• Jorge Rodrigo MUÑOZ MELLA, 18 years old, student.
• José Andrés GARCIA LAZO, 29 years old, television technician.

That night, a patrol of Carabineros violently broke into the aforementioned residence and proceeded to detain both young men. Multiple and consistent witnesses stated that they heard shouting and gunfire and saw the young men being loaded into a police van.

They then saw two people being taken out of the Carabineros van; they were forced to lie on the ground, shot, and then loaded back into the vehicle. The numerous legal proceedings and petitions filed by their families were met with negative responses.

To this day, nothing is known about the fate or whereabouts of the young men. With the detentions fully corroborated, and given that neither of the young men had any contact with their families after the events, nor carried out any procedures with State agencies, nor registered an exit from the country, this Commission has formed the conviction that Jorge Muñoz and José Andrés García were forcibly disappeared by State agents who violated their human rights.

Source: (Rettig Report)

The minister for extraordinary cases of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Paola Plaza, issued a first-instance sentence in the case investigating the crime against José Andrés García Lazo (29), a television technician, and student Jorge Rodrigo Muñoz Mella (18), who were murdered on September 18, 1973, at the hands of Carabineros from the 8th Precinct of Santiago.

According to the investigation, the victims were detained, murdered, and then thrown into the Zanjón de la Aguada river, where their trail was lost for years. In 1991, their bodies were found in Patio 29 of the General Cemetery.

The events were considered to constitute the crime of qualified homicide by Minister Plaza, who sentenced retired Carabineros Major Carlos Gastón Manterola Miranda, as the perpetrator, to 15 years and one day of major imprisonment in its maximum degree, and retired Sergeant José Alejandro Cabrera Tapia, as an accomplice, to 5 years of minor imprisonment in its maximum degree, granting the latter the benefit of supervised release.

The plaintiff lawyer, Andrea Gattini, of the Caucoto Abogados firm, representing the spouse and daughter of José García Lazo, stated that "this crime is a demonstration of an inexplicable situation, of the cruelty and irrationality with which they acted in the days following the coup d'état.

Two young men who were celebrating the national holidays, without political affiliation, were murdered in cold blood by Carabineros who then loaded the bodies into a vehicle and threw them into a river to disappear them and cover up their actions.

Their families did not know their whereabouts for 18 years, until they were notified that their bodies had been entered as John Does (NN) into Patio 29 of the General Cemetery." Gattini further expressed that "the pain and the damage are irreparable.

We hope that these sentences are confirmed and that some justice is achieved." The facts Minister Paola Plaza has been able to corroborate the following facts in her investigation: "On September 18, 1973, around 9:00 PM, Jorge Rodrigo Muñoz Mella, Chilean, 18 years old, single, student, and José Andrés García Lazo, Chilean, married, 29 years old, television technician, were returning to the home of the latter during curfew hours, after having been celebrating the national holidays.

Before reaching the property, they incited disturbances on the public thoroughfare, which caused the annoyance of a neighbor who reported them to the Carabineros who were monitoring the sector for compliance with the curfew.

Thus, Carabineros officers from the 8th Precinct of Santiago arrived at the scene, and although the aforementioned Jorge Muñoz Mella and José García were already inside the property located at Calle Bascuñán Guerrero Nº 620, they broke in anyway and forcibly took them out to the public thoroughfare, where they were forced to lie on the ground and, taking advantage of the fact that they were defenseless, they fired upon both, an action that caused serious injuries resulting in their immediate death.

Once inert, the bodies of Muñoz and García were loaded into the police van and transported to the 'Zanjón de la Aguada' bridge, where they were thrown into the river, making it impossible for their families to locate them, despite having searched intensely.

In 1991, their remains were found in Patio 29 of the General Cemetery of Santiago, as a result of which both were duly identified as Jorge Rodrigo Muñoz Mella and José Andrés García Lazo, establishing the cause of death as 'gunshot wounds, with the immediate cause of death being hemorrhagic shock in the context of a violent, homicidal, forensic-legal death'."

Source: cambio21.cl, August 9, 2024

Date: 08-09-2024

SML identifies forcibly disappeared person found in Patio 29

The minister of the Court of Appeals, Leopoldo Llanos Sagistrá, and the national director of the Legal Medical Service (SML), Dr. Patricio Bustos Streeter, announced to the families the confirmation of the identity via DNA of JOSÉ ANDRÉS GARCÍA LAZO, a victim of the dictatorship found in Patio 29.

The minister of the Court of Appeals, Leopoldo Llanos Sagistrá, and the national director of the Legal Medical Service, Dr. Patricio Bustos Streeter, announced to the families the confirmation of the identity via DNA of José Andrés García Lazo, a victim of the dictatorship found in Patio 29, previously identified through other methods.

In a meeting held at the offices of the Court of Appeals, the authorities of both institutions explained the results obtained by the SML's multidisciplinary team and the genetic analyses that allowed for the confirmation of his identity.

The director of the forensic entity stated that "our work and commitment continue to advance in the identification of victims of human rights violations, in order to provide forensic evidence to the courts and to the families who hope for progress in truth and justice." José Andrés García Lazo, 29 years old and without political affiliation, was detained at his home on Calle Bascuñán, Santiago, along with Jorge Rodrigo Muñoz Mella, 18 years old, on September 18, 1973.

Both were classified as victims of forced disappearance by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report.

Source: radiouchile.cl, April 25, 2013

Date: 04-25-2013

Manuel Barros Borgoño High School holds posthumous graduation for student killed during the Dictatorship

A special moment was experienced at the 2015 graduation ceremony of the Manuel Barros Borgoño High School, whose educational community presented a posthumous high school diploma to Jorge Rodrigo Muñoz Mella, who was a student at the institution and one of the victims illegally buried in Patio 29 of the General Cemetery.

The high school graduation certificate was received by the family of the former student in a moment of great emotion amidst the graduation of the fourth-year high school students of the traditional school, with the presence of teachers, parents, and school administrators. "This recognition of one of our secondary students is of great significance and value for the memory of the Barros Borgoño high school, the educational community of Santiago, and society in general, in order to lay the foundations for building a better country and forming citizens who are knowledgeable about our history and respectful of life and human rights," expressed the Director of Education of Santiago, María Luisa Rivera. Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the National Coordinator of Secondary Students and student of the Manuel Barros Borgoño High School, Ricardo Paredes, added that "this gesture is of tremendous importance both for the high school and for the family of our classmate Jorge, a victim of the dictatorship. Today we hope that his case will have the due truth and justice, just like many others that have not yet been clarified." Jorge Muñoz was considered a forcibly disappeared person until July of this year, the date on which the Legal Medical Service managed to identify his remains as one of the victims illegally buried in Patio 29 of the General Cemetery. The student was 18 years old at the time of his disappearance and had no political affiliation. On September 18, 1973, he was detained by a patrol of uniformed officers along with Jorge Andrés García Lazo, at the latter's home located at Calle Bascuñán 620, Santiago. Since then, Muñoz appeared as a victim of the crime of illegal burial in Patio 29 of the General Cemetery, along with other unidentified persons who were killed between September 1973 and March 1974.

Source: munistgo.cl, December 4, 2015

SML delivers body of Jorge Muñoz, victim of the dictatorship associated with Patio 29

Jorge Rodrigo Muñoz Mella was 18 years old, was in his final year of school at the Manuel Barros Borgoño High School, and had no political affiliation. On September 18, 1973, around 9:00 PM, he was detained along with José Andrés García Lazo at the latter's home.

This morning, the Legal Medical Service delivered the remains of Jorge Rodrigo Muñoz Mella, a victim of the civic-military dictatorship found in Patio 29, to his family. The national director of the institution, Dr.

Patricio Bustos Streeter, together with the head of the Regional Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Lorenzo Caraffi, and the legal advisor of the same organization, Gabriel Valladares, met with the family to explain the procedures carried out that allowed for the determination of the identity and the confirmation of the cause and manner of death, which were achieved through the multidisciplinary work of the Special Forensic Identification Unit team and genetic analyses.

Jorge Rodrigo Muñoz Mella was 18 years old, was in his final year of school at the Manuel Barros Borgoño High School, and had no political affiliation. On September 18, 1973, around 9:00 PM, he was detained along with José Andrés García Lazo at the latter's home. Both were classified as victims of forced disappearance by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report.

Source: elmostrador.cl, August 26, 2015

García Lazo José Andrés (facts)

The affected party was detained on September 18, 1973, at his home along with his friend Jorge Muñoz Mella, as indicated in the complaint for alleged misfortune filed on October 7, 1974, by his spouse, Mrs.

Gloria Cáceres Gómez, before the Fifth Criminal Court of Santiago, case file 99.287. The perpetrators of the detention were Carabineros officers from the precinct of the sector, who arrived at the home of the affected party in a service van.

They immediately broke into the home violently, where they fired shots and then raided it, taking José Andrés and his friend Jorge Rodrigo from their beds, as they were asleep at that hour, and violently forcing them into the van.

The complaint stated verbatim: "Eyewitnesses, among them Olga Quezada, residing at Bascuñan 617, have pointed out that two individuals were taken down from the same Carabineros van, who did not identify themselves; individuals who, after being forced to lie on the ground, were fired upon with a machine gun burst by Carabineros." On the other hand, the aforementioned complaint states: "Adriana Lazo Parraguez, a relative of José García (with whom he lived at the date of the events), arrived at the place of detention and a man was washing the sidewalk, which was completely impregnated with blood.

Today, anyone can observe holes caused by bullets in that residence. From that moment of the young men's detention, we have not seen them again, nor have we had an official response regarding their legal situation." Subsequently, Gloria Cáceres Gómez, upon ratifying her complaint, at page 5, states that "inside the house where they were detained, there are bloodstains." Further on, at page 6, the investigative report is filed regarding the order to investigate issued by the court, in which interviews conducted by the investigating detective are detailed: 1- Mr.

Domingo Muñoz Becerra, who ratifies all of the above and adds that "an assistant informed him that his son was being held at the National Stadium along with José Andrés García Lazo" and that this was confirmed by a civilian employee of the stadium named Elias Camus Camus, who received items from them to take to him. 2- Mrs.

Gloria Cáceres, who ratifies the above, adding that: "from her house, the captors took various items of value." 3- Olga Quijada Bastias, single, seamstress, ID 3.101.593 Santiago, residing at Bascuñan Guerrero 617, declares in the same vein as the complainant, adding that she heard "don't kill them... turn on the light!

There is a pregnant woman," then heard glass breaking, gunshots, bursts, etc. She later points out the same at the military prosecutor's office. 4- Enrique Valenzuela Quijada, same address as the previous witness (son), declares that he was with the detainees moments before, as he saw them drunk and accompanied them to bed in the house where they were detained.

Upon leaving, he left the doors closed; when he heard the shots and shouting, he did not dare to leave his house. The next day he saw bloodstains on the sidewalk, the gutter, and inside the house. Otherwise, he repeats what was indicated in the complaint. 5- María Alvarez Provoste, widow, ID 64.414 from Los Angeles, residing at Bascuñan Guerrero 617, is the tenant of the property and heard the same as the previous interviewee.

Later, in court, she declares, ratifying Mrs. Olga Quijada Bastidas, Albertina Alvarez Provoste, and Enrique Valenzuela Quijada. Further on, Mrs. Elsa Jiménez Tobar and Elías Camus Camus declare, both denying having provided information to the complainant; the latter acknowledges belonging to the army and having worked at the National Stadium.

Finally, all reports sent to the court by the consulted authorities were negative; among them, attached at page 517, is that of the Legal Medical Institute, an agency that states: "having reviewed the admission indices for the years 1973 and 1974, until January 1975, none of those mentioned appear registered" (referring to García Lazo and Muñoz Mella).

However, the Chilean government informed the United Nations Commission on Human Rights that Jorge Rodrigo Muñoz Mella (detained along with José Andrés) "had died on October 17, 1973, at 2:10 PM" according to reports from the Legal Medical Institute.

Source: vicariadelasolidaridad.cl, no date