José Acuña Yáñez was a worker at the Hogar de Cristo institution, located at the northern exit of the Pan-American Highway. On October 4, 1973, at approximately 9:00 p.m., a pair of Carabineros arrived at his home and forced him to get out of bed; they then searched his home, claiming they were looking for weapons and propaganda that he supposedly had in his house.

They then took him into custody to the Highway Control post located at the Puente Ñuble. The following day, his mother, Ms. Marta Yáñez Venegas, and his spouse, Ms. Aída del C. Parra, went to the police control post to bring him food, but it was not accepted because he was reportedly going to be transferred to the Regimiento de Chillán.

Upon entering the control post, his spouse was able to see him, though she was unable to speak with him; with her husband were other people who were his coworkers; these people were: Jose Padilla, Luis Muñoz, and a man with the surname Torres (Ernesto Torres Guzman), who had been detained on the same day as Acuña Yáñez; they had also been taken from their homes.

The Carabineros then forced the women to leave the premises, as the detainees were to be transferred to the Regimiento de Chillán. They went to the regiment on repeated occasions, without being able to see him or receive any news about him, as they were refused any information regarding where he was being held.

In their desperation, his relatives went to different facilities where political prisoners were held, without achieving any positive results. LEGAL ACTIONS The relatives, of humble means, did not take legal action and intend to do so, based on the statements made by the Minister of the Interior on June 17 last (1978) which, in the relevant part, states: "Whatever the concrete truth in each situation may be, it can be investigated by the Courts of Justice...".

ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS Personal efforts by his mother, Ms. Marta Yáñez Venegas, and his spouse, Ms. Aída del Carmen Parra, at various Carabineros stations and precincts, at the Regimiento de Chillán, and at places where detainees were held, including Bulnes, Yungay, Concepción, and Talcahuano.

Source: Vicaría de la Solidaridad

On October 4, 1973, six workers from the Hogar de Cristo prefabricated housing construction plant were detained at their respective homes or workplace: José Salvador ACUÑA YAÑEZ, 29 years old, worker, treasurer of the factory union.

Luis Alberto MUÑOZ VASQUEZ, 22 years old, worker. José Remigio PADILLA VILLOUTA, 23 years old, worker. Ernesto Raúl SALAZAR SALAZAR, 38 years old, worker. Luis Hernán SAN MARTIN CARES, 22 years old, worker.

Ernesto René TORRES GUZMAN, 22 years old, worker. Their detentions were carried out by personnel from the Carabineros staff of the Tenencia de Carretera de Ñuble and by military personnel. Eyewitnesses to the detentions indicate that the agents carried a list with the names of the detainees.

Following the arrests, the presence of those affected was denied to their families at all detention centers in the region. Nevertheless, some claim to have seen them at the aforementioned Tenencia. The various judicial investigations carried out did not have a positive result, as in response to every request for information, the authorities denied the fact of the detentions.

The Commission reached the conviction that these six people were detained and subsequently forcibly disappeared by State agents, which constitutes an act of grave violation of human rights. The number of those affected makes any other explanation for their disappearances totally implausible, as none of the families have had news of them since then.

The detentions and imprisonment are documented for each of them, and the corresponding agencies have indicated that none of them have registered any civil procedures mandatory for all Chilean citizens in the last seventeen years. (Rettig Report)

Source: Rettig Report