Juan Domingo Martínez Aldana
Técnico Cuero y Calzado — 42 years old.
Background
Juan Domingo Martínez Aldana
Técnico Cuero y Calzado — 42 years old.
Case summary
Juan Domingo Martínez Aldana, 42 years old, was a leather and footwear technician, a union leader, and a militant of the Partido Socialista. He was detained by members of the Servicio de Inteligencia Militar on December 3, 1973, and executed outside of any legal process on December 7, after his body was found with multiple gunshot wounds.
Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos[1]
On December 7, 1973, the following individuals were killed:
Manuel Tomás ROJAS FUENTES, 20 years old, a reservist at the San Bernardo Infantry School, and
Juan Domingo MARTINEZ ALDANA, 42 years old, a leader of the Leather and Footwear Confederation and a former candidate for councilman for San Bernardo representing the Partido Socialista.
After September 11, Manuel Rojas was called to rejoin the San Bernardo Infantry School due to his status as an Ejército reservist, and was assigned to the Military Polytechnic in that city, along with René Martínez, the son of Juan Domingo Martinez Aldana.
On December 1, Rojas did not return home. His spouse made repeated inquiries at the Polytechnic regarding her husband, and was consistently told that he was on "official duty." However, in January, she was officially informed by the Command of the San Bernardo Infantry Regiment that he had been executed by firing squad on December 7, 1973.
For his part, Juan Domingo Martínez was detained on December 3, near midnight, by military personnel who identified themselves as members of the Military Intelligence Service, who did not state the reason for the detention nor the place where he would be taken. He had previously been detained on two occasions. Later, Martínez's family members found his body at the Legal Medical Institute.
According to the autopsy protocols, the victims were sent as unidentified persons by the Military Prosecutor's Office, noting that the deaths occurred the previous day due to multiple gunshot wounds.
The Commission formed the conviction that Manuel Rojas and Juan Martínez were executed outside of any legal process by members of the Ejército in violation of their human rights, based on the following considerations:
The detention of Juan Martínez is verified.
The information provided that Manuel Rojas was on official duty is false, as he had been executed; it is to be presumed that he was deprived of liberty from the date he did not return home. It should be noted that a subsequent document from the Undersecretariat of War indicates that the victim was "discharged and dismissed from the unit along with his entire class, on March 29, 1974," that is, more than three months after his death.
It is verified that in both cases, personnel from the San Bernardo Infantry Regiment intervened.
There is no record that any procedure or Consejo de Guerra was followed against either of them.
The manner of death is similar to that of the other individuals who were killed by members of the same Regiment.
The cause of the victims' death is linked to the case described below.
On December 8, 1973, René Máximo MARTINEZ ALISTE, 20 years old, son of Juan Domingo Martinez and an Ejército reservist, was killed by Ejército personnel.
The victim had rejoined the service after September 11 at the San Bernardo Infantry Regiment and was assigned to the Military Polytechnic in that city along with Manuel Rojas. The day after his father's detention, on December 4, the victim reported to the Polytechnic; his family lost contact with him from that date as he did not return home.
When they inquired at the Polytechnic, they were repeatedly told that he was "on official duty." After the burial of Juan Martínez, his family members learned that the body of René Martínez was buried in Patio 29 of the General Cemetery.
The autopsy protocol indicates that his body was found on a public thoroughfare and referred by the Military Prosecutor's Office, having been found with multiple gunshot wounds. The death certificate indicates the date of death as the 8th.
The Commission reached the conviction that the victim suffered a violation of his human rights by state agents, who executed him outside of any legal process, based on the following arguments:
It was not true that René Martínez was on official duty, as he had been executed; it is to be presumed that he was deprived of liberty from the date he did not return home. It should be noted that a subsequent document from the Undersecretariat of War indicates that the victim was "discharged and dismissed from the unit along with his entire class, on March 29, 1974," that is, more than three months after his death.
There is no record that any procedure or Consejo de Guerra was followed against him.
The manner of death is similar to that of the other individuals who were killed by members of the same Regiment.
Information gathered by his family members indicates that he had been accused of participating in a plan to organize a military counter-coup. The suspicions against him allegedly stemmed from the fact that his father had been a socialist leader. There is evidence in this Commission that investigaciones of that nature were carried out in the aforementioned Regiment.
Judicial Case Files[2]
Caso Juan Domingo Martínez Aldana
- Juez Ministra Marianela Cifuentes
- 03-2002
- 3622-2020
- 3990-2022
References
- 1Museum of Memoryhttps://interactivos.museodelamemoria.cl/victims/?p=699
- 2Judicial Case Fileshttps://expedientesdelarepresion.cl/causa/caso-juan-domingo-martinez-aldana/
- 3Judicial Case Fileshttps://expedientesdelarepresion.cl/causa/caso-juan-domingo-martinez-aldana/
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