D.O.B.: 19-01-45, 28 years old at the time of his detention Address: Pje. N°2, corner of Pje. N°4, Lo Franco 2695, Carrascal, Santiago Marital Status: Married Occupation: Lathe mechanic Repressive Status: Union leader Date of Detention: September 11, 1973

REPRESSIVE SITUATION

On September 11, 1973, Iván Miranda, a married man and union leader, was visiting his parents' house, located at Calle Rawson 240 (Recoleta, height 1800), taking advantage of his legal holiday, which was scheduled to last until September 25 of that year.

During the morning of September 11, 1973, Iván Miranda learned from his parents that a Military Coup had taken place. He remained at his parents' home until approximately 10:00 AM and then left for an unknown destination.

That was the last time his relatives saw him alive. However, on September 16, 1973, his parents received a phone call from their son, in which Iván Miranda told them that he was well and that there were no developments, but he did not indicate his whereabouts.

From that date on, they never heard from him again. Consequently, the family mobilized to investigate any possibility of information regarding his person. They visited aid stations, hospitals, the Legal Medical Institute, and police stations; they contacted Iván Miranda's friends and acquaintances and meticulously reviewed all the lists of detainees provided by the Military Government, without obtaining positive results.

Although Iván Miranda had sympathies for the deposed government and held leftist ideas, he was not a member of any political party. He held the position of treasurer for the union at his company, an automotive mechanics factory located at Maruri 812, Santiago.

These circumstances—leftist ideas and a union leadership position—led his relatives to presume his detention and eventual death at the hands of military personnel or security agencies of the military regime.

It should be added that the victim's spouse, Mrs. Norma Astorga Ramírez, never saw him again, and since the phone call he made to his parents on September 16, 1973, she lost all trace of him. The National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation formed the conviction that the victim's disappearance was due to the actions of State agents.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

After the family's multiple and fruitless attempts to find out Iván Miranda's whereabouts in detention centers, police stations, and other locations, his brother, George Nibaldo Miranda Sepúlveda, filed a complaint for alleged disappearance before the Third Criminal Court of Santiago on April 4, 1977.

This judicial action gave rise to case file 123.867 of that court. On May 3, 1977, the Legal Medical Institute responded to the Court that Iván Miranda had not been registered in that office from September 11, 1973, to April 27, 1977.

For his part, the Minister of the Interior, Raúl Benavides, informed the Court on May 10, 1977, that Iván Miranda had no records in that Secretariat of State, nor had any resolution been issued affecting him.

On October 3, 1977, Alfredo Valderrama Bustamante, the victim's employer, appeared before the Court and stated that since the victim did not return to work after his legal holiday expired, he sent a note to the Labor Inspectorate.

The businessman added that he had later sent for Iván Miranda's spouse to return her Social Security booklet, deliver the salary owed to him, and inquire about the whereabouts of the disappeared man. On October 26, 1977, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the court that Iván Miranda had no record of asylum or having left the country.

The International Police Department, for its part, officially notified the Court on November 23, 1977, stating that Iván Miranda had no record of leaving the country between September 11, 1973, and that date.

On January 10, 1978, Carabineros de Chile reported that there were no records regarding the victim in their units and offices. Prior to everything already mentioned, and on September 29, 1977, the Civil Registry and Identification Service had informed the Court that it was impossible to send the filiation extract of Iván Octavio Miranda Sepúlveda "Because no person with those names and surnames is registered in the index file of this office," which is equivalent to saying that the identity and legal existence of Iván Miranda were non-existent.

However, when filing the complaint, his relatives provided a birth certificate and photographs of him. The latter corresponded to the year he had performed his Compulsory Military Service, and together with them, the family provided a Diploma of Honor that was granted to him by the Recruitment Directorate of the Armed Forces.

Consequently, on February 28, 1978, and to circumvent such an irregularity, the Court personally appeared at the Central Identification Cabinet, extending the diligence to other cases of kidnapping or alleged disappearance.

But it was impossible to carry out that task in a single day, so the Court issued an order that the filiation extracts of all persons whose kidnappings or disappearances had been reported within its jurisdiction be sent as soon as possible.

On March 13, 1978, the Civil Registry and Identification Service sent the Third Criminal Court an extensive list of people with their respective identity card numbers and photographs, but again omitted the filiation extract and photograph of Iván Octavio Miranda Sepúlveda because he was "not registered in the index file of this Central Office." On April 17, 1978, despite a series of pending procedures requested by the complainant—among others, reports from the National Executive Secretariat of Detainees (SENDET) of the Ministry of Defense, etc.—the Court declared the summary closed.

Subsequently, "and bearing in mind that it is not fully proven that Iván Miranda Sepúlveda has suffered an alleged disappearance or that the crime of kidnapping has been perpetrated against him," the judge temporarily dismissed the case.

On June 28, 1978, the Santiago Court of Appeals issued a resolution approving the dismissal. The anthropomorphic records of Iván Miranda Sepúlveda were attached to case 4449-AF of the 22nd Criminal Court of Santiago for the crime of illegal burial in Patio 29 of the General Cemetery of unidentified persons who died between September and December 1973.

The Investigating Judge of the case ordered the excavation of 108 graves in September 1991. 125 bodies were exhumed from there and sent to the Legal Medical Institute. Currently (late 1992), the forensic identification reports are pending.

Source: Vicariate of Solidarity

This is a documentary directed by Elvira Díaz that tells the story of three gravediggers from the emblematic section of the General Cemetery: Lelo, Perejil, and Rogelio, who had the bitter task of burying hundreds of unidentified corpses during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

The film's director, Elvira Díaz, was born in France and did not know Chile until 2001, seeking to get closer to the reality of the country where her father was born. "My father arrived in Paris as a political refugee in January 1974.

I waited my whole childhood for him to bring me to Chile, and I finally decided to leave without him in 2001 because I needed to get closer to the reality of the people who stayed living there to understand and feel," the filmmaker stated.

She arrived at the General Cemetery while filming the documentary "Víctor Jara Nº2547," which narrates the burial of the singer, whose grave is located in front of Patio 29. There, she began to question the history of that space. "Being in front of it every day, I started asking myself questions about the history of that place and its gravediggers," she confesses. "Héctor Herrera, who is the person who buried Víctor Jara in 1973, told me that a gravedigger had helped him put the singer's coffin in the niche, and that, as an act of resistance, he had placed a wreath of flowers he had stolen from a neighboring grave, which was obviously forbidden at that time. So, I asked myself, who had buried the dead in Patio 29? Who was in charge of that difficult task? At first, I thought they were soldiers, until the director of the cemetery explained to me that they were not and sent me to Lelo, who was a gravedigger who was still in service," she details. The author confesses that she immediately felt great respect for her subjects, living testimonies of wisdom among those who have gone through horrific situations without losing their sanity or sense of humor. "Like many people who have experienced terrible things in their lives, today they bear witness to a sanity and wisdom that move me. They also have a great sense of humor. Their vision of life, death, and human madness is different from ours. I learned a lot from them," she says. The trust the filmmaker gained in her characters was key to the development of the film, as their testimonies began with the distrust typical of people who for decades have kept chilling secrets that put their lives and those of their loved ones at risk. "The first day of filming, no one wanted to talk or be filmed in the cemetery. They had received anonymous calls; they were afraid of losing their jobs and their lives. After 15 days of filming in other places, Lelo and Perejil decided to fear no more: 'We were scared for 17 years, that's enough, come and take us to the cemetery now,' they told me." When asked about how the Chilean public will react to the documentary, Elvira Díaz points out: "I don't know. I am impatient to talk to the public. I also have many questions to ask; I do not intend to give answers or impose a message, nor to say what the public should think. I proposed my personal observation despite the distance, and because I did not live through the dictatorship, I am open to all possible comments." Elvira Díaz adds: "This film is also a form of tribute. My goal is to bring to light personal stories that belong to everyone; I serve as an antenna," she concludes. The film will premiere on Thursday, August 2, in the circuit of theaters that Miradoc has throughout the country, in an initiative financed by the Cultural Intermediation Program, 2017 Call; and the Audiovisual Development Fund, 2017 Call, of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage.

Source: elmostrador.cl 7/23/2018 Date: 07-23-2018

Iván Octavio Sepúlveda, a married man and social leader at a factory, was last seen on September 11.

The Legal Medical Service (SML) reported that Iván Octavio Sepúlveda, a victim of 'Patio 29' who had been missing since September 11, 1973, was identified through genetic analysis. The forensic examinations carried out at the University of North Texas (UNT) Laboratory confirmed the work of a multidisciplinary team from the SML's Forensic Identification Unit.

The results were reported to Sepúlveda's family by the minister investigating the case, Alejandro Solís, and the director of the Legal Medical Service, Patricio Bustos. Iván Miranda was married and worked as a union leader at an automotive mechanics factory.

He was last seen on September 11, 1973, at his parents' house. Five days later, he reportedly called his family, but nothing more was ever heard of him.

Source: 24horas.cl 5/28/2012 Date: 05-28-2012