: 24 years old, married, Uruguayan, photographer, forcibly disappeared in Puente Alto, Santiago, in late September 1973.

PAGARDOY SAQUIERES, ENRIQUE JULIO

: 21 years old, student, Uruguayan, forcibly disappeared in Puente Alto in late September 1973.

ARIEL ARCOS

Uruguayan, forcibly disappeared in Puente Alto in late September 1973. Ariel Arcos, Enrique Pagardoy, and Juan Antonio Povaschuk were detained near San José del Maipo in the Cajón del Maipo, likely on September 29, 1973, by Carabineros officers and Army personnel, and taken to the then-Railway Regiment of Puente Alto.

Their whereabouts have remained unknown since then. According to surviving witnesses, also of Uruguayan nationality, as of September 11, 1973, all of them, including Ariel Arcos, Enrique Pagardoy, and Juan Povaschuk, were living in the town of El Ingenio in the Cajón del Maipo.

They had traveled to Chile as political exiles, as they were linked to the Tupamaro movement in their home country. According to the witnesses, due to the events of September 11, 1973, the group had agreed that if any of them were detained, the rest should flee toward Argentina by crossing the mountain range.

For this reason, when one of the group members was detained by Carabineros on September 20, the others rushed to carry out the planned journey. Thus, in the final days of September 1973, the group headed to the town of El Volcán in the Cajón del Maipo.

While Juan Povaschuk and Ariel Arcos went ahead to scout the terrain, the others, including Enrique Julio Pagardoy, took refuge inside an abandoned mine near the area. The next day, they were surprised in that location by Carabineros, who took them to the San José de Maipo police station, where they were subjected to interrogations and mistreatment.

During the night of that same day, they were removed by soldiers from the then-Railway Regiment of Puente Alto and taken to their military facility, where they were interrogated and beaten again, this time by individuals dressed in civilian clothes.

At this location, the survivors saw that Ariel Arcos and Juan Povaschuk were also being held. Subsequently, the military separated the group. Three members were taken to the Estadio Nacional, and Enrique Pagardoy, Juan Povaschuk, and Ariel Arcos remained at the Regiment.

Nothing more was heard of them from that point on. Considering the evidence gathered and the investigation conducted, the Superior Council reached the conviction that Ariel Arcos, Enrique Pagardoy Saquieres, and Juan Antonio Povaschuk Galeazzo disappeared while they were deprived of their liberty by State agents. For this reason, it declared them victims of human rights violations.

Source: Corporation Report

Various activities (union, political, religious, humanitarian, etc.): Guild, movement, political sector, and/or activity of reference at the time of disappearance

: MLN

ANNEX OF HISTORICAL DATA REGARDING THE DISAPPEARANCE

Date of disappearance : Since his detention on 29.09.73 Place of disappearance (locality, city, country) : Santiago de Chile Time and circumstances of the same : While attempting—along with ARIEL ARCOS, ENRIQUE PAGARDOY (also disappeared), and other Uruguayans—to cross the mountain range into Argentina via the Cajón del Maipo Pass, they were detained and taken to the Railway Command of Puente Alto.

They were held there for several days, being interrogated and subjected to torture. Subsequently, the group, minus PAGARDOY, was loaded onto a bus along with other people destined for the Estadio Nacional.

POVASCHUK AND ARCOS were forced to disembark and were placed next to PAGARDOY, with their backs against the barracks wall, where they were seen for the last time. Forces involved in the detention

Military

Chilean Army, Carabineros of San José de Maipo Description of the operation (with reference to circumstances, use of vehicles and weapons, duress) : They were detained inside an abandoned mine and taken in a pickup truck to the SAN JOSÉ DE MAIPO POLICE STATION, where they were separated by sex.

Later, soldiers from the PUENTE ALTO BARRACKS, along with men in civilian clothes (supposedly intelligence agents), moved them to another location where they were tortured and then returned to the barracks.

They were handcuffed alongside other Chilean prisoners. Identification of other victims involved in the detention operation (full name, ID, age, marital status, address, reference group) : ARIEL ARCOS (disappeared) lived with Mr.

Pagardoy. On 01.10.73, he was seen along with three other Uruguayan citizens in the Cajón del Maipo. They were taken to the Railway Command of Puente Alto and, according to military sources, were to be taken to the Estadio Nacional.

However, they were taken off the bus that was transporting them and left in Puente Alto. Warrants for the disappeared person prior to detention (means, date, authority, etc.) : Record No. 229.309 and the following entries: 19/6/69 damage investigations, Investigative Court. 27/11/71 Association to commit crimes, intelligence report, 3rd shift Court. 11/71 prosecuted in Uruguay for aiding an association, released on 25/5/73, required to report to the police unit.

He was wanted by the Joint Forces after failing to report to the police further. 3/12/86 amnestied Actual or presumed place of detention (identification, description, sources of information, if multiple, indicate them)

: SAN JOSÉ DE MAIPO POLICE STATION – CHILE

RAILWAY COMMAND OF PUENTE ALTO (BARRACKS) – CHILE

Existence of information other than the above regarding the detention subsequent to it (date, sources)

Mr. Povaschuk entered Chile in the first days of July 1973, residing in Santiago with his wife. Previously, he was detained in Uruguay from November 1971, prosecuted for Aiding an Association. He served his sentence and was released on May 25, 1973, with the requirement to report periodically to a military unit.

Several months after entering Chile, he was wanted by the Joint Forces. During the months of July and August of that year, he maintained correspondence with his family, and after the coup d'état of September 11, 1973, they lost all communication. Cases that could be linked to this disappearance, including those of family members, children disappeared, or born in captivity

Disappearance of ENRIQUE PAGARDOY AND ARIEL ARCOS

ANNEX OF INFORMATION ON ACTIONS TAKEN REGARDING THE DISAPPEARANCE

NATIONAL SCOPE

ACTIONS WITHIN THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH

Presentation before offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Claim for clarification and request for protection filed with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay, Cr. Enrique Iglesias.

ACTIONS WITHIN THE JUDICIAL BRANCH

ACTIONS WITHIN THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

Complaints before Parliamentary Commissions : Parliamentary Investigative Commission of the Chamber of Representatives of Uruguay, in 1985.

ACTIONS BEFORE CONSULATES AND/OR EMBASSIES

Office : Action filed with the Chilean Consul in Uruguay and through him to the National Commission for Aid to Refugees in Santiago de Chile. Result of the intervention : On 03.07.74, the Refugee Commission reported that he was detained in the Cajón del Maipo and remained there until 01.10.73.

ACTIONS BEFORE NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

INTERNATIONAL SCOPE

ACTIONS WITHIN THE OAS

ACTIONS WITHIN THE UN

Organization with which the action was taken

: UNHCR

Type of action : complaint, search request Indicate if there is proof and identification of the procedure : yes, UNHCR list. Date(s) : 15/5/74

OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation of Chile Complaint before the Vicariate of Solidarity Uruguayan Bar Association

The discovery in Chile of boxes containing human bones, presumably belonging to victims of the dictatorship, is raising hopes here today of finding Uruguayans who disappeared in that country. Relatives of Chilean political prisoners who were forcibly disappeared during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet learned through a judge of the existence of 89 boxes of skeletal remains that had remained unexamined for more than 20 years in a basement at the University of Chile, according to press reports.

In Uruguay, the National Institution of Human Rights and Ombudsman (Inddhh) will attempt to contact Chilean authorities regarding this matter. In Chile, there are still eight Uruguayans who were forcibly disappeared following the 1973 coup d'état that overthrew then-President Salvador Allende, reported the newspaper la diaria.

They are Ariel Arcos Latorre, Juan Ángel Cendán Almada, Julio César Fernández Fernández, Alberto Fontela Alonso, Nelsa Gadea Galán, Arazatí López López, Enrique Pagardoy Saquieres, and Juan Povaschuk Galeazzo.

The director of the Inddhh, Wilder Tayler, told the newspaper that the vast majority of these Uruguayans were associated with the coup d'état of September 11, 1973. All eight were detained between September 12 and December 19 of that year, he commented.

In 2010, the remains of the Uruguayan Mónica Benaroyo Pencu were identified. Her body was found at an Army training camp on the outskirts of the city of Arica, in northern Chile. For her murder, the justice system prosecuted Chilean military officers Juan Iván Vidal Oguetta and Luis Guillermo Carrera Bravo.

Tayler noted that he would try to "get in touch" with Chilean authorities to access more information regarding the study of the remains in the boxes.

Source: cronicadigital.cl 7/2/2023

Date: 07-02-2023

Human Rights. Former Army general serving a sentence for crimes against humanity dies

The former Army general who was serving a sentence in Punta Peuco for the disappearance of three young Uruguayans in 1973 died this Friday from terminal cancer. Chilean Army General Francisco Martínez Benavides died this Friday while serving a sentence for the qualified kidnapping (disappearance) of three young Uruguayans in 1973, following the coup d'état that initiated the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) in Chile.

Martínez Benavides, according to his family, passed away due to terminal cancer at the Military Hospital in Santiago, after receiving a ten-year and one-day sentence in 2014 for the disappearance of Ariel Arcos Latorre, Juan Povaschuk Galeazzo, and Enrique Pagardoy Saquieres.

Defense attorney Raúl Meza, who represents several uniformed officers convicted of human rights violations, asserted that "the extreme callousness of the government has allowed for an inexcusable cruelty toward the terminally ill at Punta Peuco (the name of the prison intended for military personnel and former agents)." "We hope that in a future government of Sebastián Piñera, this inhumanity and vengeance will undergo a substantial change," the lawyer stated, taking for granted the election of the right-wing candidate in the presidential elections on November 19.

For his part, Minister of Justice Jaime Campos stated that the individual had been hospitalized at the medical facility since April 30, 2017, "so he died with all the medical care that could be provided to him and, therefore, in an environment of full respect for his dignity and humanitarian considerations."

Source: laizquierdadiario.cl 28/10/2017

Date: 28-10-2017

6 CHILEAN MILITARY OFFICERS CONVICTED FOR THE DISAPPEARANCE OF 3 URUGUAYANS

In 2012, only Colonel Mateo Durruty had been sentenced to 6 years in prison. Now, retired General Francisco Martínez, former Brigadier Ander Uriarte, and former non-commissioned officers Gabriel Montero, Moisés Retamal, and Guillermo Vargas have been added.

The young men were captured in the Cajón del Maipo after the 1973 military coup while attempting to cross the mountain range into Argentina. The Santiago Court of Appeals sentenced 6 retired Chilean military officers this Monday to 6-year prison terms for the qualified kidnapping of 3 young Uruguayans after the 1973 military coup, according to judicial sources.

In a unanimous ruling, the II Chamber of the appellate court modified the first-instance sentence, issued by special judge Joaquín Billard Acuña, which had sentenced only Colonel Mateo Durruty to 6 years in prison for this crime.

Now, retired General Francisco Martínez, former Brigadier Ander Uriarte, and former non-commissioned officers Gabriel Montero, Moisés Retamal, and Guillermo Vargas have been added to the conviction. All those convicted are currently at liberty, a statement from the Judiciary indicated. As this is a second-instance ruling, the defense for the uniformed officers may appeal to the Supreme Court.

CAPTURED IN THE CAJÓN DEL MAIPO

The victims were the Uruguayans Ariel Arcos Latorre, Juan Povaschuk Galeazzo, and Enrique Pagardoy Saquieres, who were detained by Carabineros on September 29, 1973, in an abandoned mine in the Cajón del Maipo along with 4 other compatriots, including 2 women, who managed to survive.

The 3 had arrived in Chile as refugees during the government of Salvador Allende, fearing they would be detained in their own country due to suspicions of belonging to the leftist revolutionary group National Liberation Movement-Tupamaros.

After Pinochet's coup, the young men attempted to flee Chile by crossing the Andes Mountains on foot toward Argentina, a circumstance in which they were detained and handed over by the Carabineros to soldiers from the Railway Regiment of Puente Alto.

TORTURE AND DISAPPEARANCE

At the regiment, according to testimonies from some military personnel of the same unit and survivors, they were severely beaten and, among other tortures, were forced to eat ground glass. Ariel Arcos Latorre, 23, was a university student, as was Enrique Pagardoy, 21, and Juan Antonio Povaschuk, 24, was a photographer.

After a couple of days of confinement in the regiment, the transfer of the detainees to the Estadio Nacional was ordered, but Arcos, Pagardoy, and Povaschuk were separated from the group by order of one of the officers, and nothing more was heard of them since.

Source: LA NACIÓN - May 26, 2014

Date: 26-05-2014

Retired military officers prosecuted for the kidnapping of Uruguayans

A retired general and a brigadier were prosecuted by judge Joaquín Billard as authors of the kidnapping and disappearance in September 1973 of the Uruguayan citizens Ariel Arcos Latorre, Juan Povaschuk Galeazzo, and Enrique Pagardoy Saquieres.

The accused are General Francisco Martínez Benavides and Colonel Lander Uriarte Burotto, as well as the also-retired non-commissioned officer René Cruces Tapia. Previously, the former commander of the Mountain Engineers Regiment of Puente Alto, retired Colonel Mateo Durruty Blanco, had also been declared a defendant for this same crime.

Days after the military coup, six Uruguayans were arrested by Carabineros from the San José de Maipo sub-station inside an abandoned mine in the mountain area. Apparently, they were hiding to plan an escape to Argentina, as they had taken refuge in Chile after the Uruguayan military uprising on June 27, 1973.

The police took them to the aforementioned regiment, where, according to the case records, they were repeatedly tortured, just like the hundreds of prisoners who passed through that barracks commanded by Durruty.

Some were even forced to swallow ground glass, as testified in court by former detainee Alfonso Brizuela Durán. One night, they were taken from that barracks by Army personnel to be moved, supposedly, to the Estadio Nacional.

However, along the way, the guards took the three aforementioned Uruguayans off the military vehicle and made them disappear, to this day. Both General Francisco Martínez and Colonel Lander Uriarte and non-commissioned officer René Cruces belong to the group of accused persons who have committed crimes against humanity who are less well-known and were prosecuted for the first time.

In the case of Durruty Blanco, he already has a ten-year and one-day sentence issued in the first instance by the Minister of the San Miguel Court of Appeals, Marta Hantke, for the kidnapping and disappearance of Juan Manuel Llanca Rodas from the Puente Alto regiment in September 1973.

But this sentence must still be reviewed by that court and then by the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court, which could leave Durruty at liberty if it significantly reduces his sentence, as is the criticized legal criterion that that court established more than two years ago. Those prosecuted by Billard were granted provisional release while the investigation continues.

Source: LA NACIÓN - January 15, 2009

Date: 15-01-2009