The Supreme Court of Chile sentenced 59 officials and agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), the main repressive institution during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), to prison.

The justice system convicted them for participating in the kidnapping and torture of 16 leftist militants in 1974 in a military operation known as Operation Colombo. The ruling of the Chilean justice system, published by the Second Criminal Chamber of the highest court of justice, revokes a previous sentence made by the Court of Appeals in which it acquitted a portion of the accused and gave others low sentences without prison time.

Crimes of the last military dictatorship Former DINA chiefs and officers César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Miguel Krassnoff, and Raúl Iturriaga Neumann, convicted as perpetrators of the crimes of aggravated kidnapping, were sentenced to 15 years and one day in prison.

With this sentence, Miguel Krassnoff has accumulated more than 100 years of sentencing for participating in multiple cases of crimes against humanity that took place during the last military regime. The court also gave 10 years and one day in prison to 51 former agents who had been acquitted by the Santiago Court of Appeals despite having been convicted in the first instance as perpetrators and accomplices of Operation Colombo.

The resolution of the highest court is "transcendent in Chilean judicial history (as it) restored the sense of justice for crimes of this nature, which had literally remained in a situation of unacceptable impunity," explained the lawyer for the plaintiffs, Nelson Caucoto, to the local press.

What was Operation Colombo "The highest court once again rejected the partial statute of limitations and the appeals of the defense of the convicted, and accepted the appeals of the plaintiffs... this is a modern ruling based on international law and domestic legislation," added the lawyer. "There is no doubt that justice operates in this case as a healing for so many relatives of victims who still survive, and it is a pity that others did not live to see this end," he added.

Operation Colombo was an intelligence and media fabrication operation designed by the DINA that attempted to simulate the death of 119 people in alleged internal clashes between militants of leftist organizations such as the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR).

All the victims had been kidnapped by the repressive agency and were subsequently subjected to forced disappearance. The judicial process investigated the whereabouts of 16 of those 119 victims, including 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: pagina12.com.ar, March 6, 2023

Date: 03-06-2023

Operation Colombo: Supreme Court sentences 59 DINA agents for 16 aggravated kidnappings

In a unanimous ruling, the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court sentenced César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, and Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko to 15 years and one day of imprisonment as authors of the crimes.

The Supreme Court upheld the appeals filed by the plaintiff and, in a replacement sentence, convicted 59 agents of the dissolved Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA) for their responsibility in the crimes of aggravated kidnapping of Francisco Aedo Carrasco, Juan Andrónicos Antequera, Jorge Andrónicos Antequera, Jaime Buzio Lorca, Mario Eduardo Calderón Tapia, Cecilia Castro Salvadores, Juan Carlos Rodríguez Araya, Rodolfo Espejo Gómez, Agustín Fiorasso Chau, Gregorio Gaete Farías, Mauricio Jorquera Encina, Isidro Pizarro Meniconi, Marcos Quiñones Lembach, Sergio Reyes Navarrete, Jilberto Urbina Chamorro, and Ida Vera Almarza, victims of the so-called "Operación Colombo".

In a unanimous ruling (case file 25.384-2021), the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court—composed of ministers Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Jorge Dahm, Leopoldo Llanos, minister María Teresa Letelier, and minister Diego Simpértigue—sentenced the former agents César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, and Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko to 15 years and one day of imprisonment as authors of the crimes.

Meanwhile, Fernando Eduardo Lauriani Maturana, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, 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, Manuel Heriberto Avendaño González, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, Alejandro Francisco Astudillo Adonis, Daniel Alberto Galaz Orellana, Francisco Maximiliano Ferrer Lima, Leoncio Enrique Velásquez Guala, Teresa del Carmen Osorio Navarro, José Enrique Fuentes Torres, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Pedro René Alfaro Fernández, Hiro Álvarez Vega, 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 Díaz, Daniel Valentín Cancino Varas, Juan Duarte Gallegos, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, 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, Olegario Enrique González Moreno, Werner Enrique Zanghellini Martínez, and Héctor Alfredo Flores Vergara must serve 10 years and one day of imprisonment as authors.

In the case of agents Jaime Alfonso Fernández Garrido and Samuel Fuenzalida Devia, they were sentenced, as authors, to 5 years and one day and 541 days of imprisonment, respectively.

The ruling of the Penal Chamber established an error of law in the challenged sentence, issued by the Santiago Court of Appeals, by acquitting several defendants who served in different barracks of the repressive organization through which the detained victims passed and were subsequently forcibly disappeared.

“Indeed, the sentencers forget that the crime of kidnapping punishes anyone who, without legal right, locks up or detains another, depriving them of their liberty and thereby preventing them from exercising their right to move freely from one place to another. The conduct of the criminal type consists of ‘locking up’ and ‘detaining’, in both cases against the will of the affected subject.

‘The “detention” consists of the apprehension of a person, forcing them to be in a place against their will, depriving them of their ambulatory freedom, the means used for this being indifferent; and “locking up” refers to the action of keeping a person in a place from which they cannot escape, even if this place has exits that the person locked up does not know about or whose use for them is dangerous or unfeasible’ (Politoff, Matus and Ramírez, Delitos contra la libertad ambulatoria y la seguridad individual, p. 201),” the ruling maintains.

The resolution adds that: “Consequently, one cannot attempt to reduce the typical action to only the act of detaining or causing to disappear, without disregarding the typical description contained in article 141 of the Penal Code.

It should be remembered that the second paragraph of the cited norm, in force at the time the crime began, provided that ‘The same penalty shall be incurred by anyone who provides a place for the execution of the crime’. To hold otherwise deconfigures the crime of kidnapping, reducing it solely to the act of apprehending the victim.”

“On the other hand, as has already been outlined, in addition to said legal qualification, the sentencers considered, as stated in the preceding consideration 20°), that the acts were committed in a context of a systematic or generalized attack against the civilian population, which determined that the established illicit acts were also considered crimes against humanity, for violating ius cogens norms of International Humanitarian Law, and therefore, subject to said international legal statute,” it adds.

“Regarding the characteristics of these crimes, the doctrine has pointed out that the active subject includes both state officials (regardless of their hierarchy or position) and members of an organization; they can be committed in time of war or peace; it is not necessary for there to be an express order from the political authority to perpetrate it.

The passive subject is the civilian population, against whom the attack is directed,” it highlights.

Likewise, the ruling establishes that: “(…) the subjects who were part of this organized apparatus of power are responsible for the unlawful actions it developed, although some, according to their functional intervention in the realization of the act and in accordance with the normative hypotheses of authorship and participation provided for in the national legal system, will be authors, accomplices, or accessories after the fact.”

In support of this assertion, the Penal Chamber cites national and international authors and experts in the field.

“Indeed, in the commission of crimes of international law, such as the one that affected the victims of the present case, since they were victims of forced disappearances, as crimes against humanity, ‘(…) several persons participate jointly (“jointly with another”), each will be criminally responsible’ (Werle, Gerhard, Tratado de Derecho Penal Internacional. 2nd edition, Tirant lo Blanch, Valencia, 2011, p. 291).”

In the same sense, ‘The key point of the joint criminal enterprise is the agreement. The common agreement (common plan, design or purpose), necessary for the reciprocal imputation of the different contributions, must be directed at the commission of one or several crimes of international law.

The common agreement can also consist of a large-scale criminal enterprise, such as, for example, a system of persecution and cruelty applied at a national level. The agreement does not necessarily have to be prior to the commission of the crime, but can arise spontaneously.

Its existence can be derived from the cooperation of several people in the implementation of the criminal enterprise’ (Werle, Gerhard, Op. Cit., p. 294).”

Regarding the matter, Roxin points out, ‘the peculiarity of co-authorship is that each individual dominates the global event in cooperation with the others (...) the complete control (of the act) resides in the hands of several, so that they can only act jointly, thus each of them having in their hands the destiny of the global act’ (ROXIN, Claus, Autoría y Dominio del hecho en Derecho Penal, 7th edition, Marcial Pons Librero Editor, Madrid, 2000, p. 307-308).”

For his part, Professor Cury has stated that, ‘for co-authorship to exist, it is essential that the different participants provide a contribution to the realization of the act that makes the joint plan “function” and that is functional to the realization of the act, in such a way that if one of them withdraws it, the project fails; but, at the same time, the activity of each one is, in turn, dependent on the others performing theirs, because on its own it is incapable of leading to consummation’. ‘It is not necessary for the co-author to intervene directly in the typical act, […] it is enough that their contribution be decisive for the consummation…’ (Enrique Cury, Derecho Penal, Parte General, Ediciones Universidad Católica de Chile, 2011, pp. 611-613).”

The foregoing has also been maintained by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), in the case The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. ICC-01/04-01/06-3121-Red. Appeals Chamber Judgment. (December 1, 2014), in which the Appeals Chamber considers that, ‘in circumstances in which a plurality of persons was involved in the commission of crimes provided for in the Statute, the question of whether an accused “committed” a crime –and, therefore, did not only contribute to the crime committed by another person–, cannot be answered solely by reference to how close the accused was to the actual crime and whether he or she directly carried out the incriminated conduct. Rather, what is required is a normative evaluation of the role of the accused person in the specific circumstances of the case’, adding also ‘that the most appropriate tool to carry out such an assessment is an evaluation of whether the accused had control over the crime, by virtue of their essential contribution to it and the resulting power to thwart its commission, even if that essential contribution was not made at the time of the execution of the crime (…)’.”

For the Supreme Court: “Therefore, co-authors intervene by executing a functional contribution to the joint or collective realization of the plan as a whole, so the principle of reciprocal imputation will be applicable to them, according to which, everything that each of the co-authors does within the framework of the agreement of wills is imputable to the others.”

Principle of proportionality

Likewise, the Penal Chamber considered that, in the specific case, it is not appropriate to apply the figure of partial prescription (media prescripción) to reduce the sentence, reiterating the criterion of the Supreme Court, maintained in various sentences, of its impropriety as it goes against the principle of proportionality of sentences in crimes against humanity.

“From another perspective, the doctrine on this matter has expressed that its foundations are found in the same considerations of social stability and legal certainty that gave rise to article 93 of the Penal Code, but that it is intended to produce its effects in those cases in which the realization of the ends provided for prescription does not occur naturally but after a gradual process, that is, when the time necessary to prescribe is about to be fulfilled, which would justify the mitigation of the sentence.

However, it is evident that that conclusion is for cases that do not present the characteristics of crimes against humanity, since these are imprescriptible,” the chamber reiterates.

“Consequently –it deepens–, for such mitigation to be appropriate, it is necessary that it be a crime in the process of prescribing, which does not happen in this instance, so the passage of time does not produce any effect, because social reproach does not diminish with time, which only occurs in cases of common crimes.”

“On the other hand –it continues–, as was anticipated, this is a matter in which international treaties have preeminence, in accordance with article 5, paragraph 2 of the Political Constitution of the Republic.

Those norms prevail and the sentence must fulfill the ends that are proper to it and that were enunciated by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution 2583, of December 15, 1969, which states: ‘The punishment of those responsible for such crimes is an important element for preventing such crimes and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms and for fostering confidence, stimulating cooperation between peoples and contributing to international peace and security’.

In the same sense, article 1.1 of the American Convention on Human Rights establishes the obligation to punish those responsible for crimes against humanity with a sentence proportional to the crime committed.”

“Likewise, just as this Court has held in numerous previous rulings, article 103 of the Penal Code is not only contemplated in the same title as prescription, but is developed after it, and as both institutes are based on the passage of time as a justifying element for their application, the impropriety of applying total prescription must necessarily reach partial prescription, since no reason is seen to recognize time as having the effect of reducing the sanction, because both situations are based on the same element that is rejected by the international humanitarian penal order, so that neither is appropriate in illicit acts such as the one in this case (among others, SCS Nos. 17.887-2015, of January 21, 2015; 24.290-2016 of August 8, 2016; 44.074-2016 of October 24, 2016; 9.345-2017, of March 21, 2018; 8.154-2016 of March 26, 2018; and, 825-2018 of June 25, 2018),” the ruling affirms.

“That finally, this court also takes into consideration that the estimation of gradual prescription regarding those responsible for the commission of crimes against humanity affects the principle of proportionality of the sentence, since the gravity of the acts perpetrated with the intervention of State agents determines that the response to the author of the transgression must be consistent with the affectation of the legal good and the culpability with which they acted, so, under such conditions, the sentence incurred in the ground for invalidation on which the appeal in cassation on the merits filed by the Human Rights Program and the private plaintiff is based, by accepting the gradual prescription regulated by article 103 of the Penal Code, in a case where it was inappropriate, which had a substantial influence on the decision, since its estimation led the trial judges to impose on the convicted persons a punishment less than that which legally corresponded, so the appeals under study will be accepted,” it concludes.

Disinformation maneuvers

In the first-instance sentence, the presiding judge of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Hernán Crisosto Greisse, established the following facts:

A.- That in the morning hours of September 7, 1974, Francisco Eduardo Aedo Carrasco, a militant of the Socialist Party (PS), was detained at his home located at Av. Palena No. 3387, in the commune of La Florida, by agents belonging to the Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia (DINA) who put him into a light blue Chevrolet van and transported him to the clandestine detention center called ‘José Domingo Cañas’, located on the street of the same name No. 1367, in the commune of Ñuñoa, being subsequently transferred to the clandestine detention center called ‘Cuatro Álamos’, located on Calle Canadá No. 3000, in Santiago, facilities that were guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access;

The victim Aedo Carrasco, during his stay in the barracks of José Domingo Cañas and Cuatro Álamos, remained without contact with the outside world, and in the first of them blindfolded and tied, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents who operated in said barracks with the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of his political group, to proceed with the detention of the members of that organization;

The last time the victim Aedo Carrasco was seen by other detainees occurred on an undetermined day in the month of March 1975, with no information on his whereabouts to date;

The name of Francisco Eduardo Aedo Carrasco appeared on a list of 119 people, published in the national press after it appeared on a list published in the magazine ‘O'Dia’ of Brazil, dated June 25, 1975, in which it was reported that Francisco Eduardo Aedo Carrasco had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to leftist groups, due to internal quarrels that arose among those members;

The publications that declared the victim Aedo Carrasco dead had their origin in disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad.

B.- That on October 3 and 4, 1974, Jorge Elías Andrónicos Antequera and Juan Carlos Andrónicos Antequera, respectively, brothers and militants of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR), were detained at their home located on Calle Paraguay No. 1473, in the commune of La Granja, by agents belonging to the Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia (DINA) who put them into a light green Chevrolet van and transported them to the clandestine detention center called ‘José Domingo Cañas’, located on the street of the same name No. 1367, in the commune of Ñuñoa, with Jorge Elías Andrónicos Antequera and Juan Carlos Andrónicos Antequera being subsequently transferred to the clandestine detention center called ‘Cuatro Álamos’, located on Calle Canadá No. 3000, in Santiago, facilities that were guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access;

The victims Andrónicos Antequera during their stay in the barracks of José Domingo Cañas and Cuatro Álamos remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied, being in the first of them continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents who operated in said barracks with the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of the MIR, to proceed with the detention of the members of that organization;

The last time the victims Jorge Elías Andrónicos Antequera and Juan Carlos Andrónicos Antequera were seen by other detainees occurred on an undetermined day in the month of November 1974, with no information on their whereabouts to date;

The name of Jorge Elías Andrónicos Antequera 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, in which it was reported that Jorge Elías Andrónicos Antequera had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal quarrels that arose among those members;

The name of Juan Carlos Andrónicos Antequera 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 Juan Carlos Andrónicos Antequera had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal quarrels that arose among those members;

C.- That in the afternoon hours of July 13, 1974, Jaime Mauricio Buzio Lorca, a militant of the Communist League, was detained on the public thoroughfare when he was returning to his home located on Calle República de Israel No. 1220, commune of Ñuñoa, by agents belonging to the Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia (DINA) who put him in the back of a gray Chevrolet C-10 van and transported him to the clandestine detention center called ‘Yucatán’ or ‘Londres 38’, located at that address in the city of Santiago, being subsequently transferred to the clandestine detention center called ‘Villa Grimaldi’, located at Lo Arrieta No. 8200, La Reina, facilities that were guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access;

The victim Buzio Lorca during his stay in the barracks of Londres 38 and Villa Grimaldi remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents who operated in said barracks with the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of his political group, to proceed with the detention of the members of that organization;

The last time the victim Buzio Lorca was seen by other detainees occurred on an undetermined day in the month of July or August 1974, with no information on his whereabouts to date;

The name of Jaime Mauricio Buzio Lorca 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 Jaime Mauricio Buzio Lorca had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to leftist groups, due to internal quarrels that arose among those members;

D.- That in the morning hours of September 25, 1974, Mario Eduardo Calderón Tapia, a militant of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR), was detained on the public thoroughfare, at the intersection of Bandera and Catedral streets, in the commune of Santiago, by agents belonging to the Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia (DINA) who transported him to the clandestine detention center called ‘José Domingo Cañas’, located on the street of the same name 1367, in Santiago, and subsequently transported him to the clandestine detention centers called ‘Villa Grimaldi’, located at Lo Arrieta No. 8200, in the commune of La Reina, and ‘Cuatro Álamos’, located on Calle Canadá No. 3000, in Santiago, which were guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access;

The victim Calderón Tapia during his stay in the barracks of José Domingo Cañas, Villa Grimaldi, and Cuatro Álamos remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied, being in the first two continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents who operated in said barracks with the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of the MIR, to proceed with the detention of the members of that organization;

The last time the victim Calderón Tapia was seen by other detainees occurred on an undetermined day in the month of November 1974, with no information that he had survived his captivity during the period in which the DINA operated;

The name of Mario Eduardo Calderón Tapia 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 Mario Eduardo Calderón Tapia had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal quarrels that arose among those members;

The publications that declared the victim Calderón Tapia dead had their origin in disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad.

E.- That in the early morning hours of November 17, 1974, Cecilia Gabriela Castro Salvadores, a militant of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR), was detained at her home located at Cano y Aponte No. 1080, Apt.

A, in the commune of Providencia, by agents belonging to the Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia (DINA) who transported her to the clandestine detention center called ‘José Domingo Cañas’, located at No. 1367 of the street of the same name, in the commune of Ñuñoa, and subsequently transported her to the clandestine detention center called ‘Villa Grimaldi’, located at Lo Arrieta No. 8200, commune of La Reina, which were guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access;

The victim Castro Salvadores during her stay in the barracks of José Domingo Cañas and Villa Grimaldi remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents who operated in said barracks with the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of the MIR, to proceed with the detention of the members of that organization;

The last time the victim Castro Salvadores was seen by other detainees occurred on an undetermined day in the month of December 1974, with no information on her whereabouts to date;

The name of Cecilia Gabriela Castro Salvadores 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 Cecilia Gabriela Castro Salvadores had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal quarrels that arose among those members;

F.- That in the afternoon hours of August 15, 1974, Rodolfo Alejandro Espejo Gómez, a militant of the Socialist Party, was detained at his home located at Vidaurre No. 1448, Apt. D, in the commune of Santiago, by agents belonging to the Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia (DINA) who put him into a Chevrolet C-10 van and transported him to the clandestine detention center called ‘Yucatán’ or ‘Londres 38’, located at that address in the city of Santiago, and subsequently he was transferred to the clandestine detention centers called ‘José Domingo Cañas’, located on the street of the same name No. 1367, in the commune of Ñuñoa, and ‘Cuatro Álamos’ located on Calle Canadá No. 3000, in Santiago, which were guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access;

The victim Espejo Gómez during his stay in the barracks of Londres 38, José Domingo Cañas, and Cuatro Álamos remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied, being in the first two continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents who operated in said barracks with the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of his political group, to proceed with the detention of the members of that organization;

The last time the victim Espejo Gómez was seen by other detainees occurred on an undetermined day in the month of August 1974, with no information that he had been released, remaining disappeared to date;

The name of Rodolfo Alejandro Espejo Gómez 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 Rodolfo Alejandro Espejo Gómez had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to leftist groups, due to internal quarrels that arose among those members;

G.- That in the night hours of June 17, 1974, Albano Agustín Fioraso Chau, a militant of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR), was detained by officials of the 9th Carabineros Precinct and a civilian, who were traveling in a Chevrolet station wagon, license plate PTS 53, who, after being interrogated under duress by DINA agents, was taken to the clandestine detention center called ‘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;

The victim Fioraso Chau during his stay in the Londres 38 barracks remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents who operated in said barracks with the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of the MIR, to proceed with the detention of the members of that organization;

The last time the victim Fioraso Chau was seen by other detainees occurred on an undetermined day between the months of June and August 1974, with no information that he had been released, his whereabouts remaining unknown to date;

That the name of Albano Agustín Fioraso Chau appeared on a list of 119 people, published in the national press after it appeared on a list published in the magazine ‘O'DIA’ of Brazil, dated June 25, 1975, in which it was reported that Albano Agustín Fioraso Chau had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal quarrels that arose among those members;

H.- That in the night hours of August 15, 1974, Gregorio Antonio Gaete Farías, a militant of the Socialist Party (PS), was detained at the home of his girlfriend located at Julio Montt Saavedra No. 2361 in the commune of Santiago, by agents belonging to the Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia (DINA) who transported him to the clandestine detention center called ‘Yucatán’ or ‘Londres 38’, located at that address in the city of Santiago, and subsequently Gregorio Antonio Gaete Farías was transferred to the clandestine detention centers called ‘José Domingo Cañas’ located on the street of the same name No. 1367, in the commune of Ñuñoa, and ‘Cuatro Álamos’ located on Calle Canadá No. 3000, in Santiago, facilities that were guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access;

The victim Gaete Farías during his stay in the barracks of Londres 38, José Domingo Cañas, and Cuatro Álamos remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied, being in the first two continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents who operated in said barracks with the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of his political group, to proceed with the detention of the members of that organization;

The last time the victim Gaete Farías was seen by other detainees occurred on an undetermined day in the month of August 1974, with no information that he had been released, his whereabouts remaining unknown to date;

The name of Gregorio Antonio Gaete Farías 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, in which it was reported that Gregorio Antonio Gaete Farías had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to leftist groups, due to internal quarrels that arose among those members;

I.- That in the afternoon hours of August 5, 1974, Mauricio Edmundo Jorquera Encina, a militant of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR), was detained on the public thoroughfare by agents belonging to the Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia (DINA) who transported him to the clandestine detention center called ‘Yucatán’ or ‘Londres 38’, located at that address in the city of Santiago, and subsequently Mauricio Edmundo Jorquera Encina was transferred to the clandestine detention center called ‘Cuatro Álamos’, located on Calle Canadá No. 3000, in Santiago, which were guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access;

The victim

During his time in the Londres 38 and Cuatro Álamos detention centers, Jorquera Encina remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and bound, and was continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating in said centers for the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of the MIR, in order to proceed with the arrest of members of that organization; The last time the victim Jorquera Encina was seen by other detainees occurred on an undetermined day in the month of August 1974, and there is no record that he was ever released, with his whereabouts remaining unknown to this date. The name of Mauricio Edmundo Jorquera Encina 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 reported that Mauricio Edmundo Jorquera Encina had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes that had arisen among those members;

J.-

That in the afternoon hours of November 19, 1974, Isidro Miguel Pizarro Meniconi , a militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), was arrested at his home located at Calle Joaquín Godoy No. 315, in the commune of La Reina, by agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who wounded him with firearms and transported him to the Clínica Santa Lucía.

Subsequently, Isidro Miguel Pizarro Meniconi was transferred to the clandestine detention centers known as ‘Venda Sexy’, located at Calle Irán No. 3037, at the corner of Los Plátanos, in the commune of Ñuñoa, and to ‘Villa Grimaldi’, located at Lo Arrieta No. 8200, in La Reina, which were guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access; During his time in the Venda Sexy and Villa Grimaldi detention centers, the victim Pizarro Meniconi remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and bound, and was continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating in said centers for the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of the MIR, in order to proceed with the arrest of members of that organization; The last time the victim Pizarro Meniconi was seen by other detainees occurred on an undetermined day in the month of December 1974, and there is no record that he was ever released, with his whereabouts remaining unknown until now; The name of Isidro Miguel Pizarro Meniconi 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 Isidro Miguel Pizarro Meniconi had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes that had arisen among those members;

K.-

That in the afternoon hours of July 17, 1974, Marcos Esteban Quiñones Lembach , a militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), was arrested at the home of a friend located at Calle Andes No. 2142 in the commune of Santiago, by agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who transported him to the clandestine detention center known as ‘Yucatán’ or ‘Londres 38’, located at that address in the city of Santiago, and in the following days they took him to his home, which was raided in the presence of his spouse, only to be taken back to the aforementioned detention center, which was guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access; During his time in the Londres 38 detention center, the victim Quiñones Lembach remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and bound, and was continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating in said center for the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of the MIR, in order to proceed with the arrest of members of that organization; The last time the victim Quiñones Lembach was seen by other detainees occurred on an undetermined day in the month of August 1974, and there is no record that he was ever released, with his whereabouts remaining unknown to this date; The name of Marcos Esteban Quiñones Lembach 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 reported that Marcos Esteban Quiñones Lembach had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes that had arisen among those members;

L.-

That in the afternoon hours of November 16, 1974, Sergio Alfonso Reyes Navarrete , a militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), was arrested at his home located at Calle Vergara No. 24, Apt. 403, in the commune of Santiago, by agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who forced him into a red Chevrolet van, license plate EM-985, and transported him to a clandestine detention center that could not be determined.

The last time the victim Sergio Alfonso Reyes Navarrete was seen was on the day of his arrest, and he has not been released, with his whereabouts remaining unknown to this date; That the name of Sergio Alfonso Reyes Navarrete 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 reported that Sergio Alfonso Reyes Navarrete had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes that had arisen among those members;

M.-

That in the night hours of January 6, 1975, Jilberto Patricio Urbina Chamorro , a militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), was arrested in the vicinity of his home located at Av. Matta No. 349, in the commune of Santiago, by agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who transported him to the clandestine detention center known as ‘Villa Grimaldi’, located at Lo Arrieta No. 8200, in La Reina, which was guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access; During his time in the Villa Grimaldi detention center, the victim Urbina Chamorro remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and bound, and was continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating in said center for the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of the MIR, in order to proceed with the arrest of members of that organization; After being taken for a few days to Cuatro Álamos, he was returned to Villa Grimaldi, and the last time the victim Urbina Chamorro was seen by other detainees was on an undetermined day in the month of January 1975, and there is no record that he was ever released, nor is his current whereabouts known to this date; The name of Jilberto Patricio Urbina Chamorro 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 reported that Jilberto Patricio Urbina Chamorro had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes that had arisen among those members;

N.-

That in the afternoon hours of November 19, 1974, Ida Vera Almarza , a militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), was arrested at the home located at Calle Joaquín Godoy No. 315, in the commune of La Reina, by agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who wounded her with firearms and transported her to the Clínica Santa Lucía.

Subsequently, Ida Vera Almarza was transferred to the DINA clandestine detention center known as ‘Venda Sexy’, located at Calle Irán No. 3037, at the corner of Los Plátanos, in the commune of Ñuñoa, which was guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access; During her time at the Clínica Santa Lucía and in the Venda Sexy detention center, the victim Vera Almarza remained without contact with the outside world, and in the latter center, she was blindfolded and bound, and was continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating in said center for the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of the MIR, in order to proceed with the arrest of members of that organization; The last time the victim Vera Almarza was seen by other detainees occurred on an undetermined day in the month of December 1974, and there is no record that she was ever released, nor is her whereabouts known to this date; Ñ.- That in the early morning hours of November 17, 1974, Juan Carlos Rodríguez Araya , a militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), was arrested at his home located at Cano y Aponte No. 1080, Apt. A, in the commune of Providencia, by agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who transported him to the clandestine detention center known as ‘José Domingo Cañas’, located at No. 1367 of the street of the same name, in the commune of Ñuñoa, and subsequently transferred him to the clandestine detention center known as ‘Villa Grimaldi’, located at Lo Arrieta No. 8200, in the commune of La Reina, which were guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access; During his time in the José Domingo Cañas and Villa Grimaldi detention centers, the victim Rodríguez Araya remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and bound, and was continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating in said centers for the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of the MIR, in order to proceed with the arrest of members of that organization; The last time the victim Rodríguez Araya was seen by other detainees occurred on an undetermined day in the month of December 1974, and there is no record that he was ever released, remaining forcibly disappeared to this date.” In the civil aspect, the Criminal Chamber ordered the state to pay compensation ranging from $30,000,000 (thirty million pesos) to $120,000,000 (one hundred and twenty million pesos) for moral damages to the families of the victims.

Source: pjud.cl, March 3, 2023

Date: 03-03-2023

Artists forcibly disappeared and executed by the civil-military dictatorship

During the civil-military dictatorship, at least one hundred people linked to culture, the arts, and heritage were executed or forcibly disappeared. September 11 marked the beginning of the most painful period we have ever lived, caused by State agents and civilian accomplices.

Today we commemorate 48 years since that tragedy that still mourns all of Chile. More than three thousand people—men, women, children, and young people, including primary, secondary, and university students; pregnant women, the elderly, the visually impaired, and the disabled—were directly affected, and hundreds of thousands became family members and victims of the dictatorship.

Those who survive fight tirelessly for justice, reparation, and the non-repetition of genocidal acts by the State. Men and women whose contribution to society came from their social struggle, as militants, and also from their trades and occupations as shoemakers, laborers, textile workers, doctors, linotypists, dressmakers, secretaries, union and neighborhood leaders, municipal officials, public employees, railway workers, newspaper vendors, carpenters; peasant laborers, miners, forestry workers, construction workers; and engineers.

Also those who were passing through, on a mission, studying, or had formed a family in Chile, coming from Vietnam, France, Spain, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, England, Ecuador, among other countries. Some of their murderers and accomplices, who are serving light sentences in luxury prisons, have deprived us of them, but they have also deprived us of nearly a hundred artists and creators whom we have identified, with the desire to offer a tribute to those who, from the realms of culture, the arts, and heritage, were victims of state terrorism.

We have recognized 82 people whose creativity was expressed in audiovisual work, crafts, theater, architecture, photography, visual arts, literature, and music. In this note, you will find the names of the people whose information allows them to be associated with an artistic language, according to the available information; however, it is highly possible that many more remain to be identified.

You will also find a link to the information that, among all the people who make the site www.memoriaviva.com possible, is made available to us so that we can contribute to not forgetting until there is justice.

For them… No forgiveness, no forgetting!! Carmen Bueno Cifuentes Filmmaker. Forcibly disappeared Darío Chávez Lobos Actor and theater professor. Forcibly disappeared Máximo Gedda Ortíz Filmmaker and journalist.

Forcibly disappeared Jorge Peña Henn Musician and orchestra conductor. Forcibly disappeared Bernardo de Castro López Designer and illustrator. Forcibly disappeared Hugo Araya Gonzalez Photographer. Political execution Luis Enrique Elgueta Musician.

Forcibly disappeared Jorge Gerardo Solovera Gallardo Musician. Forcibly disappeared Jorge Müller Silva Filmmaker. Forcibly disappeared Ana María Puga Actress. Political execution Juan Bosco Maino Canales Photographer.

Political execution Percy Max Arana Saldaña Singer. Peruvian nationality. Executed Homero Arce Poet. Executed. Isidro Segundo Árias Matamala Musician. Executed Luis Armando Árias Ramírez Artisan. Executed Leandro Abraham Arratia Reyes Photographer.

Executed Leopoldo Raúl Benítez Herrera Architect. Executed Blanca Carrasco Peña Visual arts student. Executed Carlos Patricio Dall’orzo Badilla Artisan. Executed Luis Reinaldo Díaz Muñoz Musician. Executed Oscar Omar Durán Torres Artisan.

Executed José María Ferreyra Vásquez Artisan. Executed Charles Edmund Horman Lazar American filmmaker. Executed Teodoro Konoba Krul Architecture student. Argentine. Executed José René Barrientos Warner Musician of the Chamber Orchestra of the Universidad Austral.

Executed Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez Popular singer, composer, actor, and theater director. Executed Félix Alberto Mendoza Toro Musician. Executed Jaime Iván Meneses Cisternas Photographer. Executed Miguel Ángel Núñez Valenzuela Popular singer.

Executed Pacheco Durán Jorge Pedro Artisan. Executed Ramón Víctor Zúñiga Sánchez Artisan. Executed. Domingo Salvador Yáñez Hernández Stagehand. Executed Hugo Riveros Gómez Painter. Executed Manuel Roig Berenguer Photographer.

Executed Rodrigo Andrés Rojas De Negri Photographer. Executed Luis Eduardo Saavedra González Photographer and folklorist. Executed Arturo Ramón San Martin Sutherland Photographer. Executed Julio Carlos Santibañez Member of the UTE Folkloric Ballet, poet.

Executed Emiliano Segundo Silva Pezo Saddler artisan. Executed Ángel Domingo Toledo Carvajal Writer and illustrator. Executed Wilson Fernando Valdebenito Juica Musician. Executed Máximo Raimundo Villarroel Díaz Saddler artisan.

Executed Francisco Eduardo Aedo Carrasco Architect. Forcibly disappeared Juan Antonio Povaschuk Galeazzo Photographer, Uruguayan. Forcibly disappeared Rubén David Arroyo Padilla Artisan. Forcibly disappeared José Ramón Ascencio Subiabre Artisan.

Forcibly disappeared Arturo Barria Araneda Music teacher at the Liceo Darío Salas. Forcibly disappeared Manuel Antonio Bobadilla Bobadilla Photographer. Forcibly disappeared Ismael Darío Chávez Lobos DUOC theater professor.

Forcibly disappeared Mauricio Segundo Curiñanco Reyes Carpenter artisan. Forcibly disappeared Jacqueline Paulette Drouilly Yurich Studied for 2 years at the Theater School of the U. de Chile. Forcibly disappeared.

Alberto Mariano Fontela Alonso Artisan, Uruguayan. Forcibly disappeared Francisco Javier Fuentealba Studied at the Theater School of the U. Católica. Forcibly disappeared Carlos Alfredo Gajardo Wolff Architecture student.

Forcibly disappeared Ignacio Orlando González Espinoza Artisan. Graduate of the Faculty of Arts of the Universidad Católica. Forcibly disappeared Jorge Arturo Grez Aburto Leather artisan. Forcibly disappeared Luis Alberto Guendelman Wisniak Architecture graduate of the Universidad de Chile.

Forcibly disappeared Yactong Orlando Juantock Guzmán Graduate of the Architecture School of the Universidad de Chile, Valparaíso branch. Forcibly disappeared José Arturo Weibel Navarrete Furniture artisan.

Forcibly disappeared Teobaldo Antonio Tello Garrido Photographer. Forcibly disappeared Gonzalo Marcial Toro Garland Professor at the Universidad de Chile, Faculty of Musical Sciences and Arts. Forcibly disappeared Ricardo Troncoso León Photographer, Theater Director at IANSA.

Forcibly disappeared Luis Quinchavil Suarez Mapuche Language Professor at the University of Leiden, Holland. Forcibly disappeared José Manuel Ramírez Rosales Artisan. Forcibly disappeared Luis Emilio Recabarren González Graphic technician.

Photomontage artist. Forcibly disappeared Agustín Eduardo Reyes González Artisan. Forcibly disappeared. Sergio Alejandro Riffo Ramos Artisan. Forcibly disappeared José Santos Rocha Álvarez Artisan. Forcibly disappeared Bernardino Rodríguez Cortez Saddler artisan.

Forcibly disappeared Luis Fernando Rodríguez Riquelme Photographer. Forcibly disappeared Alejandro Rodríguez Urzúa Architect. Forcibly disappeared Francisco Rozas Contador Photographer. Forcibly disappeared Darío Francisco Miranda Godoy Theater actor.

Forcibly disappeared Carlos Montecinos Urra Artisan. Forcibly disappeared Jose Luis Morales Ruíz Artisan. Forcibly disappeared Luis Jaime Palominos Rojas Student at the National Conservatory of Music. Forcibly disappeared Mario Fernando Peña Solari Architecture student.

Forcibly disappeared Hernán Santos Pérez Álvarez Photographer. Forcibly disappeared Rene Daniel Vallejos Parra Photographer. Forcibly disappeared Héctor Velásquez Mardones Furniture artisan. Forcibly disappeared Ida Amelia Vera Almarza Architect. Forcibly disappeared Juan Aurelio Villarroel Zárate Photoengraver. Forcibly disappeared

Source: prensaopal.cl 8/09/2021

Date: 08-09-2021

Santiago Court applies impunity criteria in ruling on 16 victims of Operation Colombo

The Eighth Chamber of the Santiago Court of Appeals reduced to the maximum extent possible the sentences that had been applied in the first-instance ruling against a hundred agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA).

In an unusual verdict, the Court reduced the number of those responsible to only 34 agents and applied ridiculous sentences, in an authentic mockery of the victims and their families who for decades have sought the remains of their murdered relatives and some measure of justice.

The May 2017 verdict, issued by the special Minister for Human Rights cases, Hernán Crisosto Greisse, sentenced 106 agents of the dissolved DINA for their responsibility in the disappearance of 16 political prisoners kidnapped by that criminal organization; 14 of the victims were included in the fateful list of the so-called Operation Colombo.

The first-instance ruling sanctioned the crimes of aggravated kidnapping of Francisco Eduardo Aedo Carrasco, Juan Carlos Andrónicos Antequera, Jorge Elías Andrónicos Antequera, Jaime Mauricio Buzio Lorca, Mario Eduardo Calderón Tapia, Cecilia Gabriela Castro Salvadores, Juan Carlos Rodríguez Araya, Rodolfo Alejandro Espejo Gómez, Albano Agustín Fiorasso Chau, Gregorio Antonio Gaete Farías, Mauricio Edmundo Jorquera Encina, Isidro Miguel Ángel Pizarro Meniconi, Marcos Esteban Quiñones Lembach, Sergio Alfonso Reyes Navarrete, Jilberto Patricio Urbina Chamorro, and Ida Amelia Vera Almarza.

However, in a split decision (case file 1.500-2017), the Eighth Chamber of the capital's appellate court—composed of ministers Juan Cristóbal Mera Muñoz, Mireya López Miranda, and acting lawyer Jaime Guerrero Pavez—reduced the sentences of former Army officers César Raúl Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, and Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko to 4 years in prison, with the benefit of supervised release.

At the time, Minister Hernán Crisosto had sentenced these criminals to 20 years in prison for their responsibility as authors of the kidnappings of the 16 victims. On the other hand, former Army officers Fernando Eduardo Lauriani Maturana, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, Francisco Maximiliano Ferrer Lima, former Carabineros officers Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires, Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez, and agents Rosa Humilde Ramos Hernández, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, Teresa del Carmen Osorio Navarro, José Enrique Fuentes Torres, Pedro René Alfaro Fernández, Hiro Álvarez Vega, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, Daniel Valentín Cancino Varas, Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda, Luis Rigoberto Videla Inzunza, Osvaldo Enrique Pulgar Gallardo, José Avelino Yévenes Vergara, and Olegario Enrique González Moreno were sentenced to 3 years and one day in prison, with the benefit of conditional remission of the sentence. In the first instance, all these defendants had been sentenced to 13 years in prison for their responsibility as authors of the crimes. Finally, from an initial sentence of 6 years, former agents Heriberto del Carmen Acevedo Gallardo and Jaime Alfonso Fernández Garrido were sentenced to 541 days in prison with the benefit of conditional remission. In the opinion of the members of this Court, all other convicted defendants (60) were acquitted; the remaining 12 convicted individuals passed away during the long processing of the case. The split decision occurred because the resolution of the Eighth Chamber was agreed upon in the criminal aspect with the dissenting vote of acting lawyer Guerrero Pavez, who did not agree with applying the criteria of half-prescription and the gradual prescription of the sentence, which are the artifices recurrently used by Juan Mera to apply benefits and impunity to criminals in human rights cases. Furthermore, the same minister, Mera, was in favor of revoking the civil ruling and rejecting the first-instance judgment that accepted the financial claims filed by the plaintiffs.

Source: resumen.cl December 1, 2020

Date: 01-12-2020

FAU inaugurates Patio of Memory in tribute to the victims of September 11

Nine members of the community of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the Universidad de Chile were arrested and subsequently forcibly disappeared following the 1973 military coup. In their honor, a commemorative act was held in which the Patio of Memory was inaugurated.

One student, seven graduates, and one academic, mostly under 30 years of age, were the victims of the human rights violations that occurred after the 1973 Coup d'État. Some were arrested and forcibly disappeared a few days after September 11, while others were arrested and executed or forcibly disappeared in the course of 1973, 1974, and 1976.

In the commemorative act held on September 11, 2019, at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism (FAU), Dean Manuel Amaya recounted his experience and testimony of September 11, 1973. As a student, on the 11th, he headed to the Faculty of Architecture of the Universidad de Chile, but in the center of Santiago, he could not continue his usual route due to the movements of military personnel and civilians and the great tension at La Moneda and its surroundings.

Trying to take refuge in a nearby house, he could hear gunshots, military jeeps speeding through the streets, and witness the ferocity of the events by seeing a large number of people wounded and killed by bullet impacts.

Along with his testimony, Dean Amaya noted that “memory is the capacity to remember that marks and leaves a trace of its work in a silent but persistent way. In this act, we want to honor the memory of those who lost their lives, suffered torture, lost their jobs, saw their families broken, had to go into exile, or suffered the disappearance of some of their own.” During the act, which was attended by academics, staff, and students, the Patio of Memory was inaugurated with a plaque that reads: “A memory of all those who have been part of our community, whose dreams and ideals enriched the FAU, September 11, 2019.” In this regard, the Dean noted that: “we have proposed naming this place the Patio of Memory which, with its trees, shadows, and silences, stimulates reflection, hope, and promotes understanding.” Finally, the highest authority of the FAU noted that “I believe that as a society, University, and Faculty, we must promote the construction of a collective project where dialogue and mutual respect predominate; let us project a more just, tolerant, and fraternal country.” Throughout the day, FAU students carried out various activities and interventions in tribute to the members of the FAU community who were forcibly disappeared and executed, as well as to all the students of the Universidad de Chile who were victims of the military dictatorship. Our tribute and memory to all those who are no longer with us but who enriched the FAU with their ideals, struggle, and example: Mario Peña Solari, student of the School of Architecture of the Universidad de Chile, arrested on December 9, 1974. Luis Guendelman Wisniak, graduate of the School of Architecture of the Universidad de Chile, arrested on September 2, 1974. Yactong Juantok Guzmán, graduate of the School of Architecture of the Universidad de Chile, Valparaíso branch, arrested on September 12, 1973. Ida Vera Almarza, architect from the Universidad de Chile, arrested on November 19, 1974. Carlos Gajardo Wolf, graduate of the School of Architecture of the Universidad de Chile, Valparaíso branch, arrested on September 20, 1974. Leopoldo Benítez Herrera, architect from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, murdered on September 17, 1973. Alejandro Rodríguez Urzúa, architect from the Universidad de Chile, arrested on July 27, 1976. Francisco Aedo Carrasco, architect from the Universidad de Chile, arrested on September 7, 1974. Freddy Taberna Gallegos, geographer from the Universidad de Chile, murdered on October 30, 1973.

Source: fau.chile.cl 12/9/2019

Date: 12-09-2019

Book revives eight architects who were victims of human rights violations

In the framework of International Human Rights Day (December 10), the Human Rights Committee of the College of Architects of Chile pays tribute through a publication to eight architects who were victims of human rights violations. 30 years have passed since the arrest and execution of these seven men and one woman, whose dreams and life projects were abruptly interrupted after they were arrested.

Investigations have revealed that they were brutally tortured before being forcibly disappeared. They are part of the group most cruelly affected by the military dictatorship that held power in Chile for 17 years; professionals, teachers, and union and student leaders who bring mourning to our profession, their families, and friends.

They are the cause of the publication of this book, which seeks to end impunity: Mario Fernando Peña Solari, first-year Architecture student at the Universidad de Chile. Luis Alberto Guendelman Wisniak, Architecture graduate of the Universidad de Chile.

Carlos Alfredo Gajardo Wolff, Architecture graduate; Assistant Professor of the Central Workshop of the School of Architecture and Secretary of the Department of Architecture of the Faculty of Art and Technology, Universidad de Chile, Valparaíso branch.

Yactong Orlando Juantok Guzmán, Architecture graduate, Universidad de Chile, Valparaíso branch. Assistant for the Architectural Composition and Theory and History of Architecture courses and President of the Architecture Student Center of the same University.

Ida Amelia Vera Almarza, architect from the Universidad de Chile. She worked as an architect at the Housing Corporation (CORVI) and in private offices. Leopoldo Raúl Benítez Herrera, architect from the Universidad Católica.

Professor and Director of the Department of Architecture of the Faculty of Architecture of the same University. Alejandro Rodríguez Urzúa, architect from the Universidad de Chile. Vice President of the Housing Services Corporation (CORHABIT); Founder of the School of Architecture of the Universidad Técnica del Estado in Concepción, where he served as Professor of Architectural Composition Workshop and Urbanism.

Francisco Eduardo Aedo Carrasco, architect from the Universidad de Chile. Specialist in Structural Calculation; Professor and Researcher at the Schools of Architecture of the Universidad de Chile in Santiago and Valparaíso.

CREDITS

Editorial Responsibility Architects: Ana María Barrenechea Grunenwald, Cecilia Dinamarca, Silva Patricia Henríquez Orellana, Teresa Rojo Lorca, Viviana Teuche Vega, and René Urbina Verdugo. Collaboration: Architect M.

Eugenia Santis Doyhamboure. Design and Layout: Architect Alicia Alarcón Ramírez, Bachelor of Arts Alejandro Ortiz Espinoza. Cover: First Prize of the Artistic Work Call, Mario Sagradini, Uruguayan visual artist. Photographs: Family and friends' albums, FAU Archive, U. de Chile.

Source: colegioarquitectos.com 21/12/2016

Date: 21-12-2016

Former DINA agents prosecuted for two victims of Operation Colombo

This Friday, the visiting minister (S) of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Raquel Lermanda, prosecuted two former agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) in the investigation she is conducting into the aggravated kidnapping of two victims of the so-called Operation Colombo, who were arrested at the torture center known as “Venda Sexy.” The magistrate charged former agents Raúl Iturriaga Neumann and Alejandro Molina Cisternas with the aggravated kidnapping of Bernardo De Castro López, which occurred starting September 14, 1974, in the commune of Providencia.

Iturriaga Neumann was also prosecuted for the aggravated kidnapping of Ida Vera Almarza, which occurred starting November 19, 1974, in the commune of La Reina. The judge—who is replacing Minister Víctor Montiglio, as he is on medical leave—determined that the notification of the defendants be carried out at the Punta Peuco Penitentiary Compliance Center, where both remain for other convictions for human rights violations.

Source: radiobiobio.cl, August 13, 2010

Date: 13-08-2010