The minister for extraordinary cases of human rights violations for the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, has prosecuted four former members of the Army, Carabineros, and the Investigations Police (PDI) for their responsibility in the consummated crimes of kidnapping, kidnapping with serious injury, illegal detention, and the application of torture against 31 victims of such illicit acts, which were perpetrated starting on September 11, 1973, in the city of Puerto Montt.

In the resolution (case file 10.858-P), Minister Mesa Latorre charged former Army General Eugenio Adrián Covarrubias Valenzuela, former Carabineros officer Carlos Segundo Tapia Galleguillos, former PDI inspector Roberto Javier Díaz Moya, and former PDI officer Javier Armando Olavarría Díaz as authors of crimes against humanity.

The defendants Covarrubias Valenzuela and Tapia Galleguillos must be notified at the Punta Peuco Prison, where they are serving sentences for other human rights violation crimes in various cases. Meanwhile, for the defendants Díaz Moya and Olavarría Díaz, their entry into pretrial detention was ordered.

The defendants were members of the Internal Security Jurisdictional Area Command (CAJSI) based in the city of Puerto Montt, which included the provinces of Llanquihue, Chiloé, and Palena. This organization operated under the command of Air Force Brigadier General Sergio Hiram Rodolfo Leigh Guzmán (deceased), then Commander of the Third Air Brigade and Wing No. 5 (El Tepual Air Base), and operated out of the offices of the Provincial Intendancy of the time.

The aforementioned CAJSI included the now-deceased Army Colonel and commander of the No. 12 'Sangra' Infantry Regiment of Puerto Montt, Rubén Rojas Román; the Frigate Captain and commander of the Naval Station and Maritime Governor of Puerto Montt, Osvaldo Federico Pablo Schwarzenberg Stegmaier, representing the Navy; the Carabineros Lieutenant Colonel and Prefect of the Province of Llanquihue, Eduardo Partarrieu Navarrete (deceased); and the Prefect of Puerto Montt, Vicente Leonel Hormazábal Rojas (deceased), representing the Investigations Police.

To transmit his instructions and guidelines, General Sergio Leigh Guzmán established an operational group of liaison officers with each of the Armed Forces and Order institutions existing in the territory under his command.

For the Army, the operational liaison was the then-captain Eugenio Adrián Covarrubias Valenzuela, who was in charge of the Second Intelligence Section of the No. 12 'Sangra' Infantry Regiment; for the Air Force, it was Colonel Mario Ernesto Jahn Barrera (deceased); for the Carabineros, it was the then-lieutenant Carlos Segundo Tapia Galleguillos, of the Second Carabineros Precinct of Puerto Montt; and for the PDI, it was detective Roberto Javier Díaz Moya, of the Information Department of the Puerto Montt Prefecture; the name of the officer who performed this liaison function for the Navy is not known with certainty.

The 31 victims were all illegally detained by military and police units; several of the detained persons surrendered voluntarily, complying with the calls to do so made by the de facto authority of the area. In that condition as prisoners of the uniformed officers, they were subjected to abuse and torture that correspond to crimes against humanity.

Source: resumen.cl, November 11, 2022

Minister Álvaro Mesa sentences police officers and retired military official for kidnappings and torture in Puerto Montt

In the ruling (case file 10.858), the visiting minister sentenced the detectives of the Investigations Police at the time of the events, Roberto Javier Díaz Moya and Javier Armando Olavarría Díaz, the retired Carabineros lieutenant Carlos Segundo Tapia Galleguillos, and the former Army captain Eugenio Adrián Covarrubias Valenzuela.

The minister for extraordinary cases of human rights violations for the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, sentenced four retired members of the Investigations Police, Carabineros, and the Army for their responsibility in the consummated crimes of kidnapping, kidnapping with serious injury, and the application of torture to María Luisa Fernández Alderete, Bernardino Rivera Altamirano, Carlos Humberto Catepillán Guinao, Guillermo Farías Ruiz, Heriberto Santibáñez Montiel, Jaime Omar Gutiérrez González, José Teodoro Fernández González, Juan Mamerto Ruiz Barría, María Irma Alvarado Barría, Orlando Raúl Arias Muñoz, Osvaldo Rubén Contreras Mansilla, René Alberto Droppelmann Añazco, Roy Roger Arismendi Soto, René Luis Gesell Gesell, Luis Andrés Donoso Naranjo, Ricardo Scheuermann Paredes, Rosa Alba Asencio Toledo, Enrique Chávez Chaura, Sigifredo Alberto Bustamante Silva, Manuel Orlando Villegas Guerrero, Ricardo Delgado Navarro, Sebastián Rodrigo Pietro Henríquez Díaz, Alberto Saúl Oyarzo Groff, Claudio Esaun Oyarzo Groff, José Tabito Ojeda Guzmán, José Germain Rain Ascencio, José Carlos Ortega Vegas, Alfredo Eduardo Cardemil Ramírez, José Héctor Rojas Leiva, José del Tránsito Uribe, and Carlos Mascareña Díaz. These illicit acts were perpetrated starting on September 11, 1973, in the city of Puerto Montt.

In the ruling (case file 10.858), the visiting minister sentenced the detectives of the Investigations Police at the time of the events, Roberto Javier Díaz Moya, to three effective 10-year prison terms as the author of the consummated crimes, in the nature of crimes against humanity, of simple kidnapping, kidnapping with serious injury, and illegitimate coercion or torture; and Javier Armando Olavarría Díaz to 10 years in prison as the author of kidnapping with serious injury, and two 9-year prison terms for kidnapping and illegitimate coercion (torture).

Meanwhile, retired Carabineros lieutenant Carlos Segundo Tapia Galleguillos and former Army captain Eugenio Adrián Covarrubias Valenzuela must serve 10 years and two 8-year prison terms as authors of the consummated crimes of kidnapping with serious injury, kidnapping, and illegitimate coercion (torture), respectively.

In the civil sphere, the court accepted the lawsuits filed and ordered the treasury to pay a total compensation of $2,380,000,000 for moral damages to the victims' families, plus the costs of the case.

In the sentence, Minister Mesa Latorre established the following facts as proven:

"A.

That after the overthrow of the Government was consummated by the Armed Forces, the Government Junta extrapolated from their internal structure the establishment of the 'Internal Security Jurisdictional Area Commands' (CAJSI), which were located in provincial capital cities and were formed by the commanders of the different units of the Armed Forces and Order installed in the area, who were led by the most senior officer among them, that person being the highest authority who occupied the position of Zone Chief under a State of Siege.

B.

That among their main functions, issues related to the administration and internal security of the territory under their jurisdiction stood out, such as issuing edicts, ordering the investigation of specific situations or persons, arranging raids, the detention of persons, detecting conflict areas, and coordinating patrols and operational proceedings with the participation of members of the various branches of the Armed Forces.

They made decisions and planned intelligence, logistics, operations, and administrative matters. As of September 11, 1973, the provinces of Llanquihue, Chiloé, and Palena remained under the jurisdiction of the Internal Security Jurisdictional Area Command (CAJSI) based in the city of Puerto Montt, which operated out of the Provincial Intendancy building (currently the Provincial Government), located on Calle San Martín, across from the Plaza de Armas.

C.

That the officers who formed the Internal Security Jurisdictional Area Command (CAJSI) based in the city of Puerto Montt, with jurisdiction, as noted, in the aforementioned provinces, according to what was reported by the Investigations Police of Chile through a police report that appears on pages 14,790 to 14,802 (Volume LIII), were the following: Air Force Brigadier General Sergio Hiram Rodolfo Leigh Guzmán (deceased, according to page 14,861, Volume LIII), representing the Chilean Air Force, commander of the Third Air Brigade and Wing No. 5 (El Tepual Air Base), who held the position of Zone Chief under a State of Exception and commander of the CAJSI until the end of December 1973; Colonel Rubén Rojas Román (deceased according to page 2,126, Volume VII), representing the Chilean Army, commander of the No. 12 'Sangra' Infantry Regiment of Puerto Montt; Frigate Captain Osvaldo Federico Pablo Schwarzenberg Stegmaier, representing the Chilean Navy, commander of the Naval Station and Maritime Governor of Puerto Montt; Lieutenant Colonel Eduardo Partarrieu Navarrete (deceased according to page 2,124, Volume VII), representing the Chilean Carabineros, prefect of the Province of Llanquihue; and Chief Sub-prefect Vicente Leonel Hormazábal Rojas (deceased according to page 3,223, Volume XII), representing the Chilean Investigations Police.

D.

That in the same way, and with the purpose of transmitting the instructions and guidelines of General Sergio Leigh Guzmán, as Zone Chief under a State of Siege and commander of the Internal Security Jurisdictional Area Command (CAJSI), a liaison officer was established with each of the Armed Forces and Order institutions existing in the territory under his command, a task that fell to the following officers: for the Chilean Army, Captain Eugenio Adrián Covarrubias Valenzuela, who was in charge of the Second Intelligence Section of the No. 12 'Sangra' Infantry Regiment of the city of Puerto Montt; for the Chilean Navy, the name of the officer who performed said function is unknown with certainty; for the Chilean Air Force, Colonel Mario Ernesto Jahn Barrera (deceased according to page 14,864 bis, Volume LIII); for the Chilean Carabineros, Lieutenant Carlos Segundo Tapia Galleguillos, of the Second Carabineros Precinct of Puerto Montt; and for the Chilean Investigations Police, detective Roberto Javier Díaz Moya, of the Information Department of the Puerto Montt Prefecture.

E.

That like the rest of the organizations at the national level, the Internal Security Jurisdictional Area Command (CAJSI) based in the city of Puerto Montt, in addition to its own intelligence, made use of all the intelligence units of the various Armed Forces and Order institutions existing in the region.

To this end, the Regional Intelligence Center or Service (CIRE or SIRE) was created, an operational organ of the CAJSI, which, initially, after September 11, 1973, was under the command of the then-Carabineros major and commissioner of the Llanquihue Prefecture, Caupolicán Horacio Arcos Albarracín (deceased, according to page 309, Volume I).

Subsequently, it was in charge of Army Captain Eugenio Adrián Covarrubias Valenzuela, Chilean Army Captain Ricardo Eugenio Pfaff Mococain, and Carabineros Lieutenant Gerardo Alejandro Aravena Longa, among other officers.

F.

That the main office where the Regional Intelligence Service (CIRE or SIRE) operated was located on the second floor of the Intendancy building (currently the Provincial Government), based in the city of Puerto Montt, which was accessed via Calle Antonio Varas.

Meanwhile, at the Puerto Montt Investigations Police barracks, they also had an office on the first floor, which was used as an interrogation room for detainees ('La Patilla'). Subsequently, in 1974, the Regional Intelligence Service (CIRE or SIRE) also used as a facility for its operations a house located in the Antonio Varas neighborhood of the city of Puerto Montt, which was presumably a government-owned residence belonging to the Chilean Air Force.

G.

That according to the Investigations Police roster, among the officials of the different Armed Forces and Order institutions who were part of the Regional Intelligence Service (CIRE or SIRE) at the time in question, Carabineros Lieutenant Carlos Segundo Tapia Galleguillos and Air Force Captain Jorge Andrés Pastor Enberg Castro (deceased according to page 14,862, Volume LIII), among others, are mentioned.

H.

That immediately after the Armed Forces assumed control of the provinces of Llanquihue, Chiloé, and Palena, the military authority summoned various people who, in view of their political activities during the deposed government or the administrative functions exercised therein, had to present themselves at the Sangra Regiment, located at that time on the land situated at the vertex formed by Calle Ejército and Calle Regimiento.

Thus, Air Force General Sergio Hiram Rodolfo Leigh Guzmán issued Edict No. 3, dated September 11, 1973, that is, the same day he assumed power, in whose second point it states: 'the following citizens are invited to surrender to the Sangra Regiment before 19:00 hours, otherwise proceedings will be taken against them: 1) Luis Espinoza Villalobos, 2) Manfredo Riesco, 3) Erardo Garcés, 4) Sixto Reyes, 5) Félix Verbeken, 6) Rubén Lara, 7) Álex Jiménez, and 8) Juan Leonhardt' (page 14,789, Volume LIII).

This was nothing but the beginning of a repressive activity undertaken against those who, in the aforementioned provinces, held administrative positions during the deposed government and against those who formed or were suspected of having formed part of political groups affiliated with it or who held similar ideas.

I.

That as a consequence of the circumstances indicated above, members of the Armed Forces—in some cases with an order issued by the Wartime Military Prosecutor's Office and in others without any order at all—detained hundreds of people in the days immediately following September 11, 1973, and they were transferred to the facilities of the Sangra Regiment, but later, as the detentions increased, they were taken directly to the dungeons of the Puerto Montt Investigations Police barracks, and in those facilities, located on an upper floor, they were subjected to interrogations by subordinate personnel, non-commissioned officers, under the command and direction of senior officers, thus transforming that barracks into a place of detention, kidnapping, and interrogations under various types of torture, logistically assisted by the officers who performed intelligence functions within the Intelligence Department of the CAJSI, among others, Army Captain Eugenio Covarrubias Valenzuela, Carabineros Lieutenant Carlos Tapia Galleguillos, and Investigations Police inspector Roberto Díaz Moya.

J.

That the situation described above began, as stated, starting on September 11, 1973, and was maintained during the stay in Puerto Montt of Chilean Air Force General Sergio Hiram Rodolfo Leigh Guzmán as Chief of the Plaza, beginning to cease after his replacement, the general of the same branch, Mr. Juan Soler Manfredini (deceased, as recorded on page 10,636, Volume XXXIX), assumed the position."

Source: pdju.cl, October 30, 2024

Four former uniformed and police officers sentenced for kidnapping and torture in Puerto Montt in 1973

The minister for extraordinary cases of human rights violations for the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, sentenced four former repressive agents belonging to the Army, Carabineros, and the Investigations Police for their responsibility in the consummated crimes of kidnapping, kidnapping with serious injury, and the application of torture to 31 political detainees, illicit acts perpetrated starting on September 11, 1973, in the city of Puerto Montt.

In the ruling (case file 10.858), the visiting minister sentenced the then-Army captain at the time of the events, Eugenio Adrián Covarrubias Valenzuela (retired with the rank of general), and the former Carabineros lieutenant Carlos Segundo Tapia Galleguillos to a 10-year prison term, plus two 8-year prison terms, as authors of the consummated crimes of kidnapping with serious injury, kidnapping, and illegitimate coercion (torture).

Meanwhile, he sentenced the former detectives of the Investigations Police (PDI), Roberto Javier Díaz Moya, to three effective 10-year prison terms as the author of the consummated crimes, in the nature of crimes against humanity, of simple kidnapping, kidnapping with serious injury, and illegitimate coercion or torture; and Javier Armando Olavarría Díaz to 10 years in prison as the author of kidnapping with serious injury, and two 9-year prison terms for kidnapping and illegitimate coercion (torture), respectively.

In the case of the convicted Covarrubias Valenzuela and Tapia Galleguillos, they must be notified at the penitentiary prison where they are serving sentences for other human rights violation crimes in various cases.

The four convicted individuals were members of the Internal Security Jurisdictional Area Command (CAJSI) based in the city of Puerto Montt, which included the provinces of Llanquihue, Chiloé, and Palena.

This organization operated under the command of Air Force Brigadier General Sergio Hiram Rodolfo Leigh Guzmán (deceased), then commander of the Third Air Brigade and Wing No. 5 (El Tepual Air Base), and operated out of the offices of the Provincial Intendancy of the time.

The aforementioned CAJSI included the then-Army colonel and commander of the No. 12 'Sangra' Infantry Regiment of Puerto Montt, Rubén Rojas Román (now deceased); the Frigate Captain and commander of the Naval Station and Maritime Governor of Puerto Montt, Osvaldo Federico Pablo Schwarzenberg Stegmaier, representing the Navy; the Carabineros Lieutenant Colonel and Prefect of the Province of Llanquihue, Eduardo Partarrieu Navarrete (deceased); and the Prefect of Puerto Montt, Vicente Leonel Hormazábal Rojas (deceased), representing the Investigations Police.

To transmit his instructions and guidelines, General Sergio Leigh Guzmán established an operational group of liaison officers with each of the Armed Forces and Order institutions existing in the territory under his command.

For the Army, the operational liaison was the then-captain Eugenio Adrián Covarrubias Valenzuela, who was in charge of the Second Intelligence Section of the No. 12 'Sangra' Infantry Regiment; for the Air Force, it was Colonel Mario Ernesto Jahn Barrera (deceased); for the Carabineros, it was the then-lieutenant Carlos Segundo Tapia Galleguillos, of the Second Carabineros Precinct of Puerto Montt; and for the PDI, it was detective Roberto Javier Díaz Moya, of the Information Department of the Puerto Montt Prefecture; the name of the officer who performed this liaison function for the Navy is not known with certainty.

The 31 victims were all illegally detained by military and police units; several of the detained persons surrendered voluntarily, complying with the calls to do so made by the de facto authority of the area. In that condition as prisoners of the uniformed officers, they were subjected to abuse and torture that correspond to crimes against humanity.

By Darío Núñez

Source: resumen.cl, November 6, 2024