According to a statistical report from the Human Rights Department of the Ministry of the Interior, as of September 30, 2009, there were 333 criminal cases open in the courts regarding human rights violations during the dictatorship, involving 1,101 victims, with 768 agents under prosecution, of whom 276 had been convicted, 53 of them with final sentences and serving prison terms.

The maximum number of proceedings was reached in 2004, with 430 cases involving 1,260 victims. The reduction in the number of proceedings to the 330 currently active is explained by trials that have reached their conclusion, whether through a conviction or through temporary or definitive dismissal without finding those responsible.

If one considers that the total number of victims qualified by the Rettig Report and the Reparation Corporation reaches 3,186, it follows that for 39.5% of the victims, there has been some type of judicial proceeding.

The number of 276 convictions within a universe of 768 prosecuted agents implies 35.9%; the 171 agents with convictions handed down since January 1, 2000, represent 22.2%, and the 53 agents serving prison sentences represent 6.9% of the agents and 1.6% of the victims.

These numbers may vary, as there are 46 cases under appeal against dismissal or acquittal rulings, and they could potentially increase as a consequence of the reopening of the Rettig and Valech commissions, as announced by the Government.

Institutions and ranks

The analysis of the institution of origin and the rank of the prosecuted and convicted agents allows for the configuration of profiles and characteristics of what the repression was like during the dictatorship.

In numerical terms, the branch that makes the greatest contribution to the roster is the Army, with 341 prosecuted or convicted individuals, followed by Carabineros, with 245; the Navy, with 54; the Air Force, with 51; and Investigaciones, with 18, while 53 of those prosecuted are civilians.

By rank, in the Army there are 53 generals or brigadiers (15.5%); 52 colonels (15.2%); 19 lieutenant colonels (5.5%); 23 majors (6.7%); 22 officers with the rank of captain to second lieutenant (6.4%); 128 non-commissioned officers (37.5%); 2 conscripts (0.5%); and 35 civilian employees of the DINA and/or the CNI (10.6%).

Belonging to Carabineros are 6 generals (2.4%), 17 colonels (6.9%), 10 lieutenant colonels (4%); 12 majors (4.8%); 10 captains (4%); 11 officers (4.4%); 178 officers (72.6%); and one civilian employee from Dicomcar.

For the Navy, there are 6 vice admirals or rear admirals (11.1%); 8 captains (14.8%); 6 frigate captains (11.1%); 7 lieutenants and second lieutenants (12.9%); 25 non-commissioned officers (46.2%); and 2 civilian employees (3.7%).

In the Air Force, there are 2 generals (3.9%); 9 colonels (17.6%); 4 group or squadron commanders (7.8%); 3 captains (5.8%); 1 lieutenant (1.9%); 20 non-commissioned officers (39.2%); and 12 civilian employees (23.5%), the majority from the Comando Conjunto.

From Investigaciones, there are 2 commissioners (11.1%); 2 prefects (11.1%); 3 sub-commissioners (16.6%); 3 sub-prefects (16.6%); and 7 inspectors (38.8%).

Of the 53 civilians, 16 belong to Colonia Dignidad (30.1%).

From a gender perspective, the statistics show that the dictatorship's repression had a markedly sexist character, as of the 768 prosecuted or convicted agents, only 23 are women (2.9%), of whom 8 are from the Army (34.7%); 5 from the Navy (21.7%); 4 from the Air Force (17.3%); 3 from Carabineros (13%); and 3 from Colonia Dignidad (13%).

Multiple prosecutions and convictions

As of September 30, 2009, the statistics of the Human Rights Department of the Ministry of the Interior show 3,078 indictments, a figure determined by those agents who have more than one prosecution and/or conviction.

114 agents appear with two proceedings and/or convictions. The number of proceedings or convictions does not always represent the severity of the agent's participation. By way of example, the former Army colonel Sergio Arredondo González appears in this category.

But in the case of the Caravana de la Muerte, he is prosecuted as the perpetrator of 55 counts of kidnapping with qualified homicide: 14 in Antofagasta, 13 in Calama, 13 in Copiapó, and 15 in La Serena, and as a co-perpetrator of 20 qualified homicides: 13 in Calama, 3 in Copiapó, and 4 in Cauquenes.

For his participation in the executions at the Escuela de Caballería de Quillota, he is sentenced in the second instance to 10 years and one day in prison as the perpetrator of 9 counts of kidnapping with grave injury.

45 agents appear with three proceedings and/or convictions. In this category, the previous caveat also applies, in the sense that the number of proceedings or convictions does not always represent the agent's commitment to human rights violations.

This is the case of Carlos Herrera Jiménez, who, in addition to having served a sentence as the perpetrator of the qualified homicide of Mario Fernández López, is currently serving two life sentences as the perpetrator of the qualified homicide of Tucapel Jiménez Alfaro and Juan Alegría Mundaca.

Fourteen agents appear with four proceedings or convictions. In this category, Luis Arturo Sanhueza Ross stands out, definitively convicted as the perpetrator of a qualified homicide in Operación Albania; prosecuted as a co-perpetrator of 5 qualified kidnappings in the case of the five forcibly disappeared persons of September 1987; definitively convicted as a co-perpetrator of qualified homicide in the case of Jécar Neghme; and definitively convicted as the perpetrator of qualified homicide in the execution of Fernando Vergara.

Also, Heriberto del Carmen Acevedo Acevedo, prosecuted as a co-perpetrator of 9 qualified kidnappings and as a co-perpetrator of a qualified homicide in the Calle Conferencia case; prosecuted as a co-perpetrator of 6 qualified kidnappings in Operación Colombo; prosecuted as a co-perpetrator of 6 qualified kidnappings in the disappearance of 13 members of the clandestine leadership of the PC; and prosecuted as a co-perpetrator of 3 qualified kidnappings in Operación Cóndor.

Ten agents have accumulated five proceedings or convictions. Among them, Paul Schafer Schneider, prosecuted as the perpetrator of 1 qualified kidnapping in the disappearance of Alvaro Vallejos Villagrá; accused as the perpetrator of the qualified kidnapping of Juan Maino Canales, Antonio Elizondo Ormaechea, and Elizabeth Rekas; prosecuted as the perpetrator of illicit association in Colonia Dignidad; accused as the perpetrator of the qualified kidnapping of Pedro Merino Molina; and sentenced in the second instance as the perpetrator of the qualified homicide of Miguel Becerra.

And Manuel Andrés Cárevic Cubillos, prosecuted as a co-perpetrator of 46 qualified kidnappings in Operación Colombo; prosecuted as the perpetrator of the qualified kidnapping of Rodolfo González; prosecuted as the perpetrator of the qualified kidnapping of Nilda and Mario Peña; definitively convicted as the perpetrator of the qualified kidnapping of Félix de la Jara; and sentenced in the first instance as the perpetrator of the qualified kidnappings of Luis González Mella, Luis Mahuida Esquivel, and Patricio Soto Cerna.

Six agents have six proceedings and/or convictions. Emblematic cases in this category are the Comando Conjunto agents Daniel Luis Guimpert Corvalán, acquitted in the second instance as the perpetrator of the kidnapping of Humberto Fuentes; prosecuted as the perpetrator of 3 qualified kidnappings of Ignacio González and others; convicted as the perpetrator of the homicide of Carlos Contreras Maluje; prosecuted for the qualified kidnapping of Juan Gianelli and others; acquitted in the first instance for the murder of two members of the Comando Conjunto; and prosecuted for the kidnappings of José Weibel and Carlos Sánchez Cornejo. And Otto Trujillo Miranda, accused as the perpetrator of the kidnapping of Víctor Vega; definitively convicted as the perpetrator of the qualified kidnapping of Héctor Urrutia, resulting in homicide; prosecuted as the perpetrator of qualified kidnapping and as an accomplice to two qualified kidnappings in the disappearance of Ignacio González and others; prosecuted as an accomplice to two kidnappings in the disappearance of Juan Gianelli and others; sentenced in the second instance as an accomplice to the qualified kidnapping of Humberto Fuentes; and prosecuted as the perpetrator of two qualified kidnappings and as the perpetrator of illicit association in the disappearance of Alonso Gahona Chávez and Miguel Angel Rodríguez Gallardo.

Nine agents face seven proceedings or convictions. The most well-known is Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, sentenced in the second instance as the perpetrator of 2 qualified homicides and as the perpetrator of illicit association in the murder of General Carlos Prats and his wife; definitively convicted as a co-perpetrator of the qualified kidnappings of Carlos Carrasco and Fernando Olea; sentenced in the first instance as the perpetrator of the qualified kidnappings of González Mella, Mahuida Esquivel, and Soto Cerna; definitively convicted as the perpetrator of the qualified kidnapping of Félix de la Jara; prosecuted as the perpetrator of the qualified kidnappings of Nilda and Mario Peña; definitively convicted as the perpetrator of the qualified kidnapping of José San Martín; and prosecuted as a co-perpetrator of 36 qualified kidnappings in Operación Colombo.

Ten agents total eight proceedings and convictions. These are the Army non-commissioned officers Pedro Segundo Bitterlich Jaramillo, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, Carlos Eusebio López Inostroza, and Eduardo Antonio Reyes Lagos; the also Army non-commissioned officer, nurse, and DINA agent Gladys de las Mercedes Calderón Carreño, the woman with the highest number of prosecutions; the Carabineros non-commissioned officers José Mario Friz Esparza and Orlando Guillermo Inostroza Lagos; the doctor and medical colonel Vittorio Orvieto Teplitzki; the Investigaciones sub-prefect Eugenio Jesús Fieldhouse Chávez; and the Air Force colonel Juan Francisco Saavedra Loyola.

With nine proceedings or convictions appear the Army general Sergio Arellano Stark; the Army colonel Juan Hernán Morales Salgado; the Army lieutenant colonel David Adolfo Miranda Monardes; the Carabineros non-commissioned officer Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández; and the civilian agent of the Comando Conjunto, Cesar Luis Palma Ramírez.

The elite of terror

From here on, the dubious elite of human rights violators emerges. With ten proceedings or convictions appear the Army major Alvaro Julio Corbalán Castilla and the Air Force general Freddy Enrique Ruiz Bunger.

Eight proceedings and three convictions are faced by the Army colonel and DINA agent Carlos José López Tapia and the Army lieutenant colonel and DINA agent Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires.

Seven convictions and four proceedings are held by the Army colonel and DINA agent Rolf Gonzalo Wenderoth Pozo.

Eight proceedings and four convictions is the record of Fernando Eduardo Lauriani Maturana, Army colonel and DINA agent.

Eight convictions and four proceedings are accumulated by the Army lieutenant colonel and DINA agent Francisco Maximiliano Ferrer Lima.

Two convictions and 12 proceedings are held by the Gendarmería major and DINA agent Orlando José Manzo Durán.

Twelve convictions and eight proceedings hang over the Army non-commissioned officer and DINA agent Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes.

Ten convictions and 16 proceedings is the balance for the Army brigadier and DINA agent Pedro Espinoza Bravo.

The Army colonel and DINA agent Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, only surpassed by Marcelo Moren Brito and Manuel Contreras, has the impressive mark of 23 convictions and 17 proceedings.

Moren Brito, Army colonel and DINA agent, totals 25 convictions and 20 proceedings.

The mark of Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, the czar of repression in Chile, of 37 convictions and 29 proceedings, is of a global level both for his rank and the number of cases he faces, as well as for the fact that he has remained in prison since 1994.

Also a world record must be that of the Investigating Judge Víctor Montiglio, with the 2,215 indictments he has issued against 134 agents for 55 kidnappings with disappearance in the so-called Operación Colombo.

The same judge has issued 86 indictments in the kidnapping and disappearance of the first clandestine leadership of the PC, known as Calle Conferencia, and 54 indictments in the case of the disappearance of the second clandestine leadership of the PC, known as Los Trece, and 54 indictments in the so-called Operación Cóndor.

Also standing out for their massiveness are the 141 indictments issued against 21 agents by the Investigating Judge Alejandro Solís for 77 victims of Villa Grimaldi, among whom are forcibly disappeared persons, those executed, and surviving torture victims; the 64 indictments issued by judges Juan Guzmán and Víctor Montiglio in the so-called Caravana de la Muerte; and the 35 indictments issued by Judge Mario Carroza against the agents involved in the five disappearances of members of the FPMR in September 1987.

Exemplary sentences

From the point of view of the forcefulness and exemplary nature of the sanctions, the life sentences issued by Judge Milton Juica against Miguel Estay Reino, José Florentino Fuentes Castro, Guillermo González Betancourt, Alejandro Sáez Mardones, and Claudio Salazar Fuentes for the "degollados" (throat-slitting) case stand out; the life sentences against Armando Cabrera Aguilar, Alvaro Corbalán Castilla, and Carlos Herrera Jiménez, issued by Judge Sergio Muñoz for the homicide of Juan Alegría Mundaca; the life sentence issued by Judge Mario Carroza against Hugo Salas Wenzel for the homicides of the so-called Operación Albania; the two 20-year sentences each for Manuel Contreras and Pedro Espinoza, issued by Judge Alejandro Solís for the murder of the Prats couple; and the 20-year prison sentence imposed by Judge Mario Carroza on Alvaro Corbalán for his participation in various homicides of Operación Albania.

Mitigating factors and benefits

On the contrary, standing out for their leniency are the three years and one day, reduced by the Supreme Court, for 7 agents for the kidnapping and disappearance of Carlos Contreras Maluje; the same sentence, with supervised release, against Donato Alejandro López Almarza for the murder of the priest Joan Alsina; and the three years with the benefit of conditional remission of the sentence against 7 agents for the murder of Jécar Neghme.

In general terms, since 2008, the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court has been applying the mitigating factor of "half-prescription," for which no agent has been sentenced since then to terms longer than five years and one day, which in many cases determines the conditional remission of the sentence.

Thus, as of September 30, 2009, only 53 agents were serving prison sentences. That is what the numbers say.

If one considers the high number of proceedings and that progress in terms of investigation and sanction in cases of human rights violations began to be recorded after 2002, it cannot be maintained that impunity persists in Chile.

But if one considers the reduced amount of the convictions, especially those confirmed during 2008 and 2009 as a consequence of mitigating factors and benefits being granted by the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court, and the high proportion of victims who have not had an investigation or sanction, that wound inflicted on the national soul is still far from closing.

By Francisco Herreros |

Source: elsiglo.cl, November 6, 2009

Among those indicted, all retired, are eight Army colonels and 23 non-commissioned officers, 40 Carabineros officers and non-commissioned officers, two former FACH agents, one former Navy agent, and seven former Investigaciones police agents.

The biggest blow to the repression of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship was dealt yesterday by Judge Víctor Montiglio, by prosecuting 98 former agents from different branches of the Armed Forces, Carabineros, and Investigaciones for 42 victims of Operación Colombo.

This is the most numerous resolution issued among the nearly 400 cases of human rights violations being investigated in the country. It even surpassed the 67 former agents indicted by the same Judge Montiglio in 2007 for the crimes of the Brigada Lautaro and its Grupo Delfín at the Simón Bolívar barracks.

Among those indicted for Colombo are eight Army colonels (R), six of whom had not been prosecuted before in any case. Also declared defendants were 23 Army non-commissioned officers (R), of whom at least 50 percent appear for the first time in this type of case.

Among these non-commissioned officers is Juvenal Piña, alias "El Elefante," a former agent of the Brigada Lautaro, who was the one who suffocated the clandestine communist leader (1976) Víctor Díaz with a plastic bag over his head, before they injected him with cyanide.

In addition, the magistrate indicted 40 former Carabineros officers and non-commissioned officers, among whom are Ricardo Lawrence, Heriberto Acevedo, Claudio Pacheco, and José Mora, all former members of the same Brigade. Among those prosecuted are also former agents who belonged to the Investigaciones police. The only civilian (Army) is Juan Suárez.

From the total list, at least thirteen are already serving sentences for other cases (see list).

Until the closing of this edition, those prosecuted continued to be detained to be interned in different places, such as the Peñalolén Military Police Battalion.

Among the 42 victims for whom the judge issued his resolution are María Angélica Andreolli, Miguel Acuña Castillo, Juan Carlos Perelmann Ide, Juan Chacón Olivares, Jorge Müller Silva, Luis Guendelmann Wisniak, Mario Calderón Tapia, and Carmen Bueno Cifuentes.

Operación Colombo and the media

The list of the 119 was published in the magazine Lea (Buenos Aires) and the newspaper O Dia (Brazil) in 1975, information that was also false. Both publications were created by DINA agents.

Operación Colombo was part of Operación Cóndor and consisted of a setup by the dictatorship to make the population believe that 119 forcibly disappeared persons had clandestinely left for Argentina and died there in clashes with police and Army forces during the phase prior to the 1976 military coup in Argentina.

Some of those names appeared as militants "murdered" in Buenos Aires and its surroundings, with signs on their bodies saying they had been executed by their own comrades as a settling of scores due to internal disputes. However, this also turned out to be a setup.

The list of the 119 was published in the magazine Lea (Buenos Aires) and the newspaper O Dia (Brazil) in 1975, information that was also false. Both publications were created by DINA agents abroad and had only one edition.

In Chile, the pro-dictatorship press such as the newspapers El Mercurio, La Tercera, Las Ultimas Noticias, and La Segunda reproduced the intelligence services' setup. The headline of the evening paper that reported "Exterminated like rats: 59 Chilean MIR members fall in military operation in Argentina" remains in memory. They were part of the list of the 119 disappeared persons of Colombo.

The former fugitive Raúl Iturriaga, who was one of those in charge of the DINA's foreign department, was the one who first gave clues in Buenos Aires about this operation.

According to the former civilian agent Enrique Arancibia Clavel, convicted in Buenos Aires for the murder of General Carlos Prats and his wife, it was Iturriaga who at the beginning of 1975 met with him to ask him to prepare what was necessary because "we have to make some dead bodies appear for Operación Colombo."

It was about preparing the appearance of the supposed bodies of Jaime Robotham and Luis Guendelmann as part of the setup.

List of those prosecuted

Army (all retired)

Víctor Molina Astete (colonel); Sergio Castillo González (col); Eduardo Guerra Guajardo (col); Víctor San Martín Jiménez (col); José Fuentes Torres (col); Manuel Carevic Cubillos (col); Jaime Paris Ramos (col); César Manríquez Bravo (col); Raúl Toro Montes (non-commissioned officer); Eduardo Reyes Lagos (NCO); Orlando Torrejón Gatica (NCO); Osvaldo Tapia Alvarez (NCO.

Committed suicide); Juvenal Piña Garrido (NCO. “El Elefante”); Juan Suárez Delgado (civilian); Nelson Paz Bustamante (NCO); José Aravena Ruiz (NCO); Luis Torres Méndez (NCO); Raúl Soto Pérez (NCO); Jorge Andrade Gómez (NCO); Juan Escobar Valenzuela (NCO); Rolando Concha Rodríguez (NCO); Gustavo Apablaza Meneses (NCO); Hiro Alvarez Vega (NCO); Víctor Alvarez Droguett (NCO); Jorge Venegas Silva (NCO); Carlos Rinaldi Suazo (NCO); Carlos Letelier Verdugo (NCO); Reinaldo Concha Orellana (NCO); Máximo Aliaga Soto (NCO); Hugo Clavería Leiva (NCO); Samuel Fuenzalida Devia (NCO);

Investigaciones Juan Urbina Cáceres; Hugo Hernández; Manuel Rivas Díaz; Herman Alfaro; Eugenio Fieldhouse; Osvaldo Castillo;

Carabineros (officers and non-commissioned officers all retired)

Gerardo Godoy García; Ciro Torres Sáez; Alejandro Molina Cisternas; Camilo Torres Negrier; Héctor Lira Aravena; José Fritz Esparza; Claudio Pacheco Fernández; Jorge Sagardia Monge; Sergio Castro Andrade; Luis Villarroel Gutiérrez; Armando Cofré Gómez; Fernando Roa Montaña; Gerardo Meza Acuña; Enrique Gutiérrez Rubilar; Luis Mora Cerda; José Muñoz Leal; Juan Duarte Gallegos; Carlos Miranda Meza; Rufino Jaime Astorga; Luis Urrutia Acuña; Luis Zúñiga Ovalle; Pedro Alfaro Hernández; Orlando Inostroza Lagos; Rosa Ramos Hernández; Gustavo Caruvan Soto; Héctor Valdebenito Araya; Manuel Avendaño González; José Mora Diocares; Guido Jara Brevis; Nelson Ortiz Vignolo; Ruderlindo Urrutia Jorquera; Héctor Flores Vergara; Jerónimo Neira Méndez; Manuel Montré Méndez; Heriberto del Carmen Acevedo; Claudio Orellana de la Pinta; Nelson Iturriaga Cortés; Luis Gutiérrez Uribe; José Ojeda Obando

Air Force Delia Gajardo Cortés; Hernán Avalos Muñoz

Navy Teresa Navarro Osorio;

Prosecuted individuals who are already serving sentences

Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda; Pedro Espinoza Bravo; Raúl Iturriaga Neumann; Marcelo Moren Brito; Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko; Ricardo Lawrence Mires; Basclay Zapata Reyes; Conrado Pacheco; Francisco Ferrer Lima; Gerardo Urrich; Orlando Manzo Durán; Rizier Altez España; Fernando Lauriani Maturana

Source: lanacion.cl, May 27, 2008

Villa Grimaldi Case: Judge Solís prosecutes 21 former uniformed personnel for kidnappings

Ximena Pérez G. The DINA leadership and other former agents of the organization were prosecuted yesterday by the investigating judge Alejandro Solís for the qualified kidnapping of 13 communist militants, among them the doctors Iván Insunza Bascuñán and Carlos Godoy Lagarrigue.

Heading the list of 21 indicted individuals is the former head of the DINA, General (r) Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, prosecuted as the perpetrator of the qualified kidnappings along with Carlos López Tapia, Pedro Espinoza Bravo, Juan Morales Salgado, Eugenio Fieldhouse Chávez, Marcelo Moren Brito, Ricardo Lawrence Mires, Orlando Manzo Durán, Ciro Torré Sáez, and Claudio Andrade Gómez.

As accomplices to six of the kidnappings, Gladys Calderón Carreño, Rufino Jaime Astorga, José Friz Esparza, Hermon Alfaro Mundaca, Orlando Inostroza Lagos, Pedro Bitterlich Jaramillo, Claudio Pacheco Fernández, and Eduardo Reyes Lagos were indicted.

Meanwhile, the investigating judge Joaquín Billard ordered the entry into Punta Peuco of former Army officers Fernando Polanco Gallardo and Luis Fernández Monjes, sentenced to 5 years and one day in prison for the qualified homicides of Bernardo Lejderman and María del Rosario Ávalos, which occurred on December 8, 1973, in the Elqui Valley.

The magistrate issued an arrest warrant against the third convicted person, the Army non-commissioned officer (r) Héctor Vallejos Birtiola, who did not appear at the summons of the highest court.

Source: El Mercurio, July 16, 2009

Justice system issued new prosecutions against Manuel Contreras for human rights violations

40 years after the Coup d'État, Judge Leopoldo Llanos also indicted Carlos López, Pedro Espinoza, among others, as perpetrators of the qualified kidnappings of Juan Villarroel Zárate and Clara Canteros Torres and the qualified homicide of Eduardo Canteros Prado, which occurred in 1976.

The investigating judge of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Leopoldo Llanos, prosecuted former agents of the former National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for the qualified kidnappings of Juan Aurelio Villarroel Zárate and Clara Canteros Torres and the qualified homicide of Eduardo Canteros Prado, which occurred in July and August 1976.

The magistrate indicted as perpetrators Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda; Carlos López Tapia; Pedro Espinoza Bravo; Juan Morales Salgado; Marcelo Moren Brito; Rolf Wenderoth Pozo; Eugenio Fieldhouse Chávez; Ricardo Lawrence Mires; and Jorge Andrade Gómez.

And as accomplices Gladys Calderón Carreño; Rufino Jaime Astorga; José Friz Esparza; Hermon Alfaro Mundaca; Orlando Inostroza Lagos; Pedro Bitterlich Jaramillo; Claudio Pacheco Fernández; Eduardo Reyes Lagos; Orlando Torrejón Gatica; Orlando Altamirano Sanhueza; and Carlos López Inostroza.

According to the investigation, Juan Villarroel Zárate was forcibly disappeared near the Mapocho station on August 13, 1976. Meanwhile, Clara Carrasco Torres and her uncle Eduardo Canteros Prado were detained in La Florida on July 23, 1976.

Canteros' remains were identified among the victims who were illegally buried on an Army property located in the Las Tórtolas sector, Colina, on July 3rd; these remains were found in 1990.

Source: soychile.cl, August 30, 2013

Justice system issued new prosecutions against Manuel Contreras for human rights violations

40 years after the Coup d'État, Judge Leopoldo Llanos also indicted Carlos López, Pedro Espinoza, among others, as perpetrators of the qualified kidnappings of Juan Villarroel Zárate and Clara Canteros Torres and the qualified homicide of Eduardo Canteros Prado, which occurred in 1976.

The investigating judge of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Leopoldo Llanos, prosecuted former agents of the former National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for the qualified kidnappings of Juan Aurelio Villarroel Zárate and Clara Canteros Torres and the qualified homicide of Eduardo Canteros Prado, which occurred in July and August 1976.

The magistrate indicted as perpetrators Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda; Carlos López Tapia; Pedro Espinoza Bravo; Juan Morales Salgado; Marcelo Moren Brito; Rolf Wenderoth Pozo; Eugenio Fieldhouse Chávez; Ricardo Lawrence Mires; and Jorge Andrade Gómez.

And as accomplices Gladys Calderón Carreño; Rufino Jaime Astorga; José Friz Esparza; Hermon Alfaro Mundaca; Orlando Inostroza Lagos; Pedro Bitterlich Jaramillo; Claudio Pacheco Fernández; Eduardo Reyes Lagos; Orlando Torrejón Gatica; Orlando Altamirano Sanhueza; and Carlos López Inostroza.

According to the investigation, Juan Villarroel Zárate was forcibly disappeared near the Mapocho station on August 13, 1976. Meanwhile, Clara Carrasco Torres and her uncle Eduardo Canteros Prado were detained in La Florida on July 23, 1976.

Canteros' remains were identified among the victims who were illegally buried on an Army property located in the Las Tórtolas sector, Colina, on July 3rd; these remains were found in 1990.

Source: Emol.com, August 30, 2013

Calle Conferencia: indictment issued against 79 former DINA members

The presiding judge of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Miguel Vázquez, issued an indictment in the investigation into the aggravated kidnappings of Mario Zamorano Donoso, Jorge Muñoz Poutays, Uldarico Donaire Cortés, Jaime Donato Avendaño, Elisa Escobar Zepeda, Lenin Díaz Silva, and Eliana Espinoza Fernández; and for the aggravated homicide of Víctor Díaz López.

These crimes were committed between May 1976 and January 1977 in Santiago, in a case known as “Conferencia 1”.

Magistrate Vázquez determined the responsibility of 79 former members of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) in the eight crimes committed during various operations carried out at Calle Conferencia 1587, in the commune of Santiago; Calle Gaspar de Orense 993, in the commune of Quinta Normal; Calle Bello Horizonte 979, in the commune of Las Condes; and the homicide at the Simón Bolívar 8800 barracks, in the commune of La Reina.

The case was initiated by a complaint filed on January 12, 1998, and was previously investigated by presiding judges Juan Guzmán Tapia and Víctor Montiglio Rezzio.

Presiding judge Miguel Vázquez determined the responsibilities—in all or some of the events—of:

01. Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda. 02. Pedro Espinoza Bravo. 03. Carlos López Tapia. 04. Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko. 05. Ricardo Lawrence Mires. 06. Jorge Madariaga Acevedo. 07. Eugenio Fieldhouse Chávez. 08.

José Fuentealba Saldías. 09. Hugo Clavería Leiva. 10. José Soto Torres. 11. Raúl Soto Pérez. 12. Juan Carlos Escobar Valenzuela. 13. Jerónimo Neira Méndez. 14. Héctor Briones Burgos. 15. Pedro Mora Villanueva. 16.

Roberto Rodríguez Manquel. 17. Leonidas Méndez Moreno. 18. Jorge Andrade Gómez. 19. Nelson Herrera Lagos. 20. Juan Morales Salgado. 21. Jorge Sagardía Monje. 22. Héctor Valdebenito Araya. 23. Federico Chaigneau Sepúlveda. 24.

Bernardo Daza Navarro. 25. Sergio Escalona Acuña. 26. Guillermo Ferrán Martínez. 27. Gladys Calderón Carreño. 28. Elisa Magna Astudillo. 29. Heriberto del Carmen Acevedo. 30. Emilio Troncoso Vivallos. 31.

Claudio Pacheco Fernández. 32. Jorge Díaz Radulovich. 33. Orlando Altamirano Sanhueza. 34. Eduardo Cabezas Mardones. 35. Jorge Escobar Fuentes. 36. René Riveros Valderrama. 37. Jorge Pichunmán Curiqueo. 38.

Orfa Saavedra Vásquez. 39. Celinda Aspe Rojas. 40. Teresa Navarro Navarro. 41. Berta Jiménez Escobar. 42. Adriana Rivas González. 43. Jorge Arriagada Mora. 44. Pedro Bitterlich Jaramillo. 45. Eduardo Oyarce Riquelme. 46.

Guillermo Díaz Ramírez. 47. Ana Vilches Muñoz. 48. Italia Vacarella Gilio. 49. Jorge Manríquez Manterola. 50. Orlando Torrejón Gatica. 51. José Manuel Sarmiento Sotelo. 52. Manuel Obreque Henríquez. 53.

Gustavo Guerrero Aguilera. 54. Eduardo Garea Guzmán. 55. Juvenal Piña Garrido. 56. Rufino Jaime Astorga. 57. Luis Lagos Yáñez. 58. María Angélica Guerrero Soto. 59. Sergio Castro Andrade. 60. Manuel Montre Méndez. 61.

Pedro Gutiérrez Valdés. 62. Claudio Orellana de la Pinta. 63. Joyce Ahumada Despouy. 64. Hiro Álvarez Vega. 65. José Miguel Meza Serrano. 66. José Ojeda Obando. 67. Carlos Bermúdez Méndez. 68. Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett. 69.

Eduardo Reyes Lagos. 70. Marilin Silva Vergara. 71. Hernán Sovino Maturana. 72. José Friz Esparza. 73. Carlos Miranda Mesa. 74. Camilo Torres Negrier. 75. Orlando Inostroza Lagos. 76. Carlos López Inostroza. 77. José Seco Alarcón. 78. Lionel Medrano Rivas. 79. Juan Suazo Saldaña.

According to the case records, the operations occurred as follows:

Operation at Calle Conferencia 1587, Santiago

At 03:00 hours on April 29, 1976, agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) arrived at the residence located at Calle Conferencia 1587, Santiago, which had been under prior surveillance. They detained its residents, Juan Becerra Barrera, María Angélica Gutiérrez Gómez, and her cousin Eliana Gutiérrez Vidal, who were forced to participate in the operation deployed at the property.

They were required to appear as if living a normal life under the observation of DINA agents, who remained at the location waiting for members of the Communist Party to arrive in order to proceed with their detention.

Thus, at 19:00 hours on May 4, 1976, Mario Jaime Zamorano Donoso, the Organization Secretary of the Communist Party, arrived at the property at Calle Conferencia 1587. He was detained by DINA agents and taken to the Villa Grimaldi detention center, located at Av. José Arrieta 8200, in the commune of La Reina, where he remained deprived of liberty; his whereabouts remain unknown.

Around 21:00 hours on the same day, Onofre Jorge Muñoz Poutays, a member of the Central Committee of the same organization, arrived at the aforementioned property. He was detained and taken to the Villa Grimaldi barracks by DINA agents, where he remained deprived of liberty; his whereabouts remain unknown.

The following day, May 5, 1976, Uldarico Donaire Cortez and Jaime Patricio Donato Avendaño, members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, arrived at the property on Calle Conferencia. They were detained by DINA agents and subsequently taken to the Villa Grimaldi barracks, where they remained deprived of liberty; their whereabouts remain unknown.

Similarly, on May 6, 1976, Elisa del Carmen Escobar Cepeda, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, was detained by DINA agents at the same property using the same procedure. She was taken to the Villa Grimaldi barracks, where she remained deprived of liberty; her whereabouts remain unknown.

Operation at Calle Gaspar de Orense 993, Quinta Normal

On May 9, 1976, Lenin Adán Díaz Silva, a member of the Technical Commission of the Communist Party of Chile, was detained by DINA agents at the property located at Calle Gaspar de Orense N° 993, Quinta Normal, Santiago. He was taken to the Villa Grimaldi barracks, where all trace of him was lost; his whereabouts remain unknown to this date.

Operation for the detention of Eliana Espinoza Fernández

On May 12, 1976, Eliana Marina Espinoza Fernández, who had boarded public transport on Calle Independencia to head to an undisclosed destination, was detained by DINA agents and taken to the Villa Grimaldi detention center, where she remained deprived of liberty; her whereabouts remain unknown.

Operation at Calle Bello Horizonte N° 979, Las Condes

Around 01:00 hours on May 12, 1976, DINA agents raided the residence at Calle Bello Horizonte N° 979, in the commune of Las Condes, Santiago, and detained Víctor Manuel Díaz López, the General Secretary of the Communist Party at the time.

They then took him to the Villa Grimaldi barracks, where he remained in captivity and was subjected to constant interrogation and torture. He was subsequently transferred to the DINA barracks located at Simón Bolívar N° 8800 in the commune of La Reina, Santiago, where he spent the final months of his life.

Death of Víctor Díaz López

Once transferred to the DINA barracks located at Simón Bolívar 8800, La Reina, Santiago, Víctor Manuel Díaz López was kept under a regime of confinement and deprivation of liberty, permanently guarded and interrogated by the agents operating at said barracks.

During the afternoon of a day in the first fortnight of January 1977, while he was inside a dungeon at the aforementioned Simón Bolívar barracks, agents operating at the site—in compliance with an execution order issued by the institution's hierarchical superior and transmitted by the barracks chief to his subordinates—proceeded to kill him.

They used a plastic bag to cover his head and tied it around his neck, preventing him from breathing, which caused his death. Once his death was confirmed, the perpetrators placed the body into two thick polyethylene bags, one for the head and one for the feet, which they tied with wire around the waist.

They then tied a piece of rail approximately 70 to 80 centimeters long to the bagged body, and subsequently placed it into two burlap sacks, one for the head and one for the extremities, which were joined with wire.

They transported the body to the Peldehue sector, where it was loaded onto a Puma helicopter that was waiting in the area. The helicopter departed for the sea, where the body was thrown into the water at an undetermined location.

The private plaintiffs, the State Defense Council, and the Human Rights Program of the Ministry of the Interior were notified of the indictment so that they may join it or file a private accusation in the case.

With the judge's indictment and the subsequent adhesions or private accusations, the defense teams of the accused will be notified to move to the plenary stage before a first-instance sentence is handed down.

Source: elmostrador.cl, October 22, 2013

Former DINA agents prosecuted for the kidnapping of Nalvia Mena Alvarado

The Santiago Court of Appeals issued an indictment in the case of the aggravated kidnapping of Nalvia Mena Alvarado, which occurred in April 1976. Judge Leopoldo Llanos confirmed the prosecution for authorship of the crime against former agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA): Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, Carlos López Tapia, Pedro Espinoza Bravo, Juan Morales Salgado, Marcelo Moren Brito, Rolf Wenderoth Pozo, Eugenio Fieldhouse Chavez, and Jorge Andrade Gómez.

Meanwhile, the following agents were prosecuted as accomplices: Gladys Calderón Carreño, Rufino Jaime Astorga, José Friz Esparza, Hernán Alfaro Mundaca, Orlando Inostroza Lagos, Pedro Bitterlich Jaramillo, Claudio Pacheco Fernández, Eduardo Reyes Lagos, Orlando Torrejón Gatica, Orlando Altamirano Sanhueza, and Carlos López Inostroza.

“The consequence of this detention is that she is considered forcibly disappeared, since, having been deprived of liberty, she has not made contact with her relatives, has not carried out administrative procedures before State or private agencies, and has no record of entry or exit from the country, nor is there any record of her death,” explains the judicial document, which reviews the abuses committed at the torture houses “Villa Grimaldi” and Simón Bolívar.

Source: radio.uchile.cl, September 12, 2014

77 DINA agents convicted for the crime against Eduardo Ziede, another victim of “Operation Colombo”

The presiding judge for extraordinary cases of human rights violations at the Santiago Court of Appeals, Hernán Crisosto Greisse, issued convictions against 77 former agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the aggravated kidnapping of Eduardo Humberto Ziede Gómez, a crime perpetrated starting June 15, 1974, within the framework of the so-called “Operation Colombo.”

Eduardo Ziede, 27 years old, was a militant of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR) in Santiago. He was characterized by his tall stature (over 1.90 meters) and neat way of dressing, which made him easily recognizable.

He was detained by agents of the DINA’s Halcón group, which was commanded by Krassnoff and included, among others, Basclay Zapata, known as "El Troglo," and Osvaldo Romo, known as "El Guatón Romo." It was the latter who identified him in the sector where Ziede was heading for a meeting with another militant.

In the resolution, Judge Crisosto sentenced the former army officers and leaders of the repressive organization to 13 years in prison: César Raúl Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Marcelo Luis Manuel Moren Brito, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, in their capacity as authors of the crime.

Meanwhile, the following former army officers must serve 10 years in prison, also as authors of the crime of aggravated kidnapping: Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González, Sergio Hernán Castillo González, and Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos.

The same sentence must be served by former carabineros officers Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires, and Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez. The same sentence was handed down to the following agents: 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 de la Cruz Rivas Díaz, Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, and Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte.

Likewise, the following agents must serve 4 years in prison as accomplices, 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.

Agents Rodolfo Valentino Concha Rodríguez and Armando Segundo Cofré Correa were acquitted due to a lack of participation in the events.

In this case, the proceedings were definitively dismissed due to the death of the following defendants: Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, Osvaldo Enrique Romo Mena ("Guatón Romo"), Luis Arturo Urrutia Acuña, José Germán Ampuero Ulloa, Orlando Guillermo Inostroza Lagos, Luis Salvador Villarroel Gutiérrez, and the recently deceased "Mamo," Juan Manuel Guillermo Contreras Sepúlveda.

The Facts During the investigation stage, Judge Crisosto Greisse managed to prove that: «On the morning of June 15, 1974, Eduardo Humberto Ziede Gómez, a militant of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), was detained on a public street at the intersection of Avenida Portugal and Porvenir in Santiago by state agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA).

They took 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.

During his time at the Londres 38 barracks, he remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied, and was continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating at the barracks, with the purpose of obtaining information regarding other members of the MIR to proceed with the detention of the organization's members.

The last time the victim, Ziede Gómez, was seen by other detainees at said DINA facility was on an undetermined day in July 1974, and he has remained disappeared to this date. The name of Eduardo Humberto Ziede Gómez appeared on a list of 119 people, published in the national press after it appeared on a list published in the magazine LEA in Argentina, dated July 15, 1975, which stated that Ziede Gómez had died in Argentina, along with 59 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes among those members.

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

Source: resumen.cl, August 19, 2015

Court of Appeals reviewed releases in three emblematic human rights cases

The Santiago Court of Appeals resolved a series of requests for provisional release from former agents of the National Intelligence Directorate, who were prosecuted by presiding judge Víctor Montiglio in the investigations known as Operation Colombo, Calle Conferencia I and II, and Operation Condor.

In a split decision by the Fourth Chamber, judges Juan Escobar, Adelita Ravanales, and lawyer Rodrigo Asenjo revoked the resolutions of the presiding judge who had granted the benefit of release on bail to former agents Eugenio Fieldhouse Chávez, Manuel Rivas Días, Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, Ricardo Lawrence Mires, Jerónimo del Carmen Neira Méndez, Heriberto del Carmen Acevedo, José Abel Aravena Ruíz, Moisés Paulino Campos Figueroa, Orlando Guillermo Inostroza Lagos, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, Rufino Jaime Astorga, Raúl Alberto Soto Pérez, Hugo Hernán Clavería Leiva, and José Javier Soto Torres.

Judge Escobar and lawyer Asenjo considered the defendants in the episode known as Operation Colombo to be a danger to society, and therefore determined that they should remain in prison; while Judge Ravanales was in favor of granting the benefit.

In the episodes known as Conferencia I and II, the Fifth Chamber—comprised of judges Dobra Lusic, María Eugenia Campo (substitute), and lawyer Bernardo Lara—determined the provisional release of Ricardo Lawrence Mires, Jorge Sagardía Monje, Claudio Orellana de la Pinta, Heriberto del Carmen Acevedo, Emilio Troncoso Vivallos, Jorge Pichunmán Curiqueo, Claudio Pacheco Fernández, Camilo Torres Negrier, Luis Urrutia Acuña, Gustavo Guerrero Aguilera, José Sarmiento Sotelo, Manuel Montre Méndez, Italia Donatta Vacarella Gilio, Orfa Saavedra Vásquez, Elisa Magna Astudillo, Joyce Ahumada Despouy, and Víctor Álvarez Droguett.

In the case of agents Jorge Segundo Madariaga Acevedo, Jerónimo Neira Méndez, Orlando Inostroza Lagos, Eugenio Fieldhouse Chávez, Raúl Soto Pérez, José Soto Torres, and Hugo Clavería Leiva, it was determined that they constituted a danger to society, and the benefit was denied.

For the episode known as Operation Condor, the judges of the Sixth Chamber of the appellate court, Alfredo Pfeiffer, Mario Rojas, and lawyer Enrique Pérez, determined the provisional release of: Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires, Jorge Laureano Sagardia Monje, Claudio Orlando Orellana de la Pinta, José Sarmiento Sotelo, Manuel Antonio Montre Méndez, Camilo Torres Negrier, Luis Salvador Villarroel Gutiérrez, Luis Arturo Urrutia Acuña, Fernando Adrián Roa Montano, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, Orlando Guillermo Inostroza Lagos, Juan Angel Urbina Caceres, José Abel Aravena Ruíz, Manuel Rivas Díaz, Hermon Helec Alfaro, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, César Manríquez Bravo, Jaime Humberto París Ramos, Sergio Hernán Castillo González, Luis Eduardo Mora Cerda, Carlos Justo Bermúdez Méndez, Pedro Segundo Bitterlich Jaramillo, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, Héctor Manuel Lira Aravena, José Stalin Muñoz Leal, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Héctor Alfredo Flores Vergara, Víctor Manuel Alvarez Droguett, Alfonso Humberto Quiroz Quintana, Luis René Torres Méndez, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, Luis Rigoberto Videla Inzunza, Luis Fernando Espinace Contreras, Miguel Angel Yañez Ugalde, Ricardo Zamorano Vergara, Moisés Paulino Campos Figueroa, Ruffino Espinoza Espinoza, Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, Palmira Isabel Almuna Guzmán, Juan Alfredo Villanueva Alvear, José Nelson Fuentealba Saldías, Leoncio Enrique Velásquez Guala, and José Fernando Morales Bastías.

Source: defensores.cl, November 19, 2016

The minister in charge of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Hernán Crisosto Greisse, issued three new indictments in investigative proceedings he is conducting regarding the so-called “Operation Colombo,” concerning victims of aggravated kidnapping perpetrated between July 1974 and February 1975.

In the resolution, Minister Crisosto determined to indict former DINA agents for the aggravated kidnappings of Ismael Darío Chávez Lobo, which occurred on July 26, 1974; Washington Cid Urrutia, which occurred on December 8, 1974; and Rodrigo Ugas Morales, which occurred on February 7, 1975.

With this ruling, indictments have been issued to date in 33 of the 37 episodes grouped in the investigation, for a total of 57 victims. According to the gathered evidence, the following facts have been established in the case of Chávez Lobo: “On the night of July 26, 1974, Ismael Darío Chávez Lobos, a militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), was detained at his home located at Calle Los Copihues No. 1977, in the commune of Quinta Normal, by agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who transported him to the clandestine detention center known as “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. During his stay at the Londres 38 barracks, he remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and bound, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating in said barracks for the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of the MIR, in order to proceed with the detention of members of that organization; the last time Chávez Lobos was seen alive occurred on an undetermined day in the months of July or August 1974, and he remains forcibly disappeared to this day. The name of Ismael Darío appeared on a list of 119 people, published in the national press after it appeared on a list published in the Brazilian magazine “O’ DIA,” dated June 25, 1975, which reported that Ismael Darío Chávez Lobos had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes that arose among those members; The publications that declared the victim Chávez Lobos dead had their origin in disinformation maneuvers carried out by agents of the National Intelligence Directorate abroad.” In this branch of the case, the minister indicted the following 85 former DINA agents as co-perpetrators of the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Chávez Lobos: 01. Juan Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, 02. César Manríquez Bravo, 03. Pedro Espinoza Bravo, 04. Marcelo Moren Brito, 05. Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, 06. Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, 07. Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, 08. Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires, 09. Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González, 10. Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez, 11. Sergio Hernán Castillo González, 12. Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, 13. Luis Eduardo Mora Cerda, 14. Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, 15. Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes, 16. José Enrique Fuentes Torres, 17. José Jaime Mora Diocares, 18. José Mario Friz Esparza, 19. Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, 20. Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, 21. Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, 22. Héctor Raúl Valdebenito Araya, 23. Héctor Manuel Lira Aravena, 24. Jaime Humberto Paris Ramos, 25. Jorge Laureano Sagardia Monje, 26. José Stalin Muñoz Leal, 27. Nelson Aquiles Ortiz Vignolo, 28. Pedro Segundo Bitterlich Jaramillo, 29. Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, 30. Víctor San Martín Jiménez, 31. Máximo Ramón Aliaga Soto, 32. Juvenal Alfonso Piña Garrido, 33. Camilo Torres Negrier, 34. Manuel Antonio Montre Méndez, 35. Sergio Hernán Castro Andrade, 36. Claudio Orlando Orellana de la Pinta, 37. Hiro Álvarez Vega, 38. Nelson Eduardo Iturriaga Cortés, 39. José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, 40. Carlos Justo Bermúdez Méndez, 41. Gustavo Galvarino Carumán Soto, 42. Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, 43. José Manuel Sarmiento Sotelo, 44. Fernando Adrián Roa Montaña, 45. Gerardo Meza Acuña, 46. Luis René Torres Méndez, 47. Orlando Guillermo Inostroza Lagos, 48. Reinaldo Concha Orellana, 49. Rodolfo Valentino Concha Rodríguez, 50. Luis Salvador Villarroel Gutiérrez, 51. Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, 52. Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, 53. Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, 54. Manuel Rivas Díaz, 55. Risiere del Prado Altez España, 56. Luis Germán Gutiérrez Uribe, 57. Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, 58. Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, 59. Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, 60. Gustavo Humberto Apablaza Meneses, 61. Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett, 62. Carlos López Inostroza, 63. Armando Segundo Cofré Correa, 64. José Nelson Fuentealba Saldías, 65. Moisés Paulino Campos Figueroa, 66. Olegario Enrique González Moreno, 67. José Dorohi Hormazábal Rodríguez, 68. Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, 69. Hugo Rubén Delgado Carrasco, 70. Jorge Antonio Lepileo Barrios, 71. Lautaro Eugenio Díaz Espinoza, 72. Óscar Belarmino La Flor Flores, 73. Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, 74. Rufino Espinoza Espinoza, 75. Sergio Iván Díaz Lara, 76. Carlos Alfonso Sáez Sanhueza, 77. Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel, 78. Juan Alfredo Villanueva Alvear, 79. Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda, 80. Rafael de Jesús Riveros Frost, 81. José Germán Ampuero Ulloa, 82. Leonidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, 83. Héctor Carlos Díaz Cabezas, 84. Hernán Patricio Valenzuela Salas, and 85. José Avelino Yévenes Vergara. Meanwhile, in the investigation into the aggravated kidnapping of Cid Urrutia, the following was established: “In the early hours of December 8, 1974, Washington Cid Urrutia, a militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), was detained at his home located at Pasaje 15, No. 2973, Población Cervecerías Unidas, in the commune of Renca, by agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who, after binding him and blindfolding him, placed him in the back of a pickup truck and transported him to the clandestine detention center known as “Terranova” or “Villa Grimaldi,” located at José Arrieta No. 8200, in the commune of La Reina, and to “Cuatro Álamos,” located at Calle Canadá No. 3000, in Santiago, which were guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access; the victim, Cid Urrutia, during his stay at the Villa Grimaldi and Cuatro Álamos barracks, remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and bound, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating in said barracks for the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of the MIR, in order to proceed with the detention of members of that organization; The last time the victim Cid Urrutia was seen alive by other detainees was on an undetermined day in the month of December 1974, and there is no information regarding his whereabouts to this day; the name of Washington Cid Urrutia 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 Washington Cid Urrutia had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes that arose among those members; The publications that declared the victim Cid Urrutia dead had their origin in disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad.” For this episode, Minister Crisosto indicted the following 81 former DINA agents as co-perpetrators: 01. Juan Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, 02. César Manríquez Bravo, 03. Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, 04. Orlando Manzo Durán, 05. Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, 06. Basclay Zapata Reyes, 07. Marcelo Luis Moren Brito, 08. Francisco Maximiliano Ferrer Lima, 09. Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, 10. Fernando Eduardo Lauriani Maturana, 11. Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, 12. Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires, 13. Ciro Ernesto Torres Sáez, 14. Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, 15. Alejandro Francisco Molina Cisternas, 16. Eugenio Jesús Fieldhouse Chávez, 17. Rosa Humilde Ramos Hernández, 18. Teresa del Carmen Osorio Navarro, 19. Sylvia Teresa Oyarce Pinto, 20. Eduardo Antonio Reyes Lagos, 21. José Jaime Mora Diocares, 22. José Mario Fritz Esparza, 23. Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, 24. Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, 25. Pedro René Alfaro Fernández, 26. Samuel Enrique Fuenzalida Devia, 27. José Abel Aravena Ruiz, 28. Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, 29. Héctor Raúl Valdebenito Araya, 30. Jaime Humberto Paris Ramos, 31. José Stalin Muñoz Leal, 32. Nelson Aquiles Ortiz Vignolo, 33. Pedro Segundo Bitterlich Jaramillo, 34. Rufino Eduardo Jaime Astorga, 35. Víctor San Martín Jiménez, 36. Juvenal Alfonso Piña Garrido, 37. José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, 38. Gustavo Galvarino Carumán Soto, 39. Heriberto del Carmen Acevedo, 40. Luis René Torres Méndez, 41. Orlando Guillermo Inostroza Lagos, 42. Reinaldo Concha Orellana, 43. Rodolfo Valentino Concha Rodríguez, 44. Luis Salvador Villarroel Gutiérrez, 45. Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, 46. Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, 47. Manuel Rivas Díaz, 48. Osvaldo Octavio Castillo Arellano, 49. Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, 50. Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, 51. Guido Arnoldo Jara Brevis, 52. Hugo Hernán Clavería Leiva, 53. Jerónimo del Carmen Neira Méndez, 54. Juan Carlos Escobar Valenzuela, 55. Carlos Enrique Miranda Mesa, 56. Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett, 57. Raúl Alberto Soto Pérez, 58. Manuel Heriberto Avendaño González, 59. Carlos Enrique Letelier Verdugo, 60. Herman Eduardo Ávalos Muñoz, 61. Raúl Bernardo Toro Montes, 62. Silvio Antonio Concha González, 63. Héctor Wacinton Briones Burgos, 64. Olegario Enrique González Moreno, 65. Carlos López Inostroza, 66. Ricardo Orlando Zamorano Vergara, 67. Luis Rigoberto Videla Inzunza, 68. Jorge Segundo Madariaga Acevedo, 69. Hugo Rubén Delgado Carrasco, 70. Luis Fernando Espinace Contreras, 71. Jorge Antonio Lepileo Barrios, 72. Lautaro Eugenio Díaz Espinoza, 73. Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, 74. Palmira Isabel Almuna Guzmán, 75. Miguel Ángel Yáñez Ugalde, 76. Rafael de Jesús Riveros Frost, 77. Leónidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, 78. Héctor Carlos Díaz Cabezas, 79. Alejandro Francisco Astudillo Adonis, 80. Demóstenes Eugenio Cárdenas Saavedra, and 81. Rodolfo Gonzalo Wenderoth Pozo. In this episode, the following were also indicted for the crime of Illicit Association: 1. Juan Manuel Guillermo Contreras Sepúlveda, 2. Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, 3. Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, 4. Marcelo Luis Manuel Moren Brito, 5. Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and 6. Rolf Gonzalo Wenderoth Pozo. In the investigation into the aggravated kidnapping of Ugas Morales, it was established “that on the afternoon of February 7, 1975, Rodrigo Eduardo Ugas Morales, a militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), was detained on a public street in the Estación Central sector of Santiago by agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who transported him to the clandestine DINA detention center known as “Cuartel Terranova” or “Villa Grimaldi,” located at Lo Arrieta No. 8200, in the commune of La Reina, which was guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access; The victim, during his stay at the Villa Grimaldi barracks, remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and bound, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating in said barracks for the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of the MIR, in order to proceed with the detention of members of that organization; The last time the victim Ugas Morales was seen alive occurred on an undetermined day in the month of February 1975, and he remains forcibly disappeared to this day; The name of Rodrigo Eduardo Ugas Morales appeared on a list of 119 people, published in the national press after it appeared on a list published in the magazine “LEA” of Argentina, dated July 15, 1975, which reported that Rodrigo Eduardo Ugas Morales had died in Argentina, along with 59 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes that arose among those members; The publications that declared the victim Ugas Morales dead had their origin in disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad.” For this crime, the following 75 former DINA agents were indicted: 01. Juan Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, 02. César Manríquez Bravo, 03. Pedro Espinoza Bravo, 04. Marcelo Luis Moren Brito, 05. Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, 06. Basclay Zapata Reyes, 07. Francisco Maximiliano Ferrer Lima, 08. Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, 09. Fernando Eduardo Lauriani Maturana, 10. Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, 11. Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires, 12. Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez, 13. Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, 14. Alejandro Francisco Molina Cisternas, 15. Eugenio Jesús Fieldhouse Chávez, 16. Rosa Humilde Ramos Hernández, 17. Teresa del Carmen Osorio Navarro, 18. Eduardo Antonio Reyes Lagos, 19. José Jaime Mora Diocares, 20. José Mario Friz Esparza, 21. Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, 22. Pedro René Alfaro Fernández, 23. Samuel Enrique Fuenzalida Devia, 24. José Abel Aravena Ruiz, 25. Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, 26. Delia Virginia Gajardo Cortés, 27. Héctor Raúl Valdebenito Araya, 28. José Stalin Muñoz Leal, 29. Nelson Aquiles Ortiz Vignolo, 30. Pedro Segundo Bitterlich Jaramillo, 31. Rufino Eduardo Jaime Astorga, 32. José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, 33. Gustavo Galvarino Carumán Soto, 34. Heriberto del Carmen Acevedo, 35. Luis René Torres Méndez, 36. Orlando Guillermo Inostroza Lagos, 37. Reinaldo Concha Orellana, 38. Rodolfo Valentino Concha Rodríguez, 39. Luis Salvador Villarroel Gutiérrez, 40. Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, 41. Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, 42. Manuel Rivas Díaz, 43. Osvaldo Octavio Castillo Arellano, 44. Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, 45. Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, 46. Guido Arnoldo Jara Brevis, 47. Hugo Hernán Clavería Leiva, 48. Jerónimo del Carmen Neira Méndez, 49. Jorge Luis Venegas Silva, 50. Juan Carlos Escobar Valenzuela, 51. Carlos Enrique Miranda Mesa, 52. Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett, 53. Raúl Alberto Soto Pérez, 54. Carlos Enrique Letelier Verdugo, 55. Herman Eduardo Ávalos Muñoz, 56. Raúl Bernardo Toro Montes, 57. Silvio Antonio Concha González, 58. Héctor Wacinton Briones Burgos, 59. Pedro Mora Villanueva, 60. Carlos López Inostroza, 61. José Nelson Fuentealba Saldías, 62. Moisés Paulino Campos Figueroa, 63. Luis Rigoberto Videla Inzunza, 64. Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, 65. Óscar Belarmino La Flor Flores, 66. Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, 67. Sergio Iván Díaz Lara, 68. Palmira Isabel Almuna Guzmán, 69. Osvaldo Pulgar Gallardo, 70. Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel, 71. Miguel Ángel Yáñez Ugalde, 72. Rafael de Jesús Riveros Frost, 73. Leonidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, 74. Héctor Carlos Díaz Cabezas, and 75. Rolf Gonzalo Wenderoth Pozo. Additionally, in this branch of the case, the following were indicted as authors of the crime of Illicit Association: 1. Juan Manuel Guillermo Contreras Sepúlveda, 2. Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, 3. Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, 4. Marcelo Luis Manuel Moren Brito, 5. Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and 6. Rolf Gonzalo Wenderoth Pozo.

Source: El Periodista.cl, June 7, 2018

Court of Appeals acquits six former DINA agents and reduces sentences for 11 others accused of kidnapping and homicide in 1976

The Eighth Chamber of the Court of Appeals acquitted a group of six former DINA agents and reduced the sentences of 11 others, who were granted the alternative sentence of intensive supervised release for a period of five years. "If such substitution is revoked, they must serve the sentences initially imposed," the ruling clarifies.

The crimes were committed in 1976, and today, after decades, three ministers of the appellate court have sealed, in the first instance, the fate of the 17 former agents linked to the kidnapping and murder of an equal number of people.

The Santiago Court of Appeals reported that last Friday, April 9, presiding judge Leopoldo Llanos issued a final first-instance sentence and acquitted six former DINA agents accused as perpetrators and accomplices in the crimes of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated homicide that occurred during the dictatorship in 1976.

These are Juan Morales Salgado, perpetrator of the crimes of aggravated kidnapping of Nalvia Mena Alvarado, Clara Canteros Torres, Juan Aurelio Villarroel Zárate, and the aggravated homicide of Eduardo Canteros Prado.

Ciro Torré Sáez and Orlando Manzo Durán, accused as perpetrators of the crimes of aggravated kidnapping of Manuel Segundo Recabarren Rojas, Alejandro Rodríguez Urzúa, and José Eduardo Santander Miranda. (Orlando José Manzo Durán passed away on July 8, 2019, and no resolution has yet been issued regarding him).

And Jorge Andrade Gómez, accused of being the perpetrator of the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Daniel Palma Robledo. In addition, Gladys Calderón Carreño, an accomplice in the crimes of kidnapping and homicide of Eduardo Canteros Prado, was also acquitted.

And Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, also an accomplice in the crime of kidnapping of Daniel Palma Robledo. The Court of Appeals also decided to sentence 11 other former agents to various prison terms for being perpetrators of repeated crimes of aggravated kidnapping and multiple homicides, granting them the alternative sentence of supervised release.

Likewise, the Court of Appeals noted that Judge Llanos accepted 37 civil lawsuits for amounts ranging from $50,000 to $100,000,000. The ruling adds that various appeals and cassation motions were filed against said sentences.

However, the Court declared that all cassation motions filed by the defense of the convicted individuals Claudio Pacheco Fernández and Gustavo Guerrero Aguilera were rejected. Reduction of sentences The Eighth Chamber of the court, presided over by Minister Juan Cristóbal Mera and composed of Minister Mireya López and attorney Cristián Lepín, indicated that the sentence imposed on Ricardo Lawrence Mires as a perpetrator of the crimes of aggravated kidnapping is reduced to three years and one day of minor imprisonment in its maximum degree, absolute perpetual disqualification for political rights, absolute disqualification for public offices and positions during the term of the sentence, and payment of court costs. The same applies to Jorge Andrade Gómez, Juan Morales Salgado, Ciro Torré Sáez, Sergio Orlando Escalona, and Gladys Calderón Carreño, all as perpetrators of the crimes of aggravated kidnapping. The Court reported that, meeting the legal requirements, each of the convicted individuals is granted the alternative sentence of intensive supervised release for a period of five years, and they must also comply with the requirements of Article 17 of Law 18.216. "If such substitution is revoked, they must serve the sentences initially imposed, which will be counted from the time they present themselves or are apprehended, with credit given for the time they were deprived of liberty, as referred to in the ruling under review," the ruling specifies. Finally, it is noted that the final and partial dismissals decreed due to the deaths of Orlando Guillermo Inostroza Lagos, Eduardo Antonio Reyes Lagos, Rufino Eduardo Jaime Astorga, Juan Manuel Guillermo Contreras Sepúlveda, Marcelo Luis Morén Brito, Bernardo del Rosario Daza Navarro, Guillermo Jesús Ferrán Martínez, Eugenio Jesús Fieldhouse Chávez, and José Mario Friz Esparza, respectively, are approved.

Source: elmostrador.cl, April 12, 2020

Chile: Victims' families reject Court ruling acquitting dictatorship agents

The ruling by the Eighth Chamber of the Santiago Court of Appeals that acquitted 8 former DINA agents of crimes against humanity and reduced the sentences of 9 others caused annoyance among the families of the victims of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, who considered the judicial resolution a gesture of impunity.

Presiding judge Leopoldo Llanos had issued—in mid-2017—sentences for 16 kidnappings and 1 aggravated homicide at Villa Grimaldi. However, the decision by ministers Juan Cristóbal Mera and Mireya López, and the member attorney Cristián Lepín, nullified the first-instance conviction of the former members of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) Pedro Espinoza Bravo, Rolf Wenderoth, Hermon Alfaro, Pedro Betterlich, Claudio Pacheco, Orlando Torrejón, Orlando Altamirano, and Carlos López.

Regarding the rest of the accused—Ricardo Lawrence, Jorge Andrade, Juan Morales Salgado, Ciro Torré, Sergio Escalona, Juvenal Piña, Jorge Díaz, Gustavo Guerrero, and Gladys Calderón—the sentence was reduced to 3 years and 1 day of imprisonment.

For all these repressors, several already convicted in other cases, Judge Llanos had finalized sentences that started at 5 years and 1 day in prison. “Judges nostalgic for the civil-military dictatorship” For the Association of Families of the Forcibly Disappeared (AFDD), the second-instance ruling “represents in all its extremes the position of Pinochetism within the Judiciary.” “They are judges nostalgic for the civil-military dictatorship, who vindicate human rights violations by granting impunity to the DINA agents who committed kidnapping, torture, homicide, and forced disappearance, maintaining that the victims, due to their political circumstances—all militants of the Communist Party—were in a pre-existing situation of risk,” it stated. Furthermore, the AFDD recalled that “our relatives continue to have the status of forcibly disappeared, and the perpetrators are granted supervised release.” “The effect of this ruling for us, the families of the victims, has been devastating. The lack of justice and truth for which we have fought for so many years, with marches, mobilizations, chaining ourselves, protests, and hunger strikes, is felt again with profound pain,” the association said. The Party for Democracy (PPD) also reacted, expressing its “firm repudiation” of the sentence, because “as long as some judges continue to assume an equivalence between crimes against humanity and common crimes, they will inevitably continue to encourage the application of unheard-of sentences for a democratic regime.” “It is the duty of the State of Chile to advance in sanctioning proportionally to the crime committed, to guarantee non-repetition, to provide comprehensive reparations, as well as to avoid using internal provisions that contradict international law, such as pardons, alternative sentences, partial statutes of limitations, and sentence reductions,” the statement notes. “We urge the Honorable Supreme Court to restore the rule of law, in accordance with what is established by international law, in the norms of Ius Cogens, international treaties, general principles, and evidently in inter-American jurisprudence,” the party said.

Source: nodal.am, April 13, 2020