Address: Carmen Mena Pje. 42, House 9, Las Industrias, San Miguel, Santiago Marital Status: Married, 1 child Occupation: Employee of the National Health Service. Night watchman at Barros Luco Hospital. Union leader. Repressive Status: Militant of the Socialist Party Date of Detention: January 22, 1974

REPRESSIVE SITUATION

José Guillermo Orellana Meza, married, one child, an employee of Barros Luco Hospital, union leader, and militant of the Socialist Party, was detained in the early hours of January 22, 1974, at his workplace and in front of witnesses, by agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA).

The agents, who were traveling in a private vehicle, took him to the Tejas Verdes Military Engineers School Regiment, from where he was forcibly disappeared.

As recounted by Adriana Chávez—the victim's spouse—José Guillermo Orellana left his home on January 21, 1974, around 7:00 PM, to begin his shift at Barros Luco Hospital, which lasted until 7:00 AM the following day.

However, since he did not return, she went to the hospital to ask about her husband. His direct supervisors refused to provide her with any information. It was the hospital porter—who did not wish to be identified—who informed her that civilians had entered the hospital that morning and proceeded to detain José Guillermo Orellana.

These facts were confirmed by the Barros Luco telephone operator, who handed Adriana Chávez a pencil belonging to the victim and a sum of money he had left behind.

Following this event, Adriana Chávez began an intense search for her husband through the various detention centers of the time, without success. Despite the continuous denials from the authorities, about 15 days after the detention, Jorge Morales—a hospital porter who had been detained shortly before Orellana Meza and was then being released—informed her that he had been detained alongside her husband and delivered a personal message that Orellana had sent to her.

Furthermore, Manuel José Salinas Letelier was a witness to the imprisonment of José Guillermo Orellana at the Tejas Verdes Regiment. The declarant had been detained on January 16, 1974, and, among other facilities, was held at Tejas Verdes, where he was violently interrogated and tortured.

He remained imprisoned there until April 22, 1974. In addition to other prisoners, he remembers being with José Guillermo Orellana, who told him he was a worker at Barros Luco Hospital. One day, he was taken for interrogation and did not return.

César Valenzuela Osorio—a neighbor and friend of the victim—was also a witness to Orellana Meza's presence at the Tejas Verdes Detention Camp. The declarant was detained on January 24, 1974, and states that on January 25 of that year, he was transported in a refrigerated truck, along with other detainees, to the Tejas Verdes Regiment, where he remained until February 28 of that same year.

At that military facility, César Valenzuela was placed in a wooden cabin and, the following day (January 26), was taken out to the yard. There, he encountered José Guillermo Orellana Meza, who told him that he had been detained at Barros Luco Hospital and that he was being interrogated and tortured regarding alleged weapons that were supposedly located at the hospital facility.

Subsequently, the two friends were placed in the same cabin. The witness recalls that one day the victim was taken out to be interrogated again, returning around 7:00 PM. At approximately 10:00 PM, they had to call the guard because the victim was in very poor condition, suffering from convulsions throughout his body.

César Valenzuela attended to him and was left with the impression that he was carried out of the cabin dead, as he could not feel any vital signs or pulse. The declarant was familiar with these symptoms due to his many years of work as a control practitioner at Barros Luco Hospital (where he worked until August 1972).

Before being detained, in November 1973, the victim had been summoned to provide statements at the South-West Prefecture of Investigations. Upon returning home, José Guillermo Orellana told his spouse that he had been accused of participating in political meetings, along with other people who were part of a list that the detectives had in their possession.

Among the names were employees of Barros Luco Hospital.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On January 8, 1975, a writ of amparo (habeas corpus) was filed on behalf of the victim before the Santiago Court of Appeals, case file No. 33-75. During the proceedings, various authorities were requested to report on the victim's situation.

On February 4, 1975, the Division General and Minister of the Interior, Raúl Benavides Escobar, responded to the Court stating that Orellana Meza was not being held by order of that Ministry.

On February 13, 1975, based on these reports, the appeal was rejected, and the records were sent to the corresponding Criminal Court.

Thus, case file No. 41.959-11 was opened in the First Criminal Court of San Miguel on February 24, 1975. Following a judicial order, the Investigations unit informed the Court that they had visited Barros Luco Hospital, where it was confirmed that Orellana Meza had indeed arrived for work, but had not checked out. "According to inquiries," it was added, "plainclothes personnel, of unknown affiliation, took him into custody without providing any explanation." Inquiries were also made at various Investigations units and the Santiago Prefecture, as well as at the Public Jail, the Penitentiary, the Legal Medical Institute, and the "Armed Forces Detainee Information Offices." No positive results were obtained (April 1, 1975).

Without further investigation, on April 22, 1975—two months after the process began—the summary was closed and the case was temporarily dismissed on the grounds that the existence of a crime had not been proven. The resolution was not submitted for review to the Court of Appeals.

On March 30, 1979, the Santiago Court of Appeals requested the victim's case file, transferring it on April 11 of that same year to the Visiting Minister Servando Jordán López, who had been appointed to investigate cases of forcibly disappeared persons reported within the jurisdiction of Santiago.

Minister Jordán returned the records to the original court, stating that their processing did not fall under his jurisdiction.

For her part, Adriana Chávez carried out numerous administrative efforts to locate the victim. Among these, she wrote to various authorities. On April 23, 1974, Army Colonel Orlando Ibáñez Alvarez, Chief of Staff of the State of Siege Zone of the Province of Santiago, responded by telling her that José Guillermo Orellana Meza was not being held by that Headquarters.

To this day, José Guillermo Orellana Meza remains in the status of a forcibly disappeared person.

I am writing to you from Buenos Aires, where I live with my father, Mr. Hector René Menares Mena. A few days ago, my father told me about an event that triggered my intense search for the truth. It turns out that my father worked at Barros Luco Hospital and was kidnapped from his workplace, in the doctors' lounge, on a date similar to the one mentioned in the testimony of Mr.

José Guillermo Orellana Meza, 1974. According to my father's account, he was taken out and transported in a van with his eyes covered by an adhesive and glasses over them, taken to a place without having the bandage removed, and tortured while being asked where the weapons were.

Many parts of his story remind me of José Orellana's testimony; in fact, I believe he was my father's companion in that cabin, since the night he was taken, he slept alone in those shared beds, as they made them sleep two to a bed. And he remembers perfectly how, the next morning, the officer in charge of waking the prisoners was wearing the sandals that belonged to the person who never returned.

My father says that he was tasked with making the bread that the prisoners ate in the camp. I never contacted anyone about this; as a family, we never knew what to do or where to go, but if anyone remembers anything that corroborates my father's story, I would be grateful if you could inform me, as we as a family need to know what happened to him during that time.

Today I am in Buenos Aires, and this year I am processing an old-age pension for my father. In 1989, the INP certified the years of my father's contributions, and to my surprise, I verified that my father did indeed work for the National Health Service (S.N.S.), and the date listed as his termination from Barros Luco Hospital is 30.06.1974, the date of his detention.

My father's details are

Hector René Menares Mena ID Number 2.895.002-0

I therefore beg that if anyone knows anything or saw my father in that concentration camp, please contact me at: Rene Menares Rivera 4785 4º D (1431) - Autonomous City of Buenos Aires Argentina (5411) 4522-8751 rene_menares@fibertel.com.ar

Regards, Rene Menares

Source: Rene Menares 11-06-08