Address : Camino Loyola Nº5538, Block 11 Apt. 29, Villa Santa Anita (formerly Che Guevara Camp), Lo Prado Commune, Santiago. Marital Status : Married, one daughter Occupation : Laborer Political Affiliation : No known political affiliation Date of Detention : May 19, 1974.

Juan Isaías Castro Brito, married, one daughter, laborer, with no known political affiliation, was detained on May 19, 1974, around 7:30 PM, along with his friend Manuel Segundo Miranda Lizama, at the latter's home, located at Calle Leonor de Cortés Nº5367, Villa Santa Anita, across from Juan Isaías's residence.

They were detained by a group of more than twenty soldiers belonging to the "Guardia Vieja" Regiments of Los Andes and another from San Felipe, who were stationed in tents on the grounds of "Quinta Normal."

That day, around 6:00 PM, Juan Isaías, in a manifest state of intoxication, had a fight with his spouse, Sonia Ester Orellana Simón, after which Castro Brito left the apartment and went to Manuel Segundo's, located in a building across from his own.

However, following these events, Susana del Carmen Simón Quevedo, Sonia Ester's mother, who lived in another apartment in the same building, went to the site of the military camp in Quinta Normal. Once there, she told the soldiers about the beating her daughter had suffered at the hands of Juan Isaías, with the intention that they would reprimand her son-in-law or detain him for a moment to teach him a lesson, so that such events would not be repeated.

Then, at approximately 7:30 PM, about four soldiers appeared at the Castro Orellana home, wearing dark green parkas with their submachine guns underneath; they entered the apartment immediately, asking for Juan Isaías. His spouse replied (covering for him) that he was not there and that it was common for him to be away for several days when he punished her.

As the soldiers were leaving the home, a neighbor from the building pointed out where Juan Castro was. They immediately ran to the indicated location, where they proceeded to detain Juan and his friend Manuel Segundo Miranda Lizama.

The following day, Sonia Orellana, accompanied by her mother, went to the makeshift military camp located in Quinta Normal with the purpose of inquiring about her spouse. There, they were attended to by Colonel Hernán Turres, of the San Felipe Regiment, who acknowledged the detention of Juan along with his friend, stating that they had been released before the curfew on the same day of their detentions; that is, May 19, 1974.

Because her spouse did not return home, Sonia went to various places trying to find his whereabouts, such as SENDET, the Ministry of Defense, the Public Jail, the Penitentiary, and the Legal Medical Institute, without positive results.

Subsequently, on May 23, 1974, the family of Manuel Segundo Miranda Lizama was notified that his body had been found in the Quilicura sector, at the intersection of Américo Vespucio and the Panamericana Norte.

This did not happen with Juan Isaías Castro Brito, who remains a forcibly disappeared person to this day. From that date on, Sonia went daily for a month to the Legal Medical Institute, hoping to find her husband's body, which never occurred.

In a sworn statement, the mother of Manuel Miranda Lizama indicated that days after her son's body was found, an Army officer belonging to a Los Andes Regiment stationed in Quinta Normal came to her home.

He acknowledged that he had ordered the execution of the victim because he had information that he was a communist, stating that he was repentant and "that he had made a great mistake." Along with this, he offered financial help to the family, a situation that never materialized.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On June 27, 1991, Sonia Ester Orellana Simón filed a complaint for Presumed Misfortune regarding Juan Isaías Castro Brito before the 24th Criminal Court of Santiago. Finally, this case was filed in the 25th Criminal Court, under case file No. 28208 1, which as of December 1992, remains in the summary stage.

Source: Corporación

This concerns the death of Manuel Segundo Miranda Lizama and the aggravated kidnapping of Juan Isaías Castro Brito. The visiting minister for human rights violation cases of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Mario Carroza Espinosa, sentenced retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Jorge Turres Mery to 10 years and one day in prison as the perpetrator of the crimes of aggravated homicide of Manuel Segundo Miranda Lizama and aggravated kidnapping of Juan Isaías Castro Brito, which occurred in Santiago in May 1974.

In the ruling, Minister Carroza also decreed the sentencing of Army reserve sergeant Gustavo Delfín Marambio Olmos and civilian Tomás Segundo Morales Bravo as accomplices to the crimes to a penalty of five years and one day; and the acquittal of Héctor Ricardo Quijanes Verdejo (conscript) and Samuel Elías Molina Herrera (retired Army sergeant major).

During the investigation stage of the case, the visiting minister established the following facts:

• That, on the afternoon of May 19, 1974, in the Che Guevara neighborhood of the Barrancas commune, currently Villa Santa Anita in the Lo Prado commune, Juan Isaías Castro Brito, following an argument with his spouse Sonia Ester Orellana Simón, caused various damages in his home, broke windows, and assaulted her and their children;
• That, in view of what happened, Sonia Orellana decided to report his behavior, which was repeated over time, and for this purpose, she went to the Quinta Normal Park and reported it to the guard personnel of the Yungay Regiment of San Felipe, which was stationed at that facility at that time, under the command of Captain Jorge Turres Mery;
• That, based on the report made, a patrol composed of 2nd Corporal Tomás Segundo Morales Bravo, 1st Corporal Samuel Elías Molina Herrera, conscript soldier Héctor Ricardo Quijanes Verdejo, and reserve sergeant Gustavo Delfín Marambio Olmos was ordered to go and detain him without any judicial or administrative warrant to justify it;
• That, once at the location, they realized the man they were looking for was not in the property, and through signs given by other residents of the place, they managed to find out that he was in a neighboring apartment, so they went to the indicated place and apprehended him along with Manuel Miranda Lizama, the latter for covering for him; both were put into a truck and taken to the Quinta Normal Park;
• That, once at the Quinta Normal Park, the officer who had ordered the detention ordered them to take them away from the place and proceed to get rid of them, so the aforementioned picket left the facility with both detainees in an unknown direction;
• That, on May 23, 1974, the body of Manuel Miranda Lizama was found in the Américo Vespucio Highway sector of the Quilicura commune and was taken to the Legal Medical Institute, where his date of death was recorded as the same day, the 23rd, as a result of two gunshot wounds with exit wounds to the cranium and abdomen;
• That, regarding the other detainee, Juan Isaías Castro Brito, there is no news of his whereabouts to date;

In the civil aspect, the ruling ordered the state to pay compensation of seventy million pesos ($70,000,000) to the victims' children, the plaintiffs Manuel Giovanni Miranda Santander and Viviana Ester Castro Orellana; and forty million pesos ($40,000,000) to Alex Almarza Lizama, Hilda Santander Mancilla, and Carmen Ximena Almarza Lizama.

Source: 24horas.cl 8/11/2018 Date: 08-11-2018

10-year prison sentence for father of former UDI deputy Marisol Turres

At 78 years old, retired Colonel Jorge Armando Turres Mery, father of the former UDI deputy for Puerto Montt, Marisol Turres, was sentenced by the courts of justice for human rights violations. The Judiciary referred publicly to this and other rulings regarding investigations into events that occurred during the Military Coup and the subsequent Dictatorship.

The visiting minister for human rights violation cases of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Mario Carroza, ruled for the criminal sanction. The magistrate sentenced Turres Mery to a penalty of 10 years and one day in prison as the perpetrator of the crimes of aggravated homicide of Manuel Segundo Miranda Lizama and aggravated kidnapping of Juan Isaías Castro Brito, crimes perpetrated in Santiago in May 1974.

In the ruling, Minister Carroza also sentenced Army reserve sergeant Gustavo Delfín Marambio Olmos and civilian Tomás Segundo Morales Bravo to a penalty of five years and one day in prison as accomplices to the crimes, and acquitted retired Army sergeant major Samuel Elías Molina Herrera and former conscript Héctor Ricardo Quijanes Verdejo.

Former parliamentarian Marisol Turres said she was no longer a deputy and would not comment on the ruling that sentenced her father. Meanwhile, Alfredo Árgel, president of the group of victims and forcibly disappeared persons of Puerto Montt, pointed out that despite the delay in the ruling in these cases, what the justice system is doing is valued.

For the leader, at this stage of life, the goal is to know the reality of justice that has been requested so much. "The relatives have lived in misery during all these years, and society must know the facts that were denied so many times. Progress is being made in this, even though these are people (the convicted) who are in the final stage of life, but we are satisfied with the sentences."

Source: soychile.cl 9/11/2018