On October 16, 1973, Jenaro Ricardo MENDOZA VILLAVICENCIO, 25 years old, and Aquiles Juan JARA ALVAREZ, 30 years old, were executed by order of the military command of Tejas Verdes. Both were carabineros from the Tenth Precinct of Algarrobo, having been detained on October 15 at the same police unit where they served.

They were executed after being sentenced to death by a War Council of the Tejas Verdes School of Engineers.

This Commission has been unable to obtain the records of the proceedings brought against the aforementioned carabineros, despite having requested them from the relevant authorities.

The Commission reached the conviction that Jenaro Mendoza and Aquiles Jara were victims of human rights violations committed by State agents, who executed them in violation of the norms that guarantee due process. It reached this conclusion based on the background common to all wartime proceedings of the period, and in consideration of the following specific points:

– According to the scant information this Commission was able to obtain regarding the case, the alleged crime was performing duty while in a state of intoxication, which cannot justify the application of a penalty as irreparable as the death penalty.

– The two executed men were detained in Algarrobo on October 15, 1973, transferred to San Antonio, and executed by firing squad the following day. The speed of the procedure precludes the possibility of a trial meeting the most minimal and elementary guarantees that the rules of due process require for the accused.

– It has not been possible to determine whether the victims had legal assistance; in any case, the family members never knew of the existence of a lawyer nor did they have the opportunity to appoint one.