José Boeslindo García Berrios
Obrero Marítimo — 66 years old.
Background
José Boeslindo García Berrios
Obrero Marítimo — 66 years old.
Case summary
José Boeslindo García Berrios, a 66-year-old maritime worker and communist union leader, was detained in Tocopilla in September 1973. On October 19 of that year, he was subjected to political execution by Army personnel near Antofagasta alongside twelve other individuals, without the authorities providing an official account of his death.
Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos[1]
On October 19, 1973, at 01:20 hours, the following individuals were executed by Ejército personnel near Antofagasta:
Luis Eduardo ALANIZ ALVAREZ […] Dinator Segundo AVILA ROCCO […] Guillermo Nelson CUELLO ALVAREZ […] Segundo Norton FLORES ANTIVILO […] Darío Armando GODOY MANSILLA […] José Boeslindo GARCIA BERRIOS, 66 years old, maritime worker and union leader, communist militant; detained in Tocopilla on September 12, taken to the police station in that city, and from there transferred to the Antofagasta Prison.
On several occasions during his detention, he was taken along with his daughter for interrogations at Cerro Moreno. Miguel Hernán MANRIQUEZ DIAZ […] Danilo MORENO ACEVEDO […] Washington Radomil MUÑOZ DONOSO […] Eugenio RUIZ TAGLE ORREGO […] Héctor Mario SILVA IRIARTE […] Alexis VALENZUELA FLORES […] Marco Felipe DE LA VEGA RIVERA […] Mario del Carmen ARQUEROS SILVA […]
On October 21, 1973, an official statement was published in the Antofagasta press reporting the execution of Mario Silva, Eugenio Ruiz Tagle, Washington Muñoz, and Miguel Manríquez, noting that "the executions were ordered by the Junta Militar of Government…".
On October 24, a second public statement appeared reporting the executions of Luis Alaniz, Danilo Moreno, and Nelson Cuello, indicating that by "resolution of the Honorable Government Junta, on the dawn of the 20th, the execution by firing squad of three people was carried out…", referring to those already mentioned.
There was no official version regarding the remaining seven individuals executed on October 19.
Subsequent official statements, from both provincial and national authorities, refer to these executions as if they were the result of sentences handed down by War Councils. In reports submitted by the government of the time to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it was stated that Eugenio Ruiz Tagle and Héctor Silva, among others, had been prosecuted in case 349 73 before the First Military Court of Antofagasta, with it being proven against Ruiz Tagle "his participation in the crime of embezzlement of public funds… and the transfer of funds to acquire armaments for the Partido Socialista and the Movimiento de Acción Popular. Furthermore, his responsibility was established in the organization of a terrorist plan prepared for September 18 and 19, 1973… the corresponding court imposed the death penalty, which was carried out by firing squad on October 19, 1973." Regarding Héctor Silva, according to that version, various crimes were allegedly proven, including embezzlement of public funds, attacks against State Security, and illegal possession of weapons and explosives, adding that "his participation in these acts was irrefutably proven. In the case, he confessed to his participation as a promoter, organizer, and main leader of a paramilitary organization… In the respective trial… he was sentenced to death, which was carried out by firing squad on October 19, 1973."
After carefully analyzing the information received and the testimonies collected from various sources, the Commission formed the conviction that the deaths of the fourteen individuals identified above were executions for which State agents were responsible, acting outside of all legality, which constituted a violation of their human rights, especially to physical integrity, due process, and life.
It bases its conviction on the following considerations:
- Regarding the majority of those executed, there are credible testimonies that while they were deprived of liberty and before being killed, they were atrociously tortured. This, of course, would invalidate any confession provided.
- The official version that reported the existence of a judicial process that would have concluded in the death sentence of the fourteen affected individuals is contradictory to the first information that reported a decision by the Honorable Government Junta;
- That despite the requests made by the Commission, it was not possible to obtain the documents of the trial that would have been substantiated against those executed, which, together with the other evidence, leads it to conclude that this never existed;
- That, furthermore, the first version regarding the decision of the Government Junta is consistent with the fact that at the time of the executions, a military delegation from Santiago was present in Antofagasta with authority delegated precisely by the highest national authorities;
- That in this last regard, the versions provided by the protagonists are contradictory regarding the origin of the execution orders, but none alleges that a Consejo de Guerra existed;
- That in the event that any kind of trial of the executed individuals had taken place, it occurred without the knowledge of their families and lawyers, which meant that the affected individuals lacked the right to a defense;
- That, whatever the origin of the order to execute the fourteen detainees may have been, military officers and personnel from the Antofagasta Regiment and officers belonging to the delegation from Santiago participated in their execution by firing squad.
Judicial Case Files[2]
Episodio Caravana Antofagasta
- Leopoldo Llanos
- 2182-98
- 31945-2014
- 535-2014
- Antofagasta
- Emilio De La Mahotiere Gonzalez
- Juan Chiminelli Fullerton
- Luis Polanco Gallardo
- Pablo Martinez Latorre
- Patricio Ferrer Ducaud
- Pedro Espinoza Bravo
- Sergio Arredondo Gonzalez
References
- 1Museum of Memoryhttps://interactivos.museodelamemoria.cl/victims/?p=550
- 2Judicial Case Fileshttps://expedientesdelarepresion.cl/causa/episodio-caravana-antofagasta/