Jesús de la Paz Rodríguez González, single, a laborer with no known political affiliation, was detained on August 22, 1974, at approximately 4:30 PM, on the corner near his home in San Bernardo by three agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who were traveling in a red Chevrolet or Ford pickup truck.

Two days later, he was taken to the residence where his brother Artagnan was located; Artagnan was detained in the vicinity of that property. Both remain in the status of forcibly disappeared, and it has not been possible to establish the place of detention where they may have been held.

As ruled by the Court, the apprehension of the victim was the first step toward achieving the detention of his brother, who was being sought for his ties to the MIR.

On that day, August 22, 1974, brothers-in-law Jesús Rodríguez and Manuel Antonio Muñoz Herrera—the latter a conscript at the San Bernardo Infantry School—were talking on the corner of Calle Ochagavía and Calle Mestizo Alejo when two well-dressed civilians approached them and quickly displayed identification that they were unable to see.

They asked for their identity cards, adding that they should accompany them and not ask questions. They walked about eight blocks until they reached Calle Cacique Michimalongo, where a red pickup truck was parked with an open cargo bed and a third agent in the cabin.

Jesús Rodríguez and Manuel Antonio Muñoz were loaded into the back of the vehicle, with their backs against the cabin. Immediately, the captors proceeded to blindfold them with their own handkerchiefs, placing another bandage over them, "something that darkened the view completely," as stated by Manuel Antonio Muñoz before the Court. They were forced to keep their heads between their knees.

The vehicle started moving, making numerous turns in different directions, until, around 7:00 PM, it parked at Bus Stop 27 on Gran Avenida, where they made Manuel Antonio Herrera get out. They told him he was being spared "only because he was a soldier."

One of the captors was about 30 years old, solid build, medium height, straight dark brown hair combed to the left, with an elongated face; the other was about 18 years old, thin, slightly shorter than the first, with straight brown hair. Both wore dark glasses and had short hair.

When the Court ordered a reconstruction of the scene, it was noted that the pickup truck must have circled an area where the "El Bosque" Sub-station and the "Lo Lillo" Sub-station were located, both under the 10th Carabineros Precinct, located at Gran Avenida No. 9089. Furthermore, between bus stops 32 and 38 on the same thoroughfare are the facilities of the Chilean Air Force.

On August 24, 1974, near noon, the victim was taken by his captors to Calle San Pablo No. 6124, the address where his brother Artagnan lived and worked. As recounted by Teresa Ponce Zamorano—the victim's sister-in-law—around 12:00 PM, three young subjects, about 30 to 35 years old, well-dressed, arrived at her house in a modern pickup truck with an open cargo bed; she does not recall the color.

After the agents left—Artagnan Rodríguez was not at home at that time—she looked out the window and saw a military jeep, covered with a canvas top in the back. Jesús Rodríguez was inside that vehicle.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On September 3, 1974, an amparo (habeas corpus) petition was filed before the Santiago Court of Appeals for Jesús and Artagnan Rodríguez González, registered under No. 1041-74. During its processing, inquiries were made to various authorities, all of whom denied the detention of the brothers.

On November 11, 1974, the Minister of the Interior and Division General, Raúl Benavides Escobar, officially informed the Court that they were not being held by order of that Secretariat of State. He made a statement in the same terms, but only in relation to Jesús Rodríguez, on November 12 of the same year.

On December 2, 1974—three months after its filing—the petition was rejected solely on the basis of the information provided by the authorities. The records were sent to the corresponding Criminal Court.

On August 20, 1976, a complaint for the crime of kidnapping of Jesús Rodríguez González was filed before the 1st Criminal Court of San Bernardo, registered under No. 45.311-8. When consulted, the Minister of the Interior, Division General Raúl Benavides Escobar, replied to the Court on September 2, 1976, that the victim was not being held by order of that Secretariat of State.

For its part, the Investigations police, following a court order, reported having made inquiries at the National Executive Secretariat of Detainees (SENDET) and the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), agencies in which "it was not established that the aforementioned Jesús de la Paz Rodríguez González had been registered as a detainee." Additionally, Lieutenant Colonel Sergio Guarategua Peña, Executive Secretary of SENDET, reported on October 19, 1976, that the victim had no records at the Ministry of the Interior.

When the press announced on December 14, 1977, that the General Secretariat of Government had officially and publicly reported that "1,200 alleged disappeared persons had been located," the victim's family requested that the Court officially ask the General Secretariat of Government to report whether the victim's case had also been resolved.

The aforementioned press information provided a list of 276 names—it was said that reports of disappearances had reached 1,700 cases—none of whom had ever been reported as disappeared. The response was received on October 17, 1978.

Brigadier General René Vidal Basauri, Minister Secretary General of Government, returned the official letter to the Court, stating that the requested information was not within his jurisdiction.

On August 1, 1980, Aurelia González—the victim's mother—filed a criminal complaint for the crime of aggravated kidnapping against DINA personnel. The filing recounted the detention of the victim, adding that two days later his brother Artagnan Rodríguez was detained, with both remaining in the status of forcibly disappeared.

It was also noted that Artagnan's name appeared on a list provided by the then-Ambassador of Chile to the United Nations, Sergio Diez, in 1975, as one of the bodies found at the Legal Medical Institute (further details on this are in the case of Artagnan Rodríguez González).

Following other proceedings, the plaintiff requested that the Legal Medical Institute be consulted as to whether, in the months between August and October 1974, any bodies had been admitted with the designation "NN" (unidentified) that had not been identified.

In January 1982, a list of five "NN" bodies was sent to the Court, with their respective autopsy protocols, whose characteristics did not match those of the victim. In addition, inquiries were directed to the intelligence services of the Carabineros, the Air Force, and the Army.

In July 1982, Carabineros General Juan Alfonso Lillo Cea—Director of Intelligence—and Air Force Brigadier General Vicente Rodríguez Bustos—Director of Intelligence—reported that their respective agencies lacked information regarding the victim.

For his part, Lieutenant General Washington Carrasco Fernández, Minister of National Defense, replied on August 11, 1982, on behalf of the Army Intelligence Directorate, stating that there was no information regarding the inquiry.

On August 9, 1982, Lieutenant General and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergio Covarrubias Sanhueza, officially informed the Court that Jesús Rodríguez did not appear as an asylee and, in relation to the list provided to the United Nations, added that "this Ministry has not ordered the preparation of such a document."

In December 1982, the plaintiff pointed out to the Court that "one of the most symptomatic aspects in investigations into cases of disappeared persons, such as the victim in this case, has occurred with the knowledge that some of these persons have been located by their relatives, buried in Patio 29 of the General Cemetery." It was stated that in that place there were graves that for the most part dated from September 1973 and that almost entirely corresponded to "NN" bodies; "there is a considered suspicion that there could be an answer there for many cases of disappeared persons." It was requested that a detailed report be obtained from the General Cemetery regarding what Patio 29 is, what persons had been buried there, the date of the majority of the graves, how many of those buried there had been identified, and any other information that would allow for the understanding of said place in its exact dimension.

On January 31, 1983, Air Force Colonel (Ret.) Jorge Vega Pemjean, Director of the General Cemetery, officially informed the Court that in Patio 29, among others, the bodies of indigent persons were buried, some of whom are identified, as well as bodies of unidentified persons sent by the Legal Medical Institute.

It was added that, as it was a place intended for temporary burials (3 years, renewable for another 3), it was not possible to send a list of persons interred there. "From the date you request the information," it was noted, "to the present, about 3,000 people have been buried (Patio 29)." It concluded by stating that "only those bodies (unknown or NN) that, by order of the Military Justice, must remain in their burial places have not been exhumed or moved."

During the processing of the case, the file on the disappearance of Artagnan Rodríguez was reviewed, and Teresa Ponce Zamorano—the latter's spouse and sister-in-law of the victim—was summoned to testify; until that moment, December 1985, she had not been summoned to testify before any Court; furthermore, in the process regarding her husband's disappearance, she was not located because she was out of the country.

After various proceedings and exhaustively interviewing the witness to the victim's detention, Manuel Antonio Muñoz Herrera, the Court convened at the Población Santa Laura on May 27, 1988, for the purpose of retracing the route taken by the witness Muñoz Herrera, the victim, and his captors.

The streets they passed through were mapped, and the Sub-stations and Chilean Air Force facilities existing in the sector were noted. Subsequently, in March 1989, based on the descriptions provided by Manuel Antonio Muñoz, an attempt was made to create a composite sketch of the captors.

However, given the time elapsed (August 1974 to 1989) and the circumstances surrounding the events, the witness was unable to establish the type of nose or mouth the agents had. Thus, only an incomplete face resulted.

Subsequently, the Court consulted cemeteries in different locations regarding the admission of the bodies of the Rodríguez González brothers, without achieving positive results. On July 6, 1989, Arturo Urrutia Silva, Director of the General Cemetery, reported that after checking the archives, the bodies of the victims did not appear to be interred there.

By 1990, and derived from a prosecutor's ruling after a series of closures and reopenings of the summary proceedings, in which it was noted that "through the process it can be inferred that the detention of Jesús Rodríguez was the first step to achieve that of his brother Artagnan," the Court of Appeals ordered an investigation into the list provided by the Government of Chile to the United Nations.

Thus, the Court was ordered to summon Mario Parker, lawyer and delegate of the Government Junta to the Legal Medical Institute in 1975; to summon Lorenzo Reus and Gilberto Rudolph, also officials of the Legal Medical Institute; to summon Sergio Diez Urzúa, who in 1975 delivered the information to the United Nations; to summon Enrique Cid Coubles, Army Major, who in 1975 served in the Human Rights Secretariat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and to summon Juan Aravena Fernández, who appeared on the United Nations list under No. 7 and who was alive.

The proceedings were fully carried out, and in December 1992, after the summary had been closed and reopened 12 times, the investigation into the matter continued. (Regarding this aspect of the process, see complete background in the case of Artagnan González Rodríguez).

Source: Vicariate of Solidarity

A tribute to my 2 brothers who this month have been forcibly disappeared for 38 years; their brother Marcos Rodriguez Gonzalez has not forgotten them, brothers and comrades.

A soul filled with flags

There, beneath the earth, you are not asleep, brother, comrade. Your heart hears the spring sprout which, like you, will blow in the winds. There, buried facing the sun, the new earth covers your seed, the deep root will sink and the flower of the new day will be born.

To your wounded feet will come the hands of the humble, they will come sowing. Your death will bring many lives that will march singing toward where you were going. Thus, where the criminal hides, your name gives the rich many names.

He who burned your wings as you flew will not extinguish the fire of the poor. Here, brother, here upon the earth, our soul is filled with flags that advance. Against fear they advance, against fear. We shall overcome! We shall overcome!

Source: justicianadamasperonadamenos.blogspot.com 2012