The capture in the city of Parma, Italy, of the criminal Walter Ludwig Klug Rivera once again highlights the leniency of the Chilean courts toward criminals who have committed crimes against humanity. The captured former army colonel has been a fugitive from justice since October 2014, after receiving a 10-year prison sentence.

The fugitive was able to leave the country with impunity thanks to the laxity of the courts, which grant freedom to criminals prosecuted for serious crimes without taking any protective or precautionary measures to prevent them from fleeing.

There are too many cases of former dictatorship agents who escape the country or hide within their protective networks to evade the sentences of a weak and complacent justice system.

Walter Klug was a uniformed agent of the military dictatorship who built his military career in the army and, after the coup, became viciously involved in repressing, persecuting, torturing, and murdering supporters of the overthrown Allende government in the Bío Bío province.

This individual entered the Military School in 1966 and graduated in 1970 as an artillery second lieutenant. In 1971, he was assigned to the Reinforced Mountain Infantry Regiment No. 3 of Los Ángeles, where he remained until 1975.

In the interim, he was assigned to Section II of the army (SIM), and in that capacity, at the beginning of 1973, he was sent to the School of the Americas to "perfect" himself in the methods of combating the "internal enemy," which the Yankee Pentagon graciously imparted in Panama and the United States to indoctrinate and train puppet armed forces for the purpose of establishing dictatorships and servile regimes.

This former officer is a beastly example of the teachings of the Pentagon and a puppet army at the service of the powerful. After the military coup, already holding the rank of lieutenant, Walter Klug organized the hunt for people and created a political prison camp in the stables of the Los Ángeles Regiment.

All political prisoners from the province were transferred to this facility. At first, those who were detained at the city's Liceo de Hombres were taken there, but soon those who were captured in the continuous hunts organized by this Klug, the uniformed members of the SIM, and a band of fascist civilians from the Patria y Libertad pack—who embodied the Chilean right's thirst for revenge—were concentrated in this camp.

Furthermore, the dozens of arrests carried out by various army and Carabineros units throughout the rural areas of the region increased the number of prisoners in Klug's camp. In successive waves of hunting operations carried out between September 11 and November 17, 1973, workers from the ENDESA El Toro and El Abanico power plants, both located in the Antuco commune, deep in the mountain range in Los Ángeles, were captured.

The prisoners confined in the camp were savagely tortured by Klug and his henchmen from the Regiment's Section II. They were executed there, and from there they were made to disappear; the majority of the 123 forcibly disappeared persons recorded in this province were made to disappear from this facility.

Dozens of cases reported to the courts have been investigated or sanctioned by the regional justice system, but in most of them, Klug has escaped with impunity; some have indeed concluded judicially with a sanction.

One of these cases was the episode of the ENDESA hydroelectric plants, which was substantiated by Judge Jorge Zepeda Arancibia of the Santiago Court of Appeals, who in October 2013 issued a ruling and sentenced Klug and others. In the first-instance ruling on this case, the judge states:

"a) That in the mountain sector, to the east of the city of Los Ángeles, are located the El Toro and El Abanico hydroelectric plants, belonging to the National Electricity Company, ENDESA.

b) That the workers of said hydroelectric plants, as of September 11, 1973, mostly resided with their families in small rural towns in said area, forming the towns of 'Los Canelos,' 'Rayenco,' 'Polcura,' 'Antuco,' in addition to the work camps of the 'El Toro' and 'El Abanico' hydroelectric plants, and further to the east, behind the Laja lagoon, that of 'Cuatro Juntas,' a sector that was called 'Mallines del Sol,' belonging to the Alto Polcura canyon, named after the 'Polcura' river that runs through the place, where the workers also spent periods performing their usual duties.

That subsequent to the aforementioned date, upon the violent change of government due to the Military Coup of September 11, 1973, the aforementioned workers, as well as the rest of the civilian population of said towns, supporters of the previous government that was deposed on that day, in application and knowledge of a policy of the new regime and in a flagrant attack on human dignity and the very notion of humanity, were persecuted and detained by State agents, under the pretext that the victims intended to attack detention centers to free people deprived of liberty by the military authority and/or to attack the hydroelectric plants where many of them worked, their final destination being their confinement or deprivation of liberty in the Regiment located in the city of Los Ángeles or in places dependent on this unit, and ultimately killed and, in other cases, made to disappear to this day."

In October 2014, the Supreme Court ratified the sentence and, for the so-called Los Ángeles ENDESA Episode, sentenced former army general Patricio Martínez Moena to 20 years in prison, without benefits; Walter Ludwig Klug to 10 years and 1 day in prison, without benefits; and former officer Ismael Espinoza Silva to 5 years with the benefit of supervised release.

The former officers were sentenced for the aggravated kidnapping and homicide of 23 workers; those murdered by these criminals were Mario Belmar Soto, César Flores Baeza, Víctor Jerez Meza, Mario Olivares Pérez, Juan Yáñez Franco, and the brothers Juan Ulloa Pino and Víctor Ulloa Pino; and the forcibly disappeared were Manuel Aguilera Aguilera, Manuel Arias Zúñiga, José Badillo García, Abel Carrasco Vargas, José Coronado Astudillo, Plutarco Coussy Benavides, Abraham López Pinto, Bernardo Meza Rubilar, Domingo Norambuena Inostroza, Benjamín Orrego Lillo, Wilfredo Quiroz Pereira, Alamiro Santana Figueroa, Manuel Sepúlveda Cerda, Luis Sepúlveda Núñez, Exequiel Verdejo Verdejo, and Luis Vergara Corso.

On the other hand, Klug Rivera has also been implicated and investigated for the murder and disappearance of other detainees from the Los Ángeles regiment, including Jaime Araya Palominos, who was detained in his home by a patrol composed of military personnel and fascists; and Luis Cornejo Fernández, both students at the Universidad de Concepción branch in that city, who were captured on September 18, 1973.

Upon learning of the judicial resolution that definitively sentenced him to 10 years without benefits, Klug Rivera escaped the country toward Germany, where he used his dual nationality to settle and live with impunity in the city of Cologne.

There is no information on whether the Chilean army sends him his retired officer's salary ($1,282,000) directly or through some indirect mechanism. This resource was also used by another Nazi criminal from the former Colonia Dignidad, Hartmut Wilhelm Hopp, who escaped Chilean justice and settled in his native Germany, where he enjoys total impunity.

Klug's impunity was at least exposed by this arrest carried out by Interpol in Italy. Whether he will be brought to Chile to serve his sentence is another matter that remains to be seen.

Source: resumen.cl, June 5, 2019

In this testimony reproduced by Fortín Mapocho, civilians and military personnel are mentioned, many of them subjected to trial and others simply condemned by their conscience. We hope that the actions of both have deeply affected the Chileans who lived through those years of barbarism and who at the time refused to accept that these events were occurring in Chile.

For the new generations, who were born in the years following the coup and who were not aware of what was happening in their country, this account will serve to alert them to the lengths to which human beings are capable of going to preserve and develop their privileges.

The constitutionalist general Carlos Prats warned his peers that they would be making a grave mistake if they intervened and took the path of a coup. He added that for many years, Chilean society would point at them with a critical finger and reproach them for that determination. Verbatim, and continuing with his critical opinion, he expressed:

'[The intervention] would have to be implacably repressive. To do so, the Armed Forces would have to transform themselves into a specialized and refined police force, and it would mean turning the people into Tupamaros.

The week after the applause for the dictator, politicians from the most opposing sides would be united, shouting "gorillas" at us and demanding elections. This is not a country of sheep. The workers represent a social power.

They are organized. In this country, there is vertical dignity. In this country, political leaders effectively move the masses. We, the military, do not cherish the idea of replacing civil power, nor is it our mission.' [Ercilla Magazine No. 1950, Week of November 29 to December 5, 1972.

Journalistic interview with the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, General Carlos Prats. Reproduced in Héctor Vega, 'Crítica de la Unidad Popular'. Edit. Fontamara. Barcelona. Spain. 1975, pp. 121, 122]

General Prats was right when he said that the workers would not be fooled. He was tragically mistaken when he assessed the role of political leaders. Many of them were committed to the coup, and some leaders, today, of the Concertación, not only sought the fall of the Unidad Popular government from their parliamentary seats but also knocked on the doors of the barracks.

Let us not speak of those who belong to the Alianza and who today profess to be democrats, direct disciples of Pinochetism. In short, both groups constitute a generation that has never believed in democracy, and even less so in workers taking their destiny into their own hands and seeking the paths of an authentic and participatory democracy.

TESTIMONY

On September 11, 1973, I was working as a laborer at the COMPAÑÍA MANUFACTURERA DE PAPELES Y CARTONES in the town of LAJA [500 km south of Santiago]. A monopoly belonging to the Alessandri family. A family with a recognized political trajectory of defending the interests of the bourgeoisie, crushing the people, and participating actively in the 1973 military coup.

In the days prior to the military coup, the company, the right-wing groups [Patria y Libertad and the National Party, Christian Democracy], and the police were already making the repression felt among the workers and peasants, even more so among their leaders, with verbal and physical threats.

The Carabineros patrolled the factory and its surroundings, terrorizing the workers. These were the symptoms of the horrors we would witness later, on September 11, 1973, when Pinochet and a group of murderous generals decided to put an end to the government that represented the interests of the dispossessed masses who, until then, had been cruelly exploited by the bourgeoisie, of which the Alessandri family is a worthy exponent.

Here it is necessary to highlight that General WASHINGTON CARRASCO was in charge of the III Army Division based in the city of Concepción. Therefore, the events I will describe below are his responsibility, as well as that of his superiors, General Pinochet and his murderous clique.

On Tuesday, September 11, 1973, I was working at the factory when we observed, with my coworkers, that the police and heavily armed far-right paramilitary groups, led by CARLOS FERRER GÓMEZ [Superintendent of the CMPC company], were patrolling the company premises.

At 4:00 PM that same day, at the end of the workday, at the factory exit, a platoon of Carabineros awaited us, accompanied by the far-right paramilitary groups led by PEDRO JARPA, a trusted man of the PAPELERA, who, with a list in his hands, denounced the comrades who most strongly defended the interests of the working class.

As a result of this infamous denunciation, 22 comrades were detained, and immediately, in the presence of all the factory workers [400], we were savagely beaten in this act of police brutality. Two recognized criminals stood out in this action: Lieutenant ALBERTO FERNÁNDEZ MITCHEL and Sergeant PEDRO RODRÍGUEZ CEBALLOS.

Before being transferred to the police station in vehicles provided by the Papelera, Lieutenant Fernández Mitchel Salgado addressed the workers, saying that I would be murdered as soon as I arrived at the police station and that it would be the last time they would see me.

Once at the police station, we were brutally beaten and threatened with death. Then, in a semi-conscious state due to the beatings, I was violently thrown into a small cell in solitary confinement.

Not satisfied with my condition, they threw a tear gas canister into the cell; as a result, I completely lost consciousness. At 7:00 PM, by order of Lieutenant FERNÁNDEZ MITCHEL, two comrades took me out of the cell, and I was taken to the guardroom, where the rest of my fellow detainees were, and we were savagely beaten again.

While this was happening, I was able to see the teacher and Socialist Party militant RUBÉN CAMPOS LÓPEZ—who is one of the martyrs of LAJA and SAN ROSENDO.

The active participation of the LAJA Papelera in these barbaric acts was once again made evident when one of the directors [personnel manager], HUMBERTO GARRIDO, placed a company bus at the disposal of Lieutenant FERNÁNDEZ MITCHEL SALGADO, as well as ropes to tie us up.

In this bus, I was transferred to the Los Ángeles jail [a city near LAJA]. It should be noted that this same bus was used to transport the 19 people murdered by Carabineros with the complicity of civilians.

When I was taken by Carabineros along with the rest of my comrades to the Los Ángeles jail, and when we entered the Laja bridge, Lieutenant MITCHEL SALGADO and Sergeant PEDRO RODRÍGUEZ CEBALLOS ordered the driver to stop in the middle of the bridge.

I was taken to the door, beaten, with my hands tied and held by the neck; he began to push me with the clear intention of throwing me off the bridge into the precipice, all this accompanied by insults and threats. Not content with this, he ordered me to kneel at his feet.

When we arrived at the Los Ángeles jail, Lieutenant MITCHEL indicated to the captain in charge of the prison that I was dangerous, an extremist belonging to the MIR, and that I should be held in solitary confinement until further notice, as a pistol and plans to assault the LAJA police station had been found in my house—something totally false.

The jail was full of peasants and workers from the different fields and factories of the province; I remained imprisoned there until December 1973, constantly receiving mistreatment in the jail.

At the end of September, we received our first visit. It was the parish priest of LAJA, FÉLIX ELCHER, who informed us of the death of the 19 comrades from LAJA and SAN ROSENDO.

Lieutenant WALTER KLUG RIVERA, head of the Los Ángeles prison camp, was another of the criminals of the Pinochet regime who constantly visited the jail looking for comrades to transfer them to the regiment, where they were tortured, murdered, and made to disappear.

It was this character who confirmed the death of 19 comrades, as he amused himself by throwing away and destroying the food that their relatives brought them, believing them to be detained. The truth was that they had been murdered. He was a sadistic criminal who insulted and beat the detainees whenever he felt like it.

In December 1973, I was transferred along with 10 comrades from the LAJA case to the concentration camp of the Los Ángeles regiment by express order of Captain GUSTAVO MARZZAL [head of the SIM], who was also the supreme head of the prison camp. We were told that this measure was for us to be released.

Of the 11 comrades, only I remained detained in solitary confinement by order of the MILITARY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE [SIM]; the others were released.

On the afternoon of December 11, 1973, I was transferred to the SIM, to the interrogation rooms, which in reality were an intimidation and exhaustion room attached to a second torture room. The interrogations were in charge of DOMINGO BASCUÑÁN, PATRICIO ABARZÚA [el PATO], MARIO PACHECO, RENÉ PAREDES, and the pediatrician GREGORIO BURGOS [DINA]. All of them belonged to the SIM.

The torture room resembled a clinic, with syringes, a generator, a cot, and a wooden cabinet that looked like a soccer goal, where I was hung by my feet and hands facing the floor; there was also music to drown out the screams of pain.

The floor of the room was made of wood and was splattered with the blood of the prisoners who had been tortured. It was striking that there were photos of Miguel Enríquez and Salvador Allende. There, I was beaten while facing the photos.

When they grew tired of the beatings and I was spitting blood from my mouth and nose, they threw me to the floor, where they kicked me all over my body.

I lasted between 3 and 4 hours in that room. The beatings were followed by electric shocks and cigarette burns. Not content with that, one of the torturers hung from my back while they suspended me from the horizontal bar of the "goal."

The aftereffects can be imagined, as to this day I suffer from severe back pain.

After the torture, I was carried like a bundle by two soldiers to a secret room [motel] for solitary confinement of the SIM, where 24 other comrades were in terrible health due to the excessive torture.

The psychological aftereffects of this treatment still linger in my mind.

The motel was far from the prison camp, and the conditions in which we lived there were inhuman. We did not see the light of day. There was no other way to relieve ourselves than in a grease bucket that we emptied at night every three days.

There was never medical attention for those who came from torture. The guards stole the food that the relatives brought. Worse than everything, we were subjected to returning to torture whenever it pleased the torturers.

As a result, I developed the beginnings of epilepsy; I could not walk, I could not put on my shoes, nor could I even sit down or bend my back; my comrades fed me by hand. We became covered in fleas and lice because we could not wash ourselves.

One day, the INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS arrived at the concentration camp. The camp administration hid us. However, after 3 months, thanks to the action of the Archbishopric of Los Ángeles and the INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS, the detainees [were released].

After some time, and by order of the SIM, I was transferred again to the torture center to be interrogated regarding the LAJA case. Under promises of immediate freedom and leaving the country, they tried to get me to sign a statement regarding the death of the 19 comrades murdered on a Papelera farm.

With my refusal, I returned to the regime of beatings and solitary confinement.

When I was in the concentration camp, I had to witness a cowardly murder. A peasant lost his mind due to the beatings and the life we were leading; for this reason, one day he took a tiny piece of wooden board and hit a soldier on his helmet with it.

Lieutenant Walter Klug Rivera, a recognized torturer and murderer, saw this, ordered all the prisoners who were nearby to turn around so as not to see, and ordered us to go to our cells; then he took out his pistol and emptied it into the poor, demented peasant.

The INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS learned of this cowardly murder, as they were shown the place of death where the bloodstains could still be seen stamped on the cement.

In mid-1974, I was transferred to the public jail of Los Ángeles, as I had to go to trial for the LAJA case. After a few days, I was visited by the SIM, who offered me immediate freedom, provided I signed a false statement, which I again refused. As a result of my refusal, I was again placed in solitary confinement in very poor health.

At the end of 1974, I was brought before a WAR COUNCIL FOR THE LAJA CASE, along with 8 comrades, where, as no charges were proven against me, I was released on parole with a sentence of 345 days, as it was always maintained that the process remained open; that is, I remained in jail and the Los Ángeles concentration camp for 1 year and 3 months.

Source: Fortín Mapocho, July 9, 2007

Human Rights: Sentences issued for ENDESA executed victims

Judge Jorge Zepeda Arancibia issued a final sentence in the investigation into homicides and kidnappings during the dictatorship of 23 employees and workers of the El Toro and El Abanico hydroelectric plants, within the framework of the so-called ENDESA case.

The homicides were committed in the final days of 1973 and the beginning of 1974, in the commune of Los Ángeles, Bío Bío Region. The opponents were detained after the military coup, and the remains of several of them were found in 1990 inside the La Mona farm, which is currently owned by the Mininco forestry company.

Among those sentenced is General (ret.) Patricio Martínez Moena, head of the Department II of Intelligence of the Los Ángeles Regiment, who received a 6-year prison sentence.

Likewise, he sentenced Ismael Espinosa Silva to 5 years for the kidnapping of Manuel Arias Zúñiga. In this case, the benefit of supervised release was granted.

In addition, he applied for the first time in Chile the regulations of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, by acquitting Colonel (ret.) Walter Klug Rivera due to the defense of due obedience.

The sentence also considers a dismissal due to death in the case of the Regiment commander, Alfredo Rehren Pulido.

Judge Zepeda also accepted the claims for compensation for damages against the State. The State must pay 50 million pesos to each of the 9 relatives of the victims who filed a judicial action.

Source: La Nación, November 18, 2010

Justice issues sentences against dictatorship repressors for human rights violations

The Courts of Appeals of Santiago and Puerto Montt issued sentences related to investigations into human rights violations, which were investigated by visiting judges.

In the first case, sentences were issued for the aggravated kidnappings and homicides committed between December and January 1974, in the vicinity of the El Toro and El Abanico hydroelectric plants, a process that was instructed in the first instance by Judge Jorge Zepeda.

The appellate court determined to sentence the following State agents: Patricio Martínez Moena: 20 years in prison, without benefits; Walter Klug Rivera: 10 years and 1 day in prison, without benefits.

The justice system also sentenced Ismael Espinoza Silva: 5 years in prison. He was granted the benefit of supervised release. In the civil aspect, the court ratified that those sentenced and the State must pay 50 million pesos to nine relatives of the victims.

In the second case, the Court of Appeals of Puerto Montt issued four sentences in a process instructed by the Coyhaique Court of Appeals judge Luis Sepúlveda Coronado (Coyhaique, Aysén, Puerto Cisnes, and Los Torreones cases).

Source: Radiouchile.cl, October 28, 2013

Sentences increased for those responsible for the kidnapping and death of 21 ENDESA workers in 1973

Three state agents were sentenced to terms ranging from 20 years in prison in its maximum degree to 5 years in prison as responsible for the crimes of aggravated homicide and aggravated kidnapping of 21 workers from the El Toro and El Abanico ENDESA hydroelectric plants, located in the Bío Bío province, events that occurred between September 14 and November 6, 1973.

The resolution was issued by the Eleventh Chamber of the Concepción Court of Appeals, after processing appeals of cassation and appeals against the sentence issued in the first instance by Judge Jorge Zepeda on November 18, 2010.

Almost three years after the cassation and appeal were filed, the Santiago appellate court ruled to increase the sentence imposed on Patricio Martínez Moena from a total of six years in prison to twenty years of major imprisonment in its maximum degree, without benefits, for the crimes of aggravated homicide against Juan Miguel Yáñez Franco; César Augusto Flores Baeza; Víctor Jerez Meza; Mario Belmar Soto; Mario Samuel Olivares Pérez; Juan Eladio Ulloa Pino and Víctor Adolfo Ulloa Pino, and the crimes of Aggravated Kidnapping of José Abel Coronado Astudillo; Abel José Carrasco Vargas; Alamiro Segundo Santana Figueroa; Luis Leopoldo Sepúlveda Núñez; Plutarco Coussy Benavides; Wilfredo Hernán Quiroz Pereira; Exequiel del Carmen Verdejo Verdejo; Domingo Norambuena Inostroza; Luis Eduardo Vergara Corso; Benjamín Antonio Orrego Lillo; José Oscar Badilla García; Manuel Antonio Aguilera Aguilera; Manuel Sepúlveda Cerda and Bernardo Samuel Meza Rubilar.

In the same way, the acquittal that benefited Walter Klug Rivera was revoked, sentencing him to 10 years and 1 day in prison, without benefits, for the same crimes as the convicted Martínez.

Regarding Ismael Espinoza Silva, his 5-year prison sentence was maintained, although he was granted the benefit of supervised release.

Regarding the participation of Patricio Martínez Moena, the ruling indicates that it is proven that "subsequent to September 11, 1973, he was part of an Advisory Committee, which among other missions had to arrange strategies for the elimination of people and establish advertising strategies for justification, apparent causes of future deaths, and that, the people who, after being detained by the Carabineros and Army forces, were taken to the detention camp organized inside the Los Ángeles Regiment No. 3, could only leave with the authorization of said defendant.

Thus, in concert with the Regiment authorities, with his authorization for the release of the detainees who ended up dead and disappeared, he facilitated the means for the execution of the crimes sub lite, a matter he could not ignore as he was in command of the Military Intelligence Service (SIM) at that time."

Regarding the situation of Walter Klug, the statements that the accused made constitute for the sentencers a "qualified confession" in that, although he denies that in the detention camp he organized in the stables of Regiment No. 3 of Los Ángeles, detainees were tortured, murdered, or made to disappear, just as he denies knowing about the victims of the case, the fact is that the detention camp he implemented had the evident purpose that such detainees were kept outside the detention centers permitted by Law, thereby making it possible for several of the detainees taken to said Regiment by officials of the Carabineros outposts in the sectors of the ENDESA Plants in the foothills of Los Ángeles, and by military personnel who installed themselves in said area after September 11, 1973, to be taken out of the prison camp under his charge by agents and members of the army, who, outside of any process and by mere political repression, were killed or made to "disappear."

Furthermore, he acknowledges having received the superior order to assume administrative responsibility for all the facilities where there were detainees and that the detainees could only leave by express provision of Patricio Martínez Moena, whom he recognizes as a member of the Advisory Committee that was formed after September 11, 1973, a committee that, as he declares, had among other missions to "order strategies for the elimination of people," in relation to the "Law of Flight."

Also in this resolution, the appellate sentence that had rejected the civil claims filed by Ester Pamela Sepúlveda Huayco and Alejandro Olivares Pérez against Walter Klug Rivera was revoked, and in its place, it is resolved: to sentence Walter Klug Rivera to pay, jointly and severally with the Chilean State and Patricio Gustavo Martínez Moena, an indemnity of $50,000,000 to each of the plaintiffs.

Source: Tribunadelbiobio.cl, October 29, 2013

Request for prosecution of former military officer for disappearance of Los Ángeles student insisted upon

In the fourth place on the docket of the Third Chamber of the Concepción Court of Appeals to be seen this Monday is the appeal filed by the Human Rights Program of the Ministry of the Interior against the resolution issued by the instructing judge, Carlos Aldana Fuentes, which did not give rise to prosecuting the head of the Los Ángeles Regiment prison camp, Walter Klug Rivera.

According to the data provided by the Program, Klug Rivera, together with the members of the Intelligence Service of that military unit, would be responsible for the disappearance of the Topography student Luis Cornejo Fernández, a militant of the Communist Youth and president of the Student Center of the Los Ángeles branch of the Universidad de Concepción.

The young man was detained on September 18, 1973, and taken to the Los Ángeles Regiment, where he was brutally tortured according to numerous witnesses, and to date, there is no news of his whereabouts.

According to what was explained by the Program's lawyer, Patricia Parra, in the criminal process being processed for the disappearance of the student leader, Patricio Martínez Moena, who was an Army Major and Head of the Military Intelligence Service (SIM), and the member of the Patria y Libertad movement, Patricio Abarzúa, who cooperated openly in the denunciation of opponents of the de facto government, as well as in the torture inflicted on them when they arrived as detainees at that military facility, are being prosecuted.

Both Patricio Martínez Moena and Walter Klug Rivera had been sentenced by Judge Jorge Zepeda for their criminal responsibility in the aggravated homicide and kidnapping of at least 20 people, including workers from the ENDESA plant in the Antuco sector, local peasants, and political leaders from Los Ángeles who arrived as prisoners at the Los Ángeles Regiment between September and October 1973, of whom nothing has been known since, in what is known as the ENDESA case.

The sentence issued by the judge and imposed on both military officers was ratified by the Santiago Court of Appeals, which sentenced them as author and accomplice to the penalty of 20 years and 10 years and one day of effective imprisonment, respectively. This ruling by the capital's appellate court was appealed for cassation on the merits and is pending before the Supreme Court of Justice.

However, in the case of the student Cornejo, the judge who substantiates human rights cases in the area denied the request of the Human Rights Program to prosecute Walter Klug, which led lawyer Parra to appeal to the appellate court, an appeal that should be seen this Monday in the Third Chamber.

Source: Tribunadelbiobio, May 4, 2014

Concepción Court hears arguments for disappearance of UdeC student in Los Ángeles in 1973

The Concepción Court of Appeals left pending the ruling on the appeal by the Human Rights Program, through which it asks to prosecute a high-ranking retired Army officer, who is accused of his alleged responsibility in the disappearance of a university student in Los Ángeles in 1973.

The ministers of the Third Chamber of the appellate court heard the arguments of lawyer Patricia Parra, who, on behalf of the Human Rights Program, asked to prosecute retired Army Colonel Walter Klug Rivera for aggravated kidnapping.

The professional asked the court to revoke the resolution of Judge Carlos Aldana, who, along with closing the summary, refused to prosecute Klug for the 1973 disappearance of the Universidad de Concepción student in Los Ángeles, Luis Cornejo Fernández.

Lawyer Patricia Parra hopes that the judges' resolution will be favorable to them, highlighting the amount of evidence provided.

One of the witnesses against the former uniformed officer, identified as the head of the prison camp into which the Los Ángeles regiment was converted after the coup d'état, is Osvaldo Rojas, who, along with other political prisoners, attended the arguments at the Court of Appeals.

Currently, Walter Klug is sentenced to 10 years in prison for the aggravated homicide and kidnapping of 20 people, including workers from the ENDESA plant in the Antuco sector, local peasants, and political leaders from Los Ángeles, a sentence that must be reviewed in the coming days by the Supreme Court.

Source: Biobiochile.cl, May 5, 2014

Supreme Court issues final sentence for kidnappings and homicides of 23 workers of the El Toro and El Abanico plants

The Supreme Court issued a final sentence in the investigation into the crimes of aggravated kidnapping and homicide of 23 workers of the El Toro and El Abanico hydroelectric plants; seven of them were executed and the rest made to disappear. These crimes were perpetrated between September 11 and November 17, 1973, and were investigated in the first instance by Judge Jorge Zepeda Arancibia.

In a split decision, the Second Chamber of the highest court—composed of ministers Milton Juica, Carlos Künsemüller, Haroldo Brito, Lamberto Cisternas, and Andrea Muñoz—rejected the cassation appeals filed against the sentence of the Santiago Court of Appeals that sentenced:

• Patricio Martínez Moena, retired Army general, to the penalty of 20 years in prison, without benefits;
• Walter Klug Rivera, retired colonel, to 10 years and 1 day in prison, without benefits; and
• Ismael Espinoza Silva (Officer) to 5 years in prison, with the benefit of supervised release.

Sentences that they must serve for their responsibility in the homicides of: Juan Miguel Yáñez Franco, César Augusto Flores Baeza, Víctor Jerez Meza, Mario Belmar Soto, Mario Samuel Olivares Pérez, Juan Eladio Ulloa Pino, and Víctor Adolfo Ulloa Pino; in addition to the aggravated kidnappings of: Abraham López Pinto, José Abel Coronado Astudillo, Abel José Carrasco Vargas, Alamiro Segundo Santana Figueroa, Luis Leopoldo Sepúlveda Núñez, Plutarco Coussy Benavides, Wilfredo Hernán Quiroz Pereira, Exequiel del Carmen Verdejo Verdejo, Domingo Norambuena Inostroza, Luis Eduardo Vergara Corso, Benjamín Antonio Orrego Lillo, José Óscar Badilla García, Manuel Antonio Aguilera Aguilera, Manuel Sepúlveda Cerda, Bernardo Samuel Meza Rubilar, and Manuel Jesús Arias Zúñiga.

In the civil aspect, the Criminal Chamber ratified the sentence that ordered the State to pay an indemnity of $50,000,000 (fifty million pesos) to each of the nine relatives of the victims who were executed or disappeared in 1973, in the mountain sector of Los Ángeles, Bío Bío Region.

According to the investigation of Judge Zepeda, the following sequence of events was determined:

"a) That in the mountain sector, to the east of the city of Los Ángeles, are located the El Toro and El Abanico hydroelectric plants, belonging to the National Electricity Company, ENDESA.

b) That the workers of said hydroelectric plants, as of September 11, 1973, mostly resided with their families in small rural towns in said area, forming the towns of "Los Canelos," "Rayenco," "Polcura," "Antuco," in addition to the work camps of the "El Toro" and "El Abanico" hydroelectric plants, and further to the east, behind the Laja lagoon, that of "Cuatro Juntas," a sector that was called "Mallines del Sol," belonging to the Alto Polcura canyon, named after the "Polcura" river that runs through the place, where the workers also spent periods performing their usual duties.

That subsequent to the aforementioned date, upon the violent change of government due to the Military Coup of September 11, 1973, the aforementioned workers, as well as the rest of the civilian population of said towns, supporters of the previous government that was deposed on that day, in application and knowledge of a policy of the new regime and in a flagrant attack on human dignity and the very notion of humanity, were persecuted and detained by State agents, under the pretext that the victims intended to attack detention centers to free people deprived of liberty by the military authority and/or to attack the hydroelectric plants where many of them worked, their final destination being their confinement or deprivation of liberty in the Regiment located in the city of Los Ángeles or in places dependent on this unit, and ultimately killed and, in other cases, made to disappear to this day."

The Supreme Court's sentence was adopted with the dissenting vote—in the criminal aspect—of minister Lamberto Cisternas, who was in favor of accepting mitigating factors of responsibility in the case of the convicted Klug Rivera; and the dissenting opinion of minister Muñoz, who was in favor of accepting the statute of limitations for the civil action in the case.

Source: El Clarín, October 24, 2014

Criminal Walter Klug Rivera, extradited from Italy, was placed at the disposal of the courts

A criminal fugitive from justice, former army officer Walter Ludwig Klug Rivera, was brought to Chile by Interpol and placed at the disposal of the courts yesterday.

Klug Rivera was extradited from Bologna, Italy, the city where he was arrested last June following a request by Judge Carlos Aldana, who on April 28, 2015, indicted him as an accomplice to the aggravated kidnapping of the victim.

Walther Klug Rivera was also sought for extradition to serve a sentence of 10 years and one day in prison for his responsibility as an accomplice in 14 cases of aggravated kidnapping and 7 cases of aggravated homicide in the so-called "Endesa El Toro-El Abanico Episode," which was investigated by visiting judge Jorge Zepeda Arancibia.

It was precisely upon learning of the sentence he would receive in this case that the criminal fled Chile and justice. Regarding this latter case, the extradition request is currently being processed by the Italian justice system.

On Friday the 7th, the acting secretary of the Supreme Court, Marcelo Doering Carrasco, notified the criminal Klug Rivera of his extradition request to appear before the human rights visiting judge, Carlos Aldana Fuentes, in the investigation into the aggravated kidnapping of Luis Cornejo Fuentes, who has been forcibly disappeared since September 18, 1973, in the city of Los Ángeles.

Upon learning of the judicial resolution that definitively sentenced him to 10 years without parole, Klug Rivera fled the country in October 2014, heading to Germany, where he used his dual nationality to settle and live with impunity in the city of Cologne. In June of last year, he was traveling through Italy when he was captured by Interpol.

On July 9, 2019, the Supreme Court requested Italy to extradite Klug Rivera in the investigation into the aggravated kidnapping of Luis Cornejo Fuentes, and last December, the Italian justice system granted the extradition for this case.

The former fugitive was able to leave the country with impunity thanks to the leniency of the courts, which grant freedom to criminals prosecuted for serious crimes without taking any protective or precautionary measures to prevent flight.

There are too many cases of former dictatorship agents who escape the country or hide within their protective networks to evade the sentences of a weak and complacent justice system.

Walter Klug was a uniformed agent of the military dictatorship who pursued his military career in the army and, after the coup, became vicious in repressing, persecuting, torturing, and murdering supporters of the overthrown Allende government in the Bío Bío province.

This individual entered the Military School in 1966 and graduated in 1970 as a second lieutenant of artillery. In 1971, he was assigned to the Reinforced Mountain Infantry Regiment No. 3 of Los Ángeles, where he remained until 1975.

In the interim, he was assigned to the Army's Section II (SIM), and in that capacity, at the beginning of 1973, he was sent to the School of the Americas to "perfect" himself in the methods of combating the "internal enemy," which the Yankee Pentagon graciously taught in Panama and the United States to indoctrinate and train lackey armed forces for the purpose of establishing dictatorships and servile regimes.

This former officer is a bestial example of the teachings of the Pentagon and a lackey army at the service of the powerful. After the military coup, already holding the rank of lieutenant, Walter Klug organized the hunt for people and created a political prisoner camp in the stables of the Los Ángeles Regiment.

Following the notification, the former officer was held in pretrial detention and transferred to Concepción so that Judge Aldana could inform him of the indictment issued against him. It is to be hoped that Aldana, this time, will take the precautions of keeping him in prison so that the individual does not escape justice again.

Source: resumen.cl, February 8, 2020

Dictatorship ex-military officer sentenced by the Supreme Court arrested in Italy

The former member of the Military Intelligence Service (SIM) of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, Walther Ludwig Klug Rivera, was arrested in Parma (Italy). The former military officer must serve a sentence for the kidnapping of forcibly disappeared persons and crimes against human rights, as ruled by the Supreme Court.

The information was disseminated by the local media outlet La Repubblica, which details one of Klug Rivera's victims, university student Luis Cornejo Fernández, who at that time was the leader of the Communist Youth in our country.

It should be noted that during October 2014, the Supreme Court issued a final sentence against Klug Rivera for the kidnapping and homicide of 23 workers from the El Toro and El Abanico power plants, which occurred in the Bío-Bío province during September 1973, in the so-called Endesa Episode.

His departure from the country occurred thanks to a flight he carried out using a German passport. Despite this, Interpol managed to locate his whereabouts some time ago in the place where he was residing, which is in the vicinity of the German city of Cologne.

Currently, there is no extradition treaty between Chile and Germany, so the possibility that Walther Klug Rivera can return to our country to serve the sentence in the Endesa case is remote.

The subject is 69 years old, is equipped with a German passport, and was in Parma for work reasons, the Italian media reported.

Source: 24horas.cl, June 4, 2019

Supreme Court approves extradition of human rights violator Walter Klug Rivera

A fugitive from justice until his arrest in Italy a few months ago, the criminal against humanity during the civil-military dictatorship headed by Augusto Pinochet, Walter Klug, will now be able to be extradited to Chile after the Supreme Court approved said request presented for the aggravated kidnapping of Luis Cornejo Hernández, who has been forcibly disappeared since September 18, 1973.

Regarding Walter Ludwig Klug Rivera, an army lieutenant and SIM agent, the site "Memoria Viva" notes that he studied at the School of the Americas between January 8 and February 9, 1973 (Combat Arm Orientation 0-37).

In the days following the coup d'état, he organized the Prisoner Camp in the stables of the Mountain Infantry Regiment No. 3 "Los Ángeles" (currently Mountain Infantry Regiment No. 17 "Los Ángeles"), where political prisoners from the region were tortured, murdered, and forcibly disappeared.

Walter Ludwig Klug Rivera entered the Military School in 1966, graduating in 1970 with the rank of Artillery Second Lieutenant. In 1971, he was assigned to the Reinforced Mountain Infantry Regiment No. 3 of Los Ángeles, where he remained until mid-1975.

Subsequently, he was assigned to the Artillery School of Linares for a year and a half with the rank of lieutenant; then assigned to the Arica Garrison, where he spent seven years dedicated to Military Intelligence and, for some periods, to functions in the artillery branch of the Dolores Regiment. Later, he entered the Polytechnic Academy with the rank of Major, being discharged.

Initially, the detainees were taken to the Los Ángeles Men's Lyceum, which was in charge of Health Major Hugo Segura Brandt, but according to Walter Ludwig Klug Rivera, an order arrived from Santiago to arrest that Major, as he was supposedly an "MIR" infiltrator.

Later, the detained persons were taken to Regiment No. 3 "Los Ángeles" by officials from the Carabineros outposts in the sectors of the Endesa power plants in the foothills of Los Ángeles and by military personnel who installed themselves in the area after September 11, 1973.

The then-lieutenant Walter Klug Rivera constantly visited the local jail looking for prisoners to transfer them to the regiment, where they were tortured, murdered, and forcibly disappeared. A surviving prisoner recalls: "On the morning of that day, we arrived at the Carriel Sur airport in Concepción; we realized, when Lieutenant Walter Klug Rivera—the most ruthless, sadistic, cruel, and murderous guy in the Bío Bío province—took off our wire ties and allowed us to urinate.

At that moment, we agreed that they were taking us to Chacabuco."

In October 2013, Walter Klug Rivera was sentenced to 10 years and 1 day in prison, without parole, for the crimes of aggravated homicide against Juan Miguel Yáñez Franco; Cesar Augusto Flores Baeza; Víctor Jerez Meza; Mario Belmar Soto; Mario Samuel Olivares Pérez; Juan Eladio Ulloa Pino; and Víctor Adolfo Ulloa Pino, and the crimes of aggravated kidnapping of José Abel Coronado Astudillo; Abel José Carrasco Vargas; Alamiro Segundo Santana Figueroa; Luis Leopoldo Sepúlveda Núñez; Plutarco Coussy Benavides; Wilfredo Hernán Quiroz Pereira; Exequiel del Carmen Verdejo Verdejo; Domingo Norambuena Inostroza; Luis Eduardo Vergara Corso; Benjamín Antonio Orrego Lillo; José Oscar Badilla García; Manuel Antonio Aguilera Aguilera; Manuel Sepúlveda Cerda; and Bernardo Samuel Meza Rubilar.

Walter Klug's participation in the disappearance of Jaime Araya Palominos has also been investigated; on September 18, 1973, he was kidnapped from his residence in this city of Los Ángeles by a patrol composed of soldiers from the Chilean Army and civilians belonging to the terrorist gang "Patria y Libertad."

In May 2014, the current retired army colonel was indicted for his role in the disappearance of Topography student Luis Cornejo Fernández, a militant of the Communist Youth and president of the Student Center of the Los Ángeles branch of the University of Concepción.

Luis Cornejo Fernández was arrested on September 18, 1973, and taken to Regiment No. 3 of Los Ángeles, where he was brutally tortured according to numerous witnesses, and to date, there is no news of his whereabouts.

Walter Ludwig Klug Rivera was quickly promoted through the ranks of the army, reaching the rank of Colonel at the time of his retirement.

Later, he would work as an Associate Director and business consultant, advertising, commercial management, commercial administration, as well as research and design services, industrial analysis and research services, and computer and software design and development at the company Inteligencia Competitiva/Financiera W. KLUG R.

In October 2014, the Supreme Court issued a final sentence against Walter Ludwig Klug Rivera for the kidnapping and homicide of 23 workers from the El Toro and El Abanico power plants.

Source: ruil.cl, July 10, 2019

Walther Ludwig Klug Rivera, an army lieutenant and agent of the SIM (Military Intelligence Service), attended the School of the Americas from January 8 to February 9, 1973 (Combat Arm Orientation 0-37).

In the days following the coup d'état, he set up a detention camp in the stables of the No. 3 Mountain Infantry Regiment "Los Angeles" (currently the No. 17 Mountain Infantry Regiment "Los Angeles"), where he tortured and killed political prisoners. Their bodies were never found, and they were considered "forcibly disappeared."

Walther Ludwig Klug Rivera entered the Military School in 1966, graduating in 1970 with the rank of Second Lieutenant of Artillery. In 1971, he was assigned to the No. 3 Mountain Infantry Regiment in Los Angeles, where he remained until mid-1975.

He was later assigned to the Artillery School in Linares for a year and a half with the rank of lieutenant; he was then assigned to the Arica Garrison, where he spent seven years dedicated to Military Intelligence and, at times, to functions within the artillery branch of the Dolores Regiment. Later, he entered the Polytechnic Academy with the rank of major.

Initially, detainees were taken to the Liceo de Hombres de Los Angeles by order of Mayor Hugo Segura Brandt, but Walther Ludwig Klug Rivera later claimed that an order had arrived from Santiago to arrest the mayor because he was allegedly a "MIR" infiltrator.

Later, detainees were taken to the No. 3 Regiment "Los Angeles" by officials from the special corps of the Carabineros of ENDESA at the foot of the Andes in Los Angeles and by military personnel stationed in the area after September 11, 1973.

The then-lieutenant Walther Klug Rivera constantly visited the local prison in search of prisoners to transfer to the regiment, where they were tortured, murdered, and their bodies concealed.

A surviving prisoner recalls

"One morning we reached the Carriel Sur Airport in Concepción, when Lieutenant Walther Klug Rivera—the most ruthless, sadistic, cruel murderer in the province—removed our zip ties and allowed us to urinate. At that time, we agreed that they were going to take us to Chacabuco."

In October 2013, Walther Klug Rivera was sentenced to 10 years and 1 day in prison, without benefits, for the crimes of aggravated homicide of Juan Miguel Yáñez Franco; César Augusto Flores Baeza; Víctor Jerez Meza; Mario Belmar Soto; Mario Samuel Olivares Pérez; Juan Eladio Ulloa Pino and Víctor Adolfo Ulloa Pino, and the crimes of aggravated kidnapping of José Abel Coronado Astudillo; Abel José Carrasco Vargas; Alamiro Segundo Santana Figueroa; Luis Leopoldo Sepúlveda Núñez; Plutarco Coussy Benavides; Wilfredo Hernán Quiroz Pereira; Exequiel del Carmen Verdejo Verdejo; Domingo Norambuena Inostroza; Luis Eduardo Vergara Corso; Benjamín Antonio Orrego Lillo; José Oscar Badilla García; Manuel Antonio Aguilera Aguilera; Manuel Sepúlveda Cerda and Bernardo Samuel Meza Rubilar.

He was also investigated for the disappearance of Jaime Araya Palominos, who on September 18, 1973, was kidnapped from his home in the city of Los Angeles by a military patrol composed of the Chilean Army and a civilian patrol belonging to the terrorist group "Patria y Libertad."

In May 2014, the retired army colonel was convicted by the Chilean Supreme Court for the disappearance of a student, Luis Cornejo Fernández, a member of the Communist Youth League and president of the Alumni Center of the University of Concepción in Los Angeles.

Luis Cornejo Fernández was arrested on September 18, 1973, and taken to the No. 3 Regiment of Los Angeles, where he was brutally tortured, as numerous witnesses report, with no news of his fate to this day.

Walther Ludwig Klug Rivera was soon promoted through the ranks of the army, reaching the rank of Colonel at the time of his retirement.

He later worked as an associate director and consultant for business, advertising, commercial management, commercial administration, as well as research and design services, industrial analysis and research services, and computer and software design and development at the company Competitive Intelligence / Financial W. KLUG R.

In October 2014, the Supreme Court issued a final ruling against Walther Ludwig Klug Rivera for the kidnappings and murders of 23 workers at the El Toro and El Abanico plants.

Source: parmapress24.it, June 4, 2019

Supreme Court to request extradition from Italy of former military officer convicted of human rights violations

Unanimously, the Supreme Court determined this Monday to request from Italy the extradition of the former Chilean military officer Walther Klug Rivera, who was arrested in the European country in June and convicted of violations, homicides, and the aggravated kidnapping of 23 people during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).

An international arrest warrant had been issued for Klug after he fled Chile following his 2014 sentencing to 10 years and one day in prison.

The Chilean request was made in accordance with a bilateral agreement with Italy, so that the former military officer may serve his sentence for crimes against humanity committed in the city of Los Angeles.

"All requirements for the purpose of requesting the surrender of the requested person are satisfied, so it is appropriate to grant the request to formulate the extradition petition and continue with its processing," the Supreme Court ruling stated.

Klug is accused in Chile of torturing, murdering, and forcibly disappearing detainees he recruited from various detention centers in the Biobío region when he was an Army lieutenant.

The final judgment determined that Klug participated in the kidnapping and homicide of 23 workers from the El Toro and El Abanico hydroelectric plants of the National Electricity Company (ENDESA).

Seven of them were executed and the rest were forcibly disappeared between September 11 and November 17, 1973.

The workers were detained by State agents under the pretext that they intended to attack detention centers of the dictatorial regime to free people held by the military.

After his 2014 conviction, Klug escaped from Chile before being arrested using a German passport, but he was detained in Parma (Italy) after traveling to that country with his wife.

Source: nuevopoder.cl, October 7, 2019

Repressor Klug Rivera extradited to Chile

Following the judicial order, Walther Klug Rivera was transferred today at noon to his native country after being recaptured on June 12 by INTERPOL.

This Monday at midday, the Chilean repressor Walther Klug Rivera was extradited. After being captured on June 12 by personnel from the INTERPOL division of the Argentine Federal Police (PFA), the extradition was carried out at the Los Libertadores international pass in the province of Mendoza, where he was handed over to police personnel from the neighboring country.

Klug Rivera had entered the country clandestinely and was attempting to flee to Europe to avoid answering to the Chilean justice system for crimes against humanity committed in that country. As soon as he was detained, the National Government ordered his expulsion from the country. The handover of the repressor had been announced on the same day of his capture.

The transfer this Monday was carried out following a request for collaboration by the Federal Fugitive and Extradition Investigation Division with the intervention of the National Federal Criminal and Correctional Court No. 10, presided over by Judge Julián Ercolini.

Klug Rivera was taken from the Governor Francisco Gabrielli International Airport located in Las Heras, Mendoza province, to the border crossing.

In addition to the Federal Police, personnel from the D.U.O.F Mendoza, the Cuyo Regional Federal Agency, the PFA, and the General Directorate of Special Operations Forces participated in the operation, the National Ministry of Security reported. That ministry, headed by Sabina Frederic, was in charge of monitoring the transfer.

The former repressor had been a fugitive from the Chilean Judiciary, and his international capture was requested by the Courts of Appeal of Santiago and Concepción. A Red Notice for crimes committed during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet had been issued for this repressor.

After the 1973 coup d'état, Klug Rivera, who was then a 23-year-old lieutenant, organized a detention and torture camp in the stables of the No. 3 Mountain Infantry Regiment in Los Angeles, in the Biobío region.

The repressor was convicted of the homicides and aggravated kidnapping of 23 people at the El Toro and El Abanico plants, and the Supreme Court of that country maintained that he must serve his sentence for crimes against humanity in that country.

Who was the Chilean Walther Klug Rivera who was a fugitive in Argentina?

Klug Rivera entered the Military School in 1966 and graduated in 1970 as an artillery second lieutenant. In 1971, he was assigned to the No. 3 Reinforced Mountain Infantry Regiment of Los Angeles, where he remained until 1975.

He passed through the School of the Americas in early 1973 to "perfect" himself in methods of combating the "internal enemy," such as the use of bribery, extortion, threats, and torture, according to the precepts of the United States Army.

Klug Rivera himself described during the trial that he was the "warden" in charge of caring for prisoners, although he maintained that "there was never any torture or mistreatment of the detainees, perhaps some kicks to impose order, though there were periods of greater harshness in the treatment." However, surviving prisoners of that center recalled that Klug Rivera constantly visited the local jail looking for prisoners to transfer to the regiment, where they were tortured, murdered, and disappeared.

"On the morning of that day we arrived at the Carriel Sur Airport in Concepción, as we realized, when Lieutenant Walther Klug Rivera—the most ruthless, sadistic, cruel, and murderous guy in the Bío Bío province—removed our wire ties and allowed us to urinate.

At that moment we agreed that they were going to take us to Chacabuco," said a survivor. Chacabuco was a detention and torture center used during the Pinochet dictatorship.

Another testimony added that Klug Rivera "played at being a soldier, he was like a little kid, he mocked the detainees" and "he always mistreated people, he was deranged, a kind of 'Rambo' who would pull out his combat knife at the slightest thing." During the trial, the genocidaire himself acknowledged "having received the superior order to assume administrative responsibility for all the facilities where there were detainees and that the detainees could only leave by the express disposition of Patricio Martínez Moena."

Martínez Moena was a member of the Advisory Committee that was formed after the coup d'état carried out in September 1973 in Chile. The committee, Klug Rivera himself declared, had among other missions "to order strategies for the elimination of people."

Source: tiempojudicial.com, June 28, 2021

Capture of genocidaire Walter Klug reveals complicity of institutions with impunity

Walking through the Argentine capital, the criminal against humanity was captured by local police. This is the second escape of the former Army colonel, who remained a fugitive for several days, managing to reach Argentina. Despite having two arrest warrants and an international capture order, he was not under surveillance by Chilean institutions.

Published June 9, 2021

Following a strong communication campaign by relatives, lawyers, and human rights defenders, both on social media and in local media and in the neighboring country, the capture of this criminal was achieved. On Tuesday, June 8, as we at Londres 38 publicly denounced through our social media, Walter Klug Rivera, an active accomplice of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship, escaped again.

What is known is that Klug managed to cross the border through southern Chile, currently being in Argentina. His intention was to reach Buenos Aires, where he apparently already had a flight purchased to head to Europe, arriving first in Spain to then move to Germany, a country from which he could not be easily extradited due to his dual Chilean-German nationality.

The crimes of Walter Klug

In 1973, after the civil-military coup d'état by Pinochet, Klug, then a 23-year-old lieutenant, installed and organized a detention and torture camp in the stables of the No. 3 Mountain Infantry Regiment in Los Angeles, as noted in the investigation of the case by German journalist Ute Löhning, which is detailed in a report published this Wednesday, June 9, by El Ciudadano.

"Prisoners who managed to survive characterized Klug as particularly brutal and sadistic," mentions Löhning, adding that the lieutenant, who years later would be promoted to colonel, visited the local jail looking for new prisoners to transfer to the regiment, being one of the main people responsible for torture and murders at that military base.

Walter Klug was sentenced in 2014 by the Supreme Court of Chile to ten years and one day in prison for his participation in the aggravated homicide of seven ENDESA workers. In addition to being sentenced for participating in the aggravated kidnapping of fourteen workers from the El Toro and El Abanico hydroelectric plants.

Added to this are pending criminal proceedings for the disappearance of several prisoners, including the student from the University of Concepción, Luis Cornejo Fuentes.

New escape

In 2014, the criminal escaped to Germany, where he lived for four years in Vallendar, until 2019, when he was detained during a trip he made to Italy, being extradited to Chile in 2020.

During his stay in Germany, the Chilean State paid Klug a significant monthly pension in his capacity as a retired military officer, an amount that he continued to receive in Chile to this day and which, according to his rank, would be equivalent to a base contribution of 1,200,000 Chilean pesos, according to the report by journalist Ute Löhning in her investigation.

Despite having two arrest warrants and an international capture order, issued by Minister Carlos Aldana and Minister Paola Plaza, Klug left the country again this week.

Accomplices of impunity

These situations are permanent, denounces Erika Hennings, director of Londres 38, citing what happened with Ricardo Lawrence Mires, who remained a fugitive for five years. There are also the cases of Hartmut Hopp (doctor at Colonia Dignidad and collaborator of Paul Schäfer), who remains in Germany; of Adriana Rivas (secretary of Manuel Contreras and DINA agent), who currently lives in Australia and whose extradition is in process; or of Osvaldo Pulgar and Daniel Cáncino, former agents of the National Intelligence Directorate, who have already been captured.

"In my opinion, it is a shared responsibility, both of the courts and the PDI (Investigations Police). Of the courts because it is the judge who must issue a red alert order, which should then be in the Interpol records so that, in the event of an attempt by any of the convicted persons who are at liberty—and there are many such cases—to pass through, they cannot do so and are captured. (...) We believe that we must be super vigilant, but it is not something that is our responsibility; it is the responsibility of the powers of the State," comments the human rights defender, former political prisoner, and wife of Alfonso Chanfreau, a militant of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), who remains a forcibly disappeared person to this day.

For Erika Hennings, events like these are due to "the apathy, negligence, and impunity of the powers of the State that should guarantee that justice is done and that those convicted of crimes against humanity serve their sentences in prison." In the same vein, human rights lawyer Karinna Fernández, part of the legal team at Londres 38, points out that "The escape of an extradited person is a fact that clearly demonstrates the complicity of institutions with impunity."

Source: londres38.cl, June 9, 2021

Supreme Court rejects res judicata and convicts retired military officer as an accomplice to aggravated kidnapping in Los Angeles

In the ruling (case file 82.310-2021), the Second Chamber of the highest court—composed of ministers Haroldo Brito, Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Jorge Dahm, Leopoldo Llanos, and lawyer (i) Diego Munita—sentenced Walter Klug Rivera to 3 years and one day in prison for his responsibility as an accomplice to the illicit act.

The Supreme Court rejected an appeal for cassation against the sentence that convicted the retired Army officer for his responsibility as an accomplice to the aggravated kidnapping of Luis Cornejo Fernández, an illicit act committed starting September 18, 1973, in the city of Los Angeles.

In the ruling (case file 82.310-2021), the Second Chamber of the highest court—composed of ministers Haroldo Brito, Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Jorge Dahm, Leopoldo Llanos, and lawyer (i) Diego Munita—sentenced Walter Klug Rivera to 3 years and one day in prison for his responsibility as an accomplice to the illicit act.

In the ruling, the highest court rejects the violation of res judicata by convicting other military personnel as perpetrators of the illicit act.

"That, for its part, the ruling issued on December 27, 2016, convicted Patricio Gustavo Martínez Morena and Juan Patricio Abarzúa Cáceres as perpetrators of the same crime, so that, although it concerns the same illicit act, it does not refer to the same active subjects nor the same class of participation," the ruling states.

It adds: "That, as can be seen, from the sentence that motivates the res judicata argued in this case, it is not possible to conclude the double identity required by such an institution, since while agreeing that the facts are the same, the defendants are different, just as they are attributed a different responsibility, so the accused had not been judged."

It also considers: "That, there is no discussion regarding the fact that the State can react only once for an illicit act with the object of applying a criminal sanction to its perpetrator, which implies for the accused the guarantee that he cannot be subjected to double jeopardy for the same events, a situation that in this case is not evident, because there is only one pronouncement regarding the responsibility of two different people, Martínez Morena and Abarzúa Cáceres, regarding the aggravated kidnapping of Luis Ángel Ariel Cornejo Fernández."

"That, consequently, as the double identity that the criminal process requires for there to be res judicata is not configured, the first cause argued in the appeal for cassation in the form deduced will be dismissed," the ruling asserts.

The highest court also dismissed the lack of participation of the convicted person in the crime.

"That, the cassation appeal deduced in favor of Klug Rivera is based, in the first place, on the cause of article 546 No. 7 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, invoking as infringed rules regulating evidence articles 456 bis, 485, and 488 Nos. 1 and 4 of the same code, because, in summary, what makes the attribution of responsibility as an accomplice possible is the establishment of two facts: first, that the accused is located in the area of the tents belonging to the SIM, before and after the interrogations, and that he transferred the detainees to those interrogations, which are not proven, so it was not based on real and proven facts.

As stated in the second and third grounds of the appealed sentence, in relation to the thirteenth consideration of the ruling of the lower court, maintained on appeal, the sentencer collects as elements that serve as a basis for the presumptions the statements of the accused himself as well as various statements of witnesses who point out, giving reasons for their statements, that Klug Rivera was the head of the detention camp, was in charge of their custody, and his functions were assimilated to those of a prison warden, with the victim Cornejo Fernández being detained in that center and disappearing from said facility.

Such elements were considered by the sentence as indications or presumptions, as authorized by article 464 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which fulfill the only extremes of Nos. 1 and 2 of article 488 of the Code of Criminal Procedure that can be reviewed by this Court as rules regulating evidence, according to its uniform and stable jurisprudence, since they are multiple and are based on real and proven facts based on the statements of witnesses and the accused himself.

If those presumptions constructed on those testimonies fulfill the requirement of being direct, so that they lead logically and naturally to the fact deduced from them, as demanded by No. 4 of the aforementioned article 488 to allow concluding that Klug Rivera participated as an accomplice to the kidnapping of the victim in this case, these correspond to questions that this Court cannot answer, since as has been repeatedly explained, this is reserved solely for the well-founded and reasoned assessment and weighting of the trial judges."

In the investigation, the visiting minister of the Court of Appeal of Concepción, Carlos Aldana, established:

"That, around 4:30 p.m. on September 18, 1973, a patrol composed of military personnel and Carabineros detained Luis Ángel Ariel Cornejo Fernández, a communist militant, along with other people, at 170 Saavedra Street, Los Angeles, without a competent legal, administrative, or judicial order, being transferred to the Carabineros Police Station of Los Angeles in charge of Commissioner Aroldo Guillermo Solari Sanhueza and then to the Reinforced Regiment of the same city, where he remained detained and held in rooms conditioned for that purpose, in the facilities intended for the horses of the Regiment, at the disposal of the Intelligence Service of that Military Unit, where he was interrogated under illegitimate duress, without being subjected to any trial. In the first days of October 1973, inside the Regiment, he was taken out of the tent where he was together with the detainee Osvaldo Gustavo Rojas Ortiz and taken to the sector called 'the riding ring' (picadero), a place where a civilian attached to the indicated Intelligence Service, who transferred the detainees to the place, ordered that Rojas Ortiz be taken to the Cavalry sector, while Cornejo Fernández was taken into the riding ring, losing all trace of him from then on, without having any news of his whereabouts or destination."

Source: Judiciary, April 17, 2023