Jose Jilberto Gonzalez De La Torre
Obrero Agrícola — 44 years old.
Background
Jose Jilberto Gonzalez De La Torre
Obrero Agrícola — 44 years old.
Case summary
José Jilberto González De La Torre, a 44-year-old agricultural worker, was detained by Carabineros in Osorno in January 1974, during the second raid on a home where, days earlier, a woman had already been murdered and another man had been forcibly disappeared. According to witnesses, his body was seen floating in the Pilmaiquén River eight days later and buried in a mass grave, but his remains have yet to be located.
Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos[1]
According to witness statements, on that day, Carabineros officers from the Central de Pilmaiquén station, accompanied by a group of civilians, entered Marcelino Cárdenas's home located at Fundo Pilmaiquén while firing their weapons.
María Ruiz, who worked as a domestic helper in his home, was shot by the Carabineros inside the house after she refused to answer an interrogation. She died the following day due to acute anemia caused by a complicated open wound in her right leg, as recorded in her Death Certificate.
Marcelino Cárdenas was arrested on that occasion by the Carabineros and taken to an engine house belonging to the Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (ENDESA) that was located near the home. Family members heard gunshots and went to the site, where they found traces of blood.
In their search, they scoured the Pilmaiquén River, but only found the jacket and scarf he was wearing when he was arrested.
Two days before his arrest, Marcelino Cárdenas had been released on bail from the Valdivia prison. He had been under prosecution by the Military Prosecutor's Office of that city since October 1973, accused of violating the Arms Control Law.
The following week, the same Carabineros raided the home again and arrested José Gilberto González de la Torre, a boarder and friend of the family. According to what witnesses told the family, eight days later, his body was spotted floating in the Pilmaiquén River; Carabineros subsequently recovered it and buried it in a mass grave at the Río Bueno Cemetery.
However, despite the efforts made, his remains have still not been located by his family.
Considering the evidence received and the investigation carried out by this Corporation, the Superior Council reached the conviction that María del Carmen Ruiz Ojeda was executed by State agents outside of any legal process while she was in custody; and that Marcelino Cárdenas Villegas and José Gilberto González de la Torre were arrested by State agents and were forcibly disappeared while in that status.
For this reason, it declared them victims of human rights violations.
MemoriaViva[2]
Relatos de los Hechos
D.O.B. : 15 07 29, 44 years old at the time of his detention Address : Fundo Chiscaihue, Pilmaiquén, Osorno Marital Status : Single Occupation : Employee at Fundo Chiscaihue Political Affiliation : Communist Party Date of Detention : 1st week of January 1974
Gilberto González de la Torre, single, an employee at the Fundo Chiscaihue in Pilmaiquén and a communist militant, was apprehended in the first days of January 1974 by officers from the 3rd Carabineros Station of Rahue Bajo, who took him into custody without presenting a competent warrant.
The events took place at the home of Mrs. Lavignia Aguayo, spouse of Marcelino Cárdenas Villegas, who has been a forcibly disappeared person since December 30, 1973, where the victim lived as a boarder.
Mrs. Ana González de la Torre, the victim's sister, would later state that one week after her brother José González was detained, she was called to the Río Bueno Court, where "an arrogant man" informed her that her brother had died of bronchopneumonia and had been buried in the town's new cemetery.
The witness adds in her account that she searched for the victim's body in both of Río Bueno's cemeteries, but was unable to find it or obtain information regarding the validity of his burial.
Mrs. Lavignia Aguayo, a witness to the detention, recalls among the uniformed officers who participated in the events the Carabineros Luis Ovando, René Astete, and the latter's spouse, who assisted them in the repressive operations.
The witness adds that approximately 8 days after José González was detained, another local farmer saw his body in the Pilmaiquén River, specifically at the "Salto la Olla." This person informed the witness that he had reported what happened to the local Carabineros, who allegedly threatened him if he told anyone what he had seen.
According to local witnesses, the Carabineros themselves allegedly removed the body from the river to later bury it in a mass grave at the Río Bueno Cemetery.
Despite the search and efforts made by his relatives, José González remains to this day a forcibly disappeared person.
JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS
No judicial actions are recorded.
Source: (Rettig Report)
Relatos de los Hechos
Eight police officers and the wife of one of them were prosecuted by an Osorno judge for their responsibility in the crimes of aggravated kidnapping, homicide, and concealment committed after the military coup.
The eight prosecuted individuals—one officer and seven non-commissioned officers, all retired—remain in custody as a preventive measure in the facilities of a Carabineros barracks in Osorno.
The prosecution was ordered by Judge Raúl Ramírez, a magistrate with exclusive dedication to investigating human rights violation cases.
Ramírez has now prosecuted Lieutenant Colonel Baros Muñoz and former non-commissioned officers Mario Cabello, Sergio Jaramillo, René Bórquez, and Orozimbo Sepúlveda, charged with the aggravated kidnapping of Francisco Martínez and Reinaldo Huentequeo, who were detained on October 6, 1973.
Last Friday, he had decided to prosecute former non-commissioned officers Raúl Zapata and Carlos Ovando as authors of the aggravated homicide of communist militant Gilberto González de la Torre, an event that occurred in January 1974.
For the same crime, former non-commissioned officer Camilo Astete and Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Baros were prosecuted as accessories after the fact.
These four police officers were also prosecuted for the aggravated kidnapping of brothers Eduardo and Alfredo Pacheco, as well as Juan Mancilla, Teobaldo Paillacheo, Valentín Cárdenas, and Enrique González, all communist militants opposed to Pinochet who have been forcibly disappeared since October 1973, when they were taken to the Pilmaiquén police station.
Meanwhile, non-commissioned officer Astete and his wife, Elsa Vilugrón, were subjected to prosecution as alleged authors of the aggravated kidnapping of Marcelino Cárdenas, who was detained on December 30, 1973, and sent to the same Pilmaiquén barracks in Osorno.
Source: La Nación, January 16, 2004
Date: 01-16-2004
Confirmation of middle name.
José Jilberto González De la Torre has a 'J' instead of a 'G', as is common, according to his birth certificate with the registry; FOLIO: 500499091487 Verification Code: 3494eb543897.
Source: registrocivil.cl
References
- 1Museum of Memoryhttps://interactivos.museodelamemoria.cl/victims/?p=1645
- 2