Miguel Krassnoff, Marcelo Moren Brito, and Raúl Iturriaga Neumann are among those implicated.

The minister for extraordinary causes regarding human rights violations at the Santiago Court of Appeals, Hernán Crisosto, sentenced 77 agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) this Monday for their responsibility in the kidnapping of Héctor Garay Hermosilla in 1974.

Garay Hermosilla, a member of the Revolutionary Student Front (FER), was 19 years old when he was detained near his home on July 8, 1974. Days later, his name appeared in the national press on a false list of 119 people killed due to alleged internal disputes within the MIR, in what was known as "Operation Colombo." According to the judge's findings, "the publications that declared the victim Garay Hermosilla dead had their origin in disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad."

According to the reconstruction of events conducted by the visiting minister, the DINA agents who captured Garay "forced him into the back of a gray Chevrolet C-10 pickup truck and took him to the home of a friend of the victim, who was also forced into the aforementioned truck, to be taken to an unknown destination."

"Subsequently, it was possible to establish, through testimonies, the passage of Héctor Marcial Garay Hermosilla through the clandestine detention center known as 'Londres 38,' which was guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access," the ruling continues, establishing that to date, there is no further information regarding Garay's whereabouts.

The convicted In the resolution, the presiding judge sentenced the following to 13 years in prison: César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Marcelo Luis Moren Brito, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, as authors of the crime perpetrated in 1974.

Meanwhile, the following former agents must serve 10 years in prison, also as authors: Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires, Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez, Sergio Hernán Castillo González, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, José Nelson Fuentealba Saldías, Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes, José Enrique Fuentes Torres, José Mario Friz Esparza, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, Claudio Orlando Orellana de la Pinta, Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, Gustavo Galvarino Caruman Soto, Hiro Álvarez Vega, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Olegario Enrique González Moreno, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda, Carlos Alfonso Sáez Sanhueza, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, Hernán Patricio Valenzuela Salas, Hugo Rubén Delgado Carrasco, Juan Alfredo Villanueva Alvear, Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, Lautaro Eugenio Díaz Espinoza, Leónidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, Rafael de Jesús Riveros Frost, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Máximo Ramón Aliaga Soto, Manuel Rivas Díaz, Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, Risiere del Prado Altez España, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, and Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle.

As accomplices to the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Garay Hermosilla, the presiding judge sentenced the following to 4 years in prison: Luis Eduardo Mora Cerda, José Jaime Mora Diocares, Camilo Torres Negrier, Carlos Justo Bermúdez Méndez, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, Fernando Adrián Roa Montaña, Gerardo Meza Acuña, Héctor Raúl Valdebenito Araya, Jaime Humberto Paris Ramos, Jorge Laureano Sagardia Monje, José Dorohi Hormazábal Rodríguez, José Manuel Sarmiento Sotelo, José Stalin Muñoz Leal, Juvenal Alfonso Piña Garrido, Luis René Torres Méndez, Manuel Antonio Montre Méndez; Moisés Paulino Campos Figueroa, Nelson Aquiles Ortiz Vignolo, Nelson Eduardo Iturriaga Cortés, Pedro Segundo Bitterlich Jaramillo, Reinaldo Alfonso Concha Orellana, Sergio Hernán Castro Andrade, Víctor Manuel de la Cruz San Martín Jiménez, Gustavo Humberto Apablaza Meneses, Héctor Carlos Díaz Cabezas, Jorge Antonio Lepileo Barrios, Óscar Belarmino la Flor Flores; Rufino Espinoza Espinoza, Héctor Manuel Lira Aravena, Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett, Sergio Iván Díaz Lara, Juan Miguel Troncoso Soto, and Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel.

Meanwhile, Rodolfo Valentino Cocha Rodríguez and Armando Segundo Cofre Correa were acquitted due to a lack of participation in the events.

Source: t13.cl, August 31, 2015

He was detained in July 1974 in the commune of Macul. Numerous witnesses saw him at the torture and extermination center of Londres 38. He is one of the victims of "Operation Colombo." The justice system sentenced 78 former DINA agents for this crime against humanity.

The minister of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Hernán Crisosto, issued a first-instance sentence for the kidnapping and disappearance of Miguel Angel Acuña Castillo. The magistrate established that the young man, a militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), was detained near his home located at Pasaje Talca No. 2033 in the commune of Macul by State agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), among them Osvaldo Romo Mena, alias "el Guatón Romo."

His sister, Rosa Acuña Castillo, stated that her father tried to climb into the back of the covered pickup truck as they were taking him away, but he was struck in the mouth by one of the subjects and fell to the ground.

A week after the kidnapping, Romo went to their home again and told her that her brother was in good condition along with Héctor Garay Hermosilla, who is also forcibly disappeared. Both were members of the Revolutionary Student Front (FER) at the Liceo 7 in Ñuñoa.

Judge Crisosto determined that the DINA agents "took him to the clandestine detention center known as 'Yucatán' or 'Londres 38'." Acuña Castillo belonged to the secondary student structure of the Military Political Group 3 of the MIR (GPM3), an organization that grouped militants from the eastern zone of the capital and was led by Agustín Reyes González, whose trail was lost forever in Londres 38.

There, "he remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied up, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents," and the last time he was seen alive "occurred on an undetermined day in the month of July or August 1974, and he remains forcibly disappeared to this day," the first-instance ruling notes.

Laughing in Londres 38 alongside Héctor Garay Hermosilla

In the "Yucatán" barracks, he was seen by Erika Hennings, who was detained on July 30, 1974. "I can say that he was very young; I think they called him 'El Pampa'," she asserted during the process. She heard the daily roll call for detainees twice a day.

On July 31, 1974, she heard the name of Miguel Angel Acuña Castillo, who answered "present." Afterward, she never heard him called again. "They took them out of Londres 38 just like other detainees, among whom she remembers María Inés Alvarado," a 21-year-old forcibly disappeared person.

Hugo Chacaltana Silva, detained on May 4, 1974, a former student of the Liceo Manuel de Salas and a member of the Revolutionary Student Front (FER), also saw him in Londres 38. He recounted that in the early hours of July 8 to 9, 1974, Miguel Angel Acuña arrived along with Héctor Garay Hermosilla, whom they called "Titín." He was able to see them through a gap that formed between his nose and cheekbones under his blindfold.

Chacaltana noted that he met Castillo in 1971, when both were secondary students. Both coincided in meetings held at the time between members of the FER, the judicial ruling states. He remembers "Miguel Ángel as a young man of great leadership capacity and great physical resistance." He stopped seeing him on September 11, 1973.

He met him again in Londres 38. He arrived with Héctor Garay to the same room where he remained lying on the floor. "At that moment, I did not address Miguel Ángel," on the contrary, he pretended not to notice his presence. "The next day, when the mattresses on which we detainees lay were removed and replaced by chairs, I sat down and observed that they were still sitting on one of the sides.

It struck him that both were talking and laughing, which made him think they were unaware of the magnitude of what awaited them. Miguel Ángel approached him in Londres 38, saying, 'I know you'."

His mother learned at the hair salon that her son was in Londres 38

León Gómez, detained on July 15, 1974, and taken to Londres 38, saw Miguel Angel along with Héctor Garay, whom he knew. Someone commented to him that "Pampino" was among the detainees, which he corroborated upon hearing him "with his typical jokes that he made to the guards, as if giving the impression that what was happening in the place was of no importance.

Even Titín and Pampino would drive the guards crazy. They were very irreverent." David Cuevas Sharon, detained on May 4, 1974, also testified to having seen him. "Pampino, despite showing signs of mistreatment, seemed to have great presence of mind; he was very physically strong." He shared space with him for at least five days.

When Cuevas was released, Acuña Castillo remained a prisoner. His maternal grandmother had a hair salon in Ñuñoa, and one of her clients was Miguel Angel's mother. In a conversation, "she learned of the problem she had with a disappeared son.

Given this, my grandmother had her come to the hair salon, where she met Pampino's mother and told her what she knew about him, specifically the place where he had been imprisoned with him."

Regarding the torments applied to detainees in Londres 38, including Miguel Angel, Minister Crisosto incorporated statements from Osvaldo Romo, who stated that among other tortures, detainees were subjected to "the dry submarine, which consisted of blocking their breathing with a plastic bag placed over their heads; the detainees' eyes would look like 'fried eggs,' and blood would come out of their noses and eardrums.

After the interrogations and duress, the detainees would be exhausted." Another former agent, Samuel Fuenzalida Devia, specified in this regard that "the general treatment of prisoners was to keep them blindfolded, they were not allowed to wash, there were no beds for them to sleep on, the food was scarce, and they were subjected to intense interrogations in which electricity was applied to them, especially to their genitals and breasts.

Another form of torture consisted of keeping the detainees seated in chairs, tied by their feet and hands, while current was applied to them with magnets, although common electric current was also applied, which would burn those people, a procedure in which many people died." Eugenio Fieldhouse Chávez maintains that as an official of the Investigative Police, in mid-June 1974, he was assigned to that repressive agency and indicated that the same DINA agents who intervened in the detention and interrogation of the detainees, once the sought-after information was obtained, were in charge of making them disappear, following an order from DINA superiors.

The name of Miguel Ángel Acuña Castillo appeared among the 119 Chileans of Operation Colombo, on a list disseminated in the national press, after appearing in publications that appeared only once in Brazil and Argentina, "in which it was reported that Miguel Ángel Acuña Castillo had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes."

The convictions

"The publications that declared the victim Acuña Castillo dead had their origin in disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad," determined Judge Crisosto, who sentenced 78 former DINA agents for his disappearance.

The magistrate issued a sentence of 13 years of major imprisonment in its medium degree to Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Espinoza, Marcelo Luis Moren Brito, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Iturriaga Neumann.

Likewise, he sentenced the following to 10 years of major imprisonment in its minimum degree: Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires, Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez, Sergio Hernán Castillo González, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, José Nelson Fuentealba Saldías, Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes, José Enrique Fuentes Torres, José Mario Friz Esparza, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, Claudio Orlando Orellana de la Pinta, Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, Gustavo Galvarino Caruman Soto, Hiro Álvarez Vega, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Luis Salvador Villarroel Gutiérrez, Olegario Enrique González Moreno, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda, Carlos Alfonso Sáez Sanhueza, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, Hernán Patricio Valenzuela Salas, Hugo Rubén Delgado Carrasco, Juan Alfredo Villanueva Alvear, Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, Lautaro Eugenio Díaz Espinoza, Leónides Emiliano Méndez Moreno, Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, Rafael De Jesús Riveros Frost, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Manuel Rivas Díaz, Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, Risiere del Prado Altez España, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, and Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte.

As accomplices to the kidnapping and disappearance of the 19-year-old, he sentenced the following to 4 years of minor imprisonment in its maximum degree: Luis Eduardo Mora Cerda, José Jaime Mora Diocares, Camilo Torres Negrier, Carlos Justo Bermúdez Méndez, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, Fernando Adrián Roa Montaña, Gerardo Meza Acuña, Héctor Raúl Valdebenito Araya, Jaime Humberto Paris Ramos, Jorge Laureano Sagardia Monje, José Dorohi Hormazabal Rodríguez, José Manuel Sarmiento Sotelo, José Stalin Muñoz Leal, Juvenal Alfonso Piña Garrido, Luis René Torres Méndez, Manuel Antonio Montre Méndez; Máximo Ramón Aliaga Soto, Moisés Paulino Campos Figueroa, Nelson Aquiles Ortiz Vignolo, Nelson Eduardo Iturriaga Cortes, Pedro Segundo Bitterlich Jaramillo, Reinaldo Alfonso Concha Orellana, Sergio Hernán Castro Andrade, Víctor Manuel de la Cruz San Martin Jiménez, Gustavo Humberto Apablaza Meneses, Héctor Carlos Díaz Cabezas, Jorge Antonio Lepileo Barrios, Oscar Belarmino La Flor Flores; Rufino Espinoza Espinoza, Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel, Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett, Héctor Manuel Lira Aravena, and Sergio Iván Díaz Lara. Regarding Víctor Manuel De la Cruz San Martín Jiménez, due to having fallen into dementia, the fulfillment of the sentence is suspended, and he must, in due course, be handed over under custody bail to a family member.

Source: Villa Grimaldi.cl, February 3, 2015

77 DINA agents sentenced for aggravated kidnapping in Operation Colombo

The minister for extraordinary causes regarding human rights violations at the Santiago Court of Appeals, Hernán Crisosto Greisse, sentenced 77 agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Héctor Garay Hermosilla, a victim of the so-called "Operation Colombo." In the resolution, the presiding judge sentenced the following to 13 years in prison: César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Marcelo Luis Moren Brito, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, as authors of the crime perpetrated starting in 1974.

Meanwhile, the following former agents must serve 10 years in prison, also as authors: Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires, Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez, Sergio Hernán Castillo González, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, José Nelson Fuentealba Saldías, Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes, José Enrique Fuentes Torres, José Mario Friz Esparza, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, Claudio Orlando Orellana de la Pinta, Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, Gustavo Galvarino Caruman Soto, Hiro Álvarez Vega, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Olegario Enrique González Moreno, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda, Carlos Alfonso Sáez Sanhueza, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, Hernán Patricio Valenzuela Salas, Hugo Rubén Delgado Carrasco, Juan Alfredo Villanueva Alvear, Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, Lautaro Eugenio Díaz Espinoza, Leónidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, Rafael de Jesús Riveros Frost, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Máximo Ramón Aliaga Soto, Manuel Rivas Díaz, Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, Risiere del Prado Altez España, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, and Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle.

As accomplices to the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Garay Hermosilla, the presiding judge sentenced the following to 4 years in prison: Luis Eduardo Mora Cerda, José Jaime Mora Diocares, Camilo Torres Negrier, Carlos Justo Bermúdez Méndez, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, Fernando Adrián Roa Montaña, Gerardo Meza Acuña, Héctor Raúl Valdebenito Araya, Jaime Humberto Paris Ramos, Jorge Laureano Sagardia Monje, José Dorohi Hormazábal Rodríguez, José Manuel Sarmiento Sotelo, José Stalin Muñoz Leal, Juvenal Alfonso Piña Garrido, Luis René Torres Méndez, Manuel Antonio Montre Méndez; Moisés Paulino Campos Figueroa, Nelson Aquiles Ortiz Vignolo, Nelson Eduardo Iturriaga Cortés, Pedro Segundo Bitterlich Jaramillo, Reinaldo Alfonso Concha Orellana, Sergio Hernán Castro Andrade, Víctor Manuel de la Cruz San Martín Jiménez, Gustavo Humberto Apablaza Meneses, Héctor Carlos Díaz Cabezas, Jorge Antonio Lepileo Barrios, Óscar Belarmino la Flor Flores; Rufino Espinoza Espinoza, Héctor Manuel Lira Aravena, Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett, Sergio Iván Díaz Lara, Juan Miguel Troncoso Soto, and Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel.

The events During the investigation stage, Minister Crisosto Greisse established the following sequence of events: "That in the late hours of July 8, 1974, Héctor Marcial Garay Hermosilla, 19, a member of the Revolutionary Student Front (FER), was detained as he arrived at his home located at Calle Los Aromos 2770-I, in the commune of Ñuñoa, by agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who forced him into the back of a gray Chevrolet C-10 pickup truck and took him to the home of a friend of the victim, who was also forced into the aforementioned truck, to be taken to an unknown destination; Subsequently, it was possible to establish, through testimonies, the passage of Héctor Marcial Garay Hermosilla through the clandestine detention center known as 'Londres 38,' which was guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access; The victim Garay Hermosilla, during his stay at the Londres 38 barracks, remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied up, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating in said barracks with the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of his group, in order to proceed with the detention of members of that organization; The last time the victim Garay Hermosilla was seen by other detainees occurred on an undetermined day in the month of July and August 1974, and to date, there is no information regarding his whereabouts; The name of Héctor Marcial Garay Hermosilla appeared on a list of 119 people, published in the national press after appearing on a list published in the magazine LEA in Argentina, dated July 15, 1975, which reported that Héctor Marcial Garay Hermosilla had died in Argentina, along with 59 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes that arose among those members; The publications that declared the victim Garay Hermosilla dead had their origin in disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad."

Source: elclarin.cl, September 2, 2015

Santiago Court sentences 26 DINA agents for the aggravated kidnapping of a university student

The Santiago Court of Appeals issued a sentence against 26 agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the aggravated kidnapping of María Cristina López Stewart. The crime was perpetrated starting on September 23, 1974, within the framework of the so-called Operation Colombo.

In a unanimous ruling (case file 2068-2015), the Seventh Chamber of the appellate court—composed of ministers Pilar Aguayo, Ana María Hernández, and acting lawyer Jorge Norambuena—issued a second-instance sentence in one of the cases substantiated by visiting minister Hernán Crisosto.

In the ruling, the appellate court increased to 10 years in prison the sentence to be served by Armando Segundo Cofré Correa, José Jaime Mora Diocares, and Moisés Paulino Campos, as authors of aggravated kidnapping.

Likewise, the sentences for Óscar Belarmino la Flor Flores, Sergio Iván Díaz Lara, and Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel were increased to 5 years and one day in prison, in their capacity as accomplices.

In addition, the court confirmed the 15-year prison sentences for César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, and Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko for their responsibility as authors; and ratified the 10-year sentences for agents Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes, Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, Gerardo Meza Acuña, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Nelson Aquiles Ortiz Vignolo, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, José Abel Aravena Ruiz, José Nelson Fuentealba Saldías, Francisco Maximiliano Ferrer Lima, Fernando Eduardo Lauriani Maturana, and Rosa Humilde Ramos Hernández, also in their capacity as authors.

During the investigation stage, the following facts were established:

«In the early hours of September 23, 1974, María Cristina López Stewart, 21, a History and Geography student at the University of Chile and a militant of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), was detained at the property located at Calle Alonso de Camargo No. 1107, in the commune of Las Condes, by agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who transported her in a pickup truck to the clandestine DINA detention center known as "Ollagüe," located at Calle José Domingo Cañas No. 1367, in the commune of Ñuñoa, which was guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access; The victim López Stewart, during her stay at the José Domingo Cañas barracks, remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied up, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating in said barracks with the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of the MIR, in order to proceed with the detention of other members of that organization. The last time the victim López Stewart was seen by other detainees occurred on an undetermined day in November 1974, and she remains forcibly disappeared today; The name of María Cristina López Stewart appeared on a list of 119 people, published in the national press after appearing on a list published in the magazine "O’DIA" in Brazil, dated June 25, 1975, which reported that María Cristina López Stewart had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes that arose among those members; establishing that the publications that declared the victim López Stewart dead had their origin in disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad».

Source: poderjudicial.cl, September 9, 2016

Indictment issued for aggravated kidnappings and homicide in "Operation Condor"

The minister for extraordinary visits of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Mario Carroza, issued an indictment on February 16 regarding the investigation into the crimes of kidnapping and qualified homicide related to the so-called "Operation Condor" (case file No. 2182-98).

One of the victims is the brother of one of the coordinators of the Association of Relatives of the Forcibly Disappeared of Concepción, Elizabeth Velásquez Mardones. The magistrate elevated the case to the plenary stage and indicted: a) Cristoph Willeke Floel and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, as authors of the crimes of qualified kidnapping of Héctor Heraldo Velásquez Mardones, Alexei Vladimir Jaccard Siegler, Jorge Isaac Fuentes Alarcón, Luis Muñoz Velásquez, Juan Humberto Hernandez Zaspe, Manuel Jesús Tamayo Martínez, and Julio Del Transito Valladares Caroca; and of the qualified homicides of Ricardo Ignacio Ramírez Herrera, Ruiter Enrique Correa Arce, Matilde Pessa Mois, Jacobo Stoulman Bortnik, and Hernán Soto Gálvez. b) Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, as author of the crime of qualified kidnapping of Héctor Heraldo Velásquez Mardones, Alexei Vladimir Jaccard Siegler, Luis Muñoz Velásquez, Juan Humberto Hernandez Zaspe, Manuel Jesús Tamayo Martínez, and Julio Del Transito Valladares; and of the qualified homicide of Ricardo Ignacio Ramírez Herrera, Ruiter Enrique Correa Arce, Matilde Pessa Mois, Jacobo Stoulman Bortnik, and Hernán Soto Gálvez. c) José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, as author of the crime of qualified kidnapping of Héctor Heraldo Velásquez Mardones, Alexei Vladimir Jaccard Siegler, Jorge Isaac Fuentes Alarcón, Luis Muñoz Velásquez, Juan Humberto Hernandez Zaspe, and Manuel Jesús Tamayo Martínez; and of the qualified homicide of Ricardo Ignacio Ramírez Herrera, Matilde Pessa Mois, and Jacobo Stoulman Bortnik. d) Carlos Enrique Miranda Mesa, Carlos Eusebio López Inostroza, Gerardo Meza Acuña, Héctor Wacinton Briones Burgos, Herman Eduardo Ávalos Muñoz, Hugo Hernán Clavería Leiva, Jerónimo Del Carmen Neira Méndez, Jorge Luis Venegas Silva, Jorge Segundo Madariaga Acevedo, José Enrique Fuentes Torres, José Javier Soto Torres, José Mario Fritz Esparza, José Nelson Fuentealba Saldías, Juan Carlos Escobar Valenzuela, Pedro Mora Villanueva, Raúl Alberto Soto Pérez, Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel, and Silvio Antonio Concha González as authors of the crime of qualified kidnapping of Jorge Isaac Fuentes Alarcón, Luis Muñoz Velásquez, Juan Humberto Hernandez Zaspe, and Manuel Jesús Tamayo Martínez. e) Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes, Eugenio Jesús Fieldhouse Chávez, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, Jorge Claudio Andrade Gómez, José Abel Aravena Ruiz, Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, Luis René Torres Méndez, Manuel Rivas Díaz, María Gabriela Ordenes Montecinos, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, Moisés Paulino Campos Figueroa, Oscar Belarmino La Flor Flores, Osvaldo Enrique Pulgar Gallardo, Rodolfo Valentino Concha Rodríguez, and Teresa Del Carmen Osorio Navarro, as authors of the crime of qualified kidnapping of Jorge Isaac Fuentes Alarcón. f) Carlos José Leonardo López Tapia, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, Heriberto Del Carmen Acevedo, José Domingo Seco Alarcón, Juvenal Alfonso Piña Garrido, Lionel De La Cruz Medrano Rivas, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, and Pedro Segundo Bitterlich Jaramillo, as authors of the crime of qualified kidnapping of Luis Muñoz Velásquez, Juan Humberto Hernandez Zaspe, and Manuel Jesús Tamayo Martínez. g) Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez, Orlando José Manzo Durán, Olegario Enrique González Moreno, and Demóstenes Eugenio Cárdenas Saavedra, as authors of the crime of qualified kidnapping of Julio Del Tránsito Valladares Caroca. h) Hernán Luis Sovino Maturana, Jorge Marcelo Escobar Fuentes, Federico Humberto Chaigneau Sepúlveda, Gladys de las Mercedes Calderón Carreño, and Miguel René Riveros Valderrama, as authors of the crime of qualified kidnapping of Héctor Heraldo Velásquez Mardones and Alexei Vladimir Jaccard Siegler; and of the qualified homicide of Ricardo Ignacio Ramírez Herrera, Ruiter Enrique Correa Arce, Matilde Pessa Mois, Jacobo Stoulman Bortnik, and Hernán Soto Gálvez. i) Héctor Raúl Valdebenito Araya, Eduardo Alejandro Oyarce Riquelme, Guillermo Jesús Ferrán Martínez, and Juan Hernán Morales Salgado, as authors of the crime of qualified kidnapping of Héctor Heraldo Velásquez Mardones and Alexei Vladimir Jaccard Siegler; and of the qualified homicide of Ricardo Ignacio Ramírez Herrera, Matilde Pessa Mois, and Jacobo Stoulman Bortnik.

Source: tribunadelbiobio.cl, February 23, 2016

Justice for 16 victims of Operation Colombo

More than 1,200 former agents of the DINA and its successor—the CNI—have been prosecuted, but only 142 are serving effective prison sentences for having tortured, imprisoned, disappeared bodies, staged false confrontations, or committed murders disguised as accidents or illnesses.

The dictatorship created a vast apparatus to terrorize the population. However, there were men and women who kept the flame of freedom alive and organized in the underground with the purpose of building a democratic country.

Justice is approaching for 16 forcibly disappeared persons. 106 former DINA agents were convicted in a first-instance ruling issued by Judge Hernán Crisosto. The 16 disappeared are part of the 119 victims of Operation Colombo.

The DINA mounted this operation in collaboration with intelligence agencies from the Southern Cone of Latin America. They disseminated reports of alleged confrontations and a list of 119 victims in Brazil and Argentina.

In reality, all of them had been massacred in Chile. The defense for the former DINA agents argued that the organization had a legal existence and acted within the framework of a state of emergency under a government led by the Armed Forces and Order.

In this regard, Judge Hernán Crisosto argued that "the functions of the Armed Forces are not to rise up against the constitutionally current government, nor to apprehend supporters or social leaders affiliated with the deposed regime; much less, of course, to murder them or make them disappear." Furthermore—the magistrate adds—"we are facing crimes against humanity, committed by State agents in the context of serious human rights violations, within the framework of harassment, persecution, or extermination of a group of people whom the military regime identified as ideological adherents to the deposed political regime, or whom the repressive groups considered suspicious of hindering the regime's purposes or the impunity of the intelligence service agents." Another of the grounds for exemption from criminal liability invoked by the former agents was that they were following superior orders. In this regard, Judge Crisosto pointed out that according to Article 334 of the Code of Military Justice, to be exempt from liability, the military officer must represent the illegality of the order to the superior, a matter that none of the convicted individuals proved. Likewise, Judge Crisosto justified the compensation granted to the victims' families, stating that "the disappearance of a son, a daughter, a father, a mother, a brother, a sister, a spouse, a partner, and even a brother-in-law, in the circumstances in which it occurred—that is, amidst the conviction that during their confinement they were tortured, abused, subjected to cruel, inhuman treatment, harmful to their psychic and moral integrity, devoid of any due respect for the dignity inherent to human beings, without the most elementary pity for a fellow human, and devoid of any moral principle—has caused the plaintiffs psychological suffering that has provoked moral damage that the State, as responsible for the actions of its agents, must compensate."

The victims Francisco Aedo Carrasco, architect, 63 years old, socialist; Juan Andrónicos Antequera, 23 years old, university student, MIR; Jorge Andrónicos Antequera, 25 years old, electrical engineering graduate, State Technical University, MIR; Jaime Buzio Lorca, 21 years old, student at the UTE, Revolutionary Communist League; Mario Eduardo Calderón Tapia, journalist, 31 years old, MIR; Cecilia Castro Salvadores, 24 years old, law student at the University of Chile, MIR; Juan Carlos Rodríguez Araya, 30 years old, engineering student at the University of Chile; Rodolfo Espejo Gómez, 18 years old, socialist; Agustín Fiorasso Chau, 23 years old, Spanish teacher, MIR; Gregorio Gaete Farías, 22 years old, worker and night school student, socialist; Mauricio Jorquera Encina, 19 years old, sociology student at the University of Chile, MIR; Isidro Pizarro Meniconi, 21 years old, technician, MIR; Marcos Esteban Quiñones Lembach, 26 years old, public employee; Sergio Reyes Navarrete, 26 years old, Corfo official, MIR; Jilberto Patricio Urbina Chamorro, 25 years old, medical student at the Catholic University, MIR; Ida Vera Almarza, 31 years old, Bolivian architect, MIR.

The convicted agents

Sentenced to 20 years as authors: César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, and Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko. Sentenced to 13 years as authors: Orlando Manzo Durán, Fernando Eduardo Lauriani Maturana, Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Ricardo Lawrence Mires, Ciro Torre Sáez, Manuel Carevic Cubillos, Rosa Humilde Ramos Hernández, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, José Abel Aravena Ruiz, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, Nelson Aquiles Ortiz Vignolo, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Gerardo Meza Acuña, Manuel Heriberto Avendaño González, José Nelson Fuentealba Saldías, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, Alejandro Francisco Astudillo Adonis, Demóstenes Eugenio Cárdenas Saavedra, Daniel Alberto Galaz Orellana, Francisco Maximiliano Ferrer Lima, Leoncio Enrique Velásquez Guala, Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González, Sergio Hernán Castillo González, Teresa del Carmen Osorio Navarro, José Enrique Fuentes Torres, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Pedro René Alfaro Fernández, Hiro Alvarez Vega, Gustavo Galvarino Carumán Soto, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, José Manuel Sarmiento Sotelo, Luis René Torres Méndez, Rodolfo Valentino Concha Rodríguez, Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, Juan Angel Urbina Cáceres, Manuel Rivas Díaz, Risiere del Prado Altez España, Daniel Valentín Cancino Varas, Juan Duarte Gallegos, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, Guido Arnoldo Jara Brevis, Leonidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, Jorge Antonio Lepileo Barrios, Lautaro Díaz Espinoza, Pedro Ariel Aravena Aravena, Carlos Alfonso Sáez Sanhueza, Juan Carlos Villanueva Alvear, Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda, Rafael de Jesús Riveros Frost, Silvio Antonio Concha González, Luis Fernando Espinace Contreras, Hernán Patricio Valenzuela Salas, Luis Rigoberto Videla Inzunza, Palmira Isabel Almuna Guzmán, Sylvia Teresa Oyarce Pinto, Osvaldo Pulgar Gallardo, José Yévenes Vergara, and Olegario Enrique González Moreno. Sentenced to 10 years and one day as authors: Werner Enrique Zanghellini Martínez and Héctor Alfredo Flores Vergara. Sentenced to 6 years as authors: Heriberto del Carmen Acevedo and Jaime Alfonso Fernández Garrido. Sentenced to 5 years and one day in prison as accomplices: José Jaime Mora Diocares, Armando Segundo Cofré Correa, Moisés Paulino Campos Figueroa, Oscar Belarmino La Flor Flores, Sergio Iván Díaz Lara, Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel, Jaime Humberto Paris Ramos, Jorge Laureano Sagardía Monje, José Stalin Muñoz Leal, Víctor Manuel de la Cruz San Martín Jiménez, Juvenal Piña Garrido, Camilo Torres Negrier, Manuel Antonio Montre Méndez, Sergio Hernán Castro Andrade, Nelson Eduardo Iturriaga Cortes, Carlos Justo Bermúdez Méndez, Fernando Adrián Roa Montaña, Reinaldo Alfonso Concha Orellana, Osvaldo Octavio Castillo Arellano, Gustavo Humberto Apablaza Meneses, Hugo Hernán Clavería Leiva, Juan Carlos Escobar Valenzuela, Carlos Enrique Miranda Mesa, Víctor Manuel Alvarez Droguett, Juan Ignacio Suárez Delgado, Raúl Alberto Soto Pérez, José Dorohi Hormazabal Rodríguez, Rufino Espinoza Espinoza, Héctor Carlos Díaz Cabezas, Jorge Segundo Madariaga Acevedo, and Miguel Angel Yáñez Ugalde. Sentenced to 3 years and one day with the benefit of supervised release as accomplices: Jorge Luis Venegas Silva, Edinson Antonio Fernández Sanhueza, and Pedro Mora Villanueva. Sentenced to 541 days in prison as author: Samuel Fuenzalida Devia.

Source: puntofinal.cl, July 20, 2017

106 DINA agents convicted for 16 victims of "Operation Colombo"

The minister for visits of the Santiago Court of Appeals for Human Rights cases, Hernán Crisosto Greisse, convicted 106 agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the qualified kidnappings of Francisco Aedo Carrasco, Juan Andrónicos Antequera, Jorge Andrónicos Antequera, Jaime Buzio Lorca, Mario Eduardo Calderón Tapia, Cecilia Castro Salvadores, Juan Carlos Rodríguez Araya, Rodolfo Espejo Gómez, Agustín Fiorasso Chau, Gregorio Gaete Farías, Mauricio Jorquera Encina, Isidro Pizarro Meniconi, Marcos Quiñones Lembach, Sergio Reyes Navarrete, Jilberto Urbina Chamorro, and Ida Vera Almarza, victims of the disinformation maneuver abroad known as "Operation Colombo." The magistrate sentenced the former army officers: César Raúl Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, and Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko to 20 years in prison for their responsibility as authors of the qualified kidnappings of the 16 victims. Meanwhile, the following former officers were sentenced to 13 years in prison for their responsibility as authors: Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González, Sergio Hernán Castillo González, Francisco Maximiliano Ferrer Lima, Fernando Eduardo Lauriani Maturana, and Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, from the army; Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires, Ciro Ernesto Torre Sáez, and Palmira Isabel Almuna Guzmán, from the carabineros; José Orlando Gonzalo Manzo Durán, from the gendarmerie; and the agents: Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes, Rosa Humilde Ramos Hernández, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, José Abel Aravena Ruiz, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, Nelson Aquiles Ortiz Vignolo, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Gerardo Meza Acuña, Manuel Heriberto Avendaño González, José Nelson Fuentealba Saldías, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, Alejandro Francisco Astudillo Adonis, Demóstenes Eugenio Cárdenas Saavedra, Daniel Alberto Galaz Orellana, Leoncio Enrique Velásquez Guala, Teresa del Carmen Osorio Navarro, José Enrique Fuentes Torres, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Pedro René Alfaro Fernández, Hiro Alvarez Vega, Gustavo Galvarino Caruman Soto, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, José Manuel Sarmiento Sotelo, Luis René Torres Méndez, Rodolfo Valentino Concha Rodríguez, Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, Manuel de la Cruz Rivas Díaz, Risiere del Prado Altez España, Daniel Valentín Cancino Varas, Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, Guido Arnoldo Jara Brevis, Leonidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, Jorge Antonio Lepileo Barrios, Lautaro Eugenio Díaz Espinoza, Pedro Ariel Aravena Aravena, Carlos Alfonso Sáez Sanhueza, Juan Carlos Villanueva Alvear, Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda, Rafael de Jesús Riveros Frost, Silvio Antonio Concha González, Luis Fernando Espinace Contreras, Hernán Patricio Valenzuela Salas, Luis Rigoberto Videla Inzunza, Sylvia Teresa Oyarce Pinto, Osvaldo Enrique Pulgar Gallardo, José Avelino Yévenes Vergara, and Olegario Enrique González Moreno, all with the same 13-year prison sentence. The agents: Werner Enrique Zanghellini Martínez and Héctor Alfredo Flores Vergara must serve a sentence of 10 years and one day in prison as authors. The agents: Heriberto del Carmen Acevedo and Jaime Alfonso Fernández Garrido were sentenced to 6 years in prison for their responsibility as authors. Meanwhile, the agent Samuel Enrique Fuenzalida Devia was sanctioned with 541 days in prison for his responsibility as author. The following agents were convicted as accomplices with a sentence of 5 years and one day in prison: José Jaime Mora Diocares, Armando Segundo Cofre Correa, Moisés Paulino Campos Figueroa, Oscar Belarmino La Flor Flores, Sergio Iván Díaz Lara, Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel, Jaime Humberto Paris Ramos, Jorge Laureano Sagardia Monje, José Stalin Muñoz Leal, Víctor Manuel de la Cruz San Martín Jiménez, Juvenal Alfonso Piña Garrido, Camilo Torres Negrier, Manuel Antonio Montre Méndez, Sergio Hernán Castro Andrade, Nelson Eduardo Iturriaga Cortes, Carlos Justo Bermúdez Méndez, Fernando Adrián Roa Montaña, Reinaldo Alfonso Concha Orellana, Osvaldo Octavio Castillo Arellano, Gustavo Humberto Apablaza Meneses, Hugo Hernán Clavería Leiva, Juan Carlos Escobar Valenzuela, Carlos Enrique Miranda Mesa, Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett, Juan Ignacio Suárez Delgado, Raúl Alberto Soto Pérez, José Dorohi Hormazábal Rodríguez, Rufino Espinoza Espinoza, Héctor Carlos Díaz Cabezas, Jorge Segundo Madariaga Acevedo, and Miguel Ángel Yáñez Ugalde. Also in the capacity of accomplices, with the same degree of participation, the following agents were sentenced to 3 years and one day in prison, with the benefit of supervised release: Jorge Luis Venegas Silva, Edinson Antonio Fernández Sanhueza, and Pedro Mora Villanueva. A total of 13 agents were acquitted of the charges against them. In accordance with the provisions of Article 692 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, regarding Jorge Laureano Sagardía Monje, Lautaro Eugenio Díaz Espinoza, and Víctor Manuel De la Cruz San Martín Jiménez, the execution of the sentence was suspended, in another example of "biological impunity," and they must, in due course, be handed over to the custody of a family member who must propose their defense.

The facts According to the investigation by Judge Hernán Crisosto, the 16 victims—militants of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR) and the Socialist Party—were detained by agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) between June 17, 1974, and January 6, 1975, in different communes of the Metropolitan region such as Santiago, Providencia, La Reina, and Ñuñoa, and taken to the detention centers of Londres 38, José Domingo Cañas, Tres y Cuatro Álamos, and Villa Grimaldi, the last places where they were seen alive.

Their names appeared on two lists published on June 25, 1975, in the magazine Novo O’Dia of Curitiba, Brazil, and on July 15, 1975, in the magazine Lea of Buenos Aires, Argentina, which recorded unique editions in disinformation maneuvers executed abroad by the DINA.

The Francisco Aedo and others episode is the last of the series of cases of victims of the so-called "Operation Colombo," which Judge Hernán Crisosto investigated, and in which a first-instance sentence is issued.

Source: resumen.cl, June 2, 2017

Santiago Court convicts former DINA agents for the qualified kidnapping of Juan Carlos Perelman

In a split decision, the Santiago Court of Appeals convicted former members of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the crime of qualified kidnapping of Juan Carlos Perelman Ide, an illicit act perpetrated starting February 20, 1975, within the framework of the so-called "Operation Colombo." The appellate court sentenced Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann to 13 years in prison as co-authors of the crime.

Meanwhile, former agents Rolf Gonzalo Wenderoth Pozo, Francisco Maximiliano Ferrer Lima, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires, Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez, Rosa Humilde Ramos Hernández, Teresa del Carmen Osorio Navarro, Pedro René Alfaro Fernández, José Abel Aravena Ruiz, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Heriberto del Carmen Acevedo, Luis René Torres Méndez, Rodolfo Valentino Concha Rodríguez, Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, Manuel Rivas Díaz, Jerónimo del Carmen Neira Méndez, Silvio Antonio Concha González, Carlos López Inostroza, Luis Rigoberto Videla Inzunza, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, Palmira Isabel Almuna Guzmán, Osvaldo Pulgar Gallardo, Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel, Rafael de Jesús Riveros Frost, and Leonidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno must serve 10 years and one day in prison; and Samuel Enrique Fuenzalida Devia to 541 days in prison, with the benefit of conditional remission of the sentence. Likewise, the acquittal of the following former DINA members was decreed: José Jaime Mora Diocares, Delia Virginia Gajardo Cortés, Reinaldo Concha Orellana, Osvaldo Octavio Castillo Arellano, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, Guido Arnoldo Jara Brevis, Hugo Hernán Clavería Leiva, Jorge Luis Venegas Silva, Juan Carlos Escobar Valenzuela, Carlos Enrique Miranda Mesa, Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett, Raúl Alberto Soto Pérez, Pedro Mora Villanueva, Moisés Paulino Campos Figueroa, Óscar Belarmino la Flor Flores, Miguel Ángel Yáñez Ugalde, Héctor Carlos Díaz Cabezas, Fernando Eduardo Lauriani Maturana, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, César Manríquez Bravo, Alejandro Francisco Molina Cisternas, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, Héctor Raúl Valdebenito Araya, José Stalin Muñoz Leal, Nelson Aquiles Ortiz Vignolo, Pedro Segundo Bitterlich Jaramillo, Gustavo Galvarino Caruman Soto, Carlos Enrique Letelier Verdugo, Herman Eduardo Ávalos Muñoz, Raúl Bernardo Toro Montes, Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, and Sergio Iván Díaz Lara.

The facts During the investigation stage of the case, the minister for visits Hernán Crisosto established the following sequence of events: -That on the morning of February 20, 1975, Juan Carlos Perelman Ide, a militant of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), was detained in an apartment located at Avenida Francisco Bilbao No. 2911, Providencia commune, by State agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who transferred him to the clandestine detention center called "Cuartel Terranova" or "Villa Grimaldi," located at Lo Arrieta No. 8200, in the La Reina commune, which was guarded by numerous armed guards and to which only agents of said organization had access; -That Perelman Ide remained in "Villa Grimaldi" without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating in said barracks, which they carried out with the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of the MIR, to proceed with the detention of other members of that organization. He was seen for the last time by other detainees on an undetermined day in February 1975, with no information available to establish a final destination to date; -That subsequently, the name of Juan Carlos Perelman Ide appeared on a list of 119 people, published—without the corresponding corroboration—in the national press after it appeared on a list published in the magazine "O'DIA" of Brazil, dated June 25, 1975, which it was later determined only had circulation on that date, reporting that Juan Carlos Perelman Ide had died in Argentina, along with 58 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes that arose among the members of that Chilean political organization, and -From the background information enumerated in the first finding, it is unequivocally clear that the publications that declared the aforementioned Perelman Ide dead, a victim of a homicide perpetrated by people affiliated with his political ideology, had their origin in disinformation maneuvers planned by the DINA and carried out by agents of the same organization abroad. In the civil aspect, the ruling revoked the sentence that ordered the Treasury to pay compensation to the victim's family members. The decision was adopted, in the revoking parts, with the dissenting vote of Judge Llanos, who points out, among other things, that to dismiss the statute of limitations defense raised by the Chilean Treasury, one must consider what was resolved by the Supreme Court—arguments that this dissenter shares—on November 22, 2012, in case File No. 3573-2012, in which it stated: "That all international regulations applicable in this case by constitutional mandate, which tend toward the full reparation of victims, certainly include the patrimonial aspect. Indeed, in the case at hand, we are in the presence of what legal conscience calls a crime against humanity, a qualification that not only entails the impossibility of granting amnesty for the illicit act, or declaring the statute of limitations for the criminal action arising from it, but also the unfeasibility of proclaiming the extinction—due to the passage of time—of the possibility of exercising the civil compensation action derived from the crime that has been proven. Thus, then, in the case of a crime against humanity whose criminal prosecution action is imprescriptible, it is not coherent to understand that the civil compensation action is subject to the rules on prescription established in internal civil law, since this contradicts the express will manifested by international Human Rights regulations—part of the national legal system by provision of Article 5 of the Fundamental Charter—which enshrines the right of victims and other legitimate holders to obtain due reparation for the damages suffered as a consequence of the illicit act, so it is contrary to law to declare the action attempted by the plaintiff against the convicted persons prescribed, so this section of the appeal will also be accepted."

Source: diarioconstitucional.cl, November 6, 2018

Santiago Court convicts DINA agents for the kidnapping of student Héctor Marcial Garay Hermosilla

The Santiago Court of Appeals convicted 39 agents of the defunct National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their responsibility in the crime of qualified kidnapping of secondary student leader Héctor Marcial Garay Hermosilla.

The crime was perpetrated starting July 8, 1974, within the framework of the so-called Operation Colombo. In the sentence (case file 174-2016), the Second Chamber of the appellate court—composed of judges María Soledad Melo, Rafael Andrade, and the interim lawyer María Cecilia Ramírez—convicted: César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Espinoza Bravo, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, Raúl Iturriaga Neumann, Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires, Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez, Sergio Hernán Castillo González, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Máximo Ramón Aliaga Soto, Manuel Rivas Díaz, Risiere del Prado Altez España, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, and Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos to 10 years and one day in prison, as authors of the crime. Meanwhile, Hiro Álvarez Vega, Olegario Enrique González Moreno, Hernán Patricio Valenzuela Salas, Juan Alfredo Villanueva Alvear, Lautaro Díaz Espinoza, Leonidas Méndez Moreno, Rafael Riveros Frost, Gustavo Humberto Apablaza Meneses, Héctor Carlos Díaz Cabezas, Jorge Antonio Lepileo Barrios, Óscar Belarmino La Flor Flores, Rufino Espinoza Espinoza, Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett, Sergio Iván Díaz Lara, and Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel were sentenced to 4 years in prison, with the benefit of supervised release, as accomplices to the illicit act.

The facts During the investigation stage of the case, the minister for visits Hernán Crisosto Greisse established the following sequence of events: "That on the night of July 8, 1974, Héctor Marcial Garay Hermosilla, 19 years old, member of the Revolutionary Student Front (FER), was detained as he arrived at his home located at Calle Los Aromos 2770-I, in the Ñuñoa commune, by agents belonging to the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), who forced him into the back of a gray Chevrolet C-10 pickup truck and transported him to the home of a friend of the victim, who was also forced into the aforementioned pickup truck, to be taken in an unknown direction; Subsequently, it was possible to establish, through testimonies, the passage of Héctor Marcial Garay Hermosilla through the clandestine detention center called 'Londres 38,' which was guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access; The offended party, Garay Hermosilla, during his stay at the Londres 38 barracks, remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating in said barracks with the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of his group, to proceed with the detention of the members of that organization; The last time the victim, Garay Hermosilla, was seen by other detainees occurred on an undetermined day in the month of July and August 1974, with no information on his whereabouts to date; The name of Héctor Marcial Garay Hermosilla appeared on a list of 119 people, published in the national press after it appeared on a list published in the magazine LEA of Argentina, dated July 15, 1975, in which it was reported that Héctor Marcial Garay Hermosilla had died in Argentina, along with 59 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes that arose among those members; The publications that declared the victim, Garay Hermosilla, dead had their origin in disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad."

Source: eluniversal.cl, June 3, 2020