Lucio Hernán Angulo Carrillo, married, father of five, agricultural worker, union leader, and member of the MAPU, was detained by Carabineros from the Puerto Octay station on September 15, 1973. The uniformed officers arrived at the victim's home around 10:00 that morning.

At that moment, the house was occupied by Blanca Godoy and Luis Pinto, parents of the victim's spouse, Clara Pinto Godoy, who was at the Puerto Octay Hospital at the time, as she was due to give birth to the couple's fifth child that very day.

Lieutenant Juan Ríos, in command of the patrol, arrived at the victim's home along with four other officers, among whom witnesses were able to identify Carabineros Héctor Matus Martínez, Francisco Ovando Cárcamo, and Ricardo Navarrete.

The police officers, who were traveling in a pickup truck owned by Hans Siebert Held, entered the property threatening the residents with their weapons while asking for Lucio Angulo. Angulo, who was at home at the time, presented himself to the Carabineros, who, upon seeing him, proceeded to tie his hands and feet while beating him.

All of this took place in the presence of the victim's children and parents-in-law.

The Carabineros then raided the entire property, claiming they were searching for weapons, which were not present; despite this, they destroyed furniture and beds. Shortly after, they roughly threw the victim into the back of the pickup truck and departed in the direction of Puerto Octay.

In June 1979, a peasant farmer testified before the Judge of the First Criminal Court of Osorno, stating that on September 15, 1973, "in the presence of all the workers of the 'Las Encinas' settlement, at 10 in the morning, a pickup truck arrived with Carabineros commanded by Lieutenant Juan Ríos Villalobos, as well as Sergeant Ovando and a Carabinero with the surname Navarrete, who proceeded to point their submachine guns at us and threaten us, to search the houses... then they asked us for Lucio Angulo and I told them where he lived; the Carabineros went there and proceeded to detain this person."

Clara Pinto, Lucio Angulo's spouse, was only able to begin efforts to locate her husband at the beginning of October 1973, as she had to remain on bed rest due to complications during childbirth.

Following the victim's detention, his parents-in-law went to the Puerto Octay Carabineros station, where they were insulted and threatened with arrest if they continued their inquiries.

When the victim's spouse was able to travel, she went to the aforementioned station, where she was told to go to Osorno to ask about her husband. There, she visited the Penitentiary, the Regiment, the local hospital, the Estadio Español, etc.; nowhere was she given any information about the victim.

In a sworn statement before a notary, Clara Pinto stated: "The truth is that I never heard from my husband again, so I fear he was a victim of extreme repression and that is why they always denied it to me. I did not file a complaint with the Court because I did not know that I could obtain any result there."

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

A case regarding the victim's alleged disappearance, case file No. 22.742, was initiated in the First Criminal Court of Osorno.

In April 1979, the Warden of the "Osorno" Penitentiary and the Military Judge of Valdivia informed the court that there were no records regarding the victim in their respective departments.

When consulted by the Judge regarding the victim's detention, Lieutenant of Carabineros Nelson Alex Alveal Araya, Chief of the Puerto Octay station, responded on April 24, 1979. In his official letter, he stated: "in this regard, I allow myself to inform Your Honor that there are no records at this station because the documentation from the year 1973 was incinerated in accordance with the Regulations of the Carabineros de Chile."

On May 3, 1979, the victim's spouse and parents-in-law appeared to confirm the complaint filed.

On May 30, First Corporal of Carabineros Héctor Guido Matus Martínez, responsible for the victim's detention, testified before the Judge. On that occasion, the police officer stated "that I do not remember having known Luis Angulo Carrillo and consequently I do not remember if he was detained... and I cannot remember because in those days countless patrols were carried out by both Carabineros and military personnel; consequently, having detained many political activists, it is impossible for me to remember the people who were detained."

On May 30, 1979, a criminal complaint was filed with the Court for the crimes of kidnapping, serious injury, and possible homicide of Lucio Angulo. The legal action was directed against the then-Lieutenant of Carabineros Juan Ríos Villalobos and Carabineros Héctor Matus and Francisco Ovando.

On June 6, Second Sergeant of Carabineros Francisco Ovando Cárcamo appeared before the Judge and stated: "I know Lucio Angulo, and since September 11, 1973, we received orders to keep the militants and extremists of the Unidad Popular under surveillance; for that reason, raids were carried out.

I remember that we raided the house of Angulo Carrillo, but he was not in it, though his wife was; after the raid, we did not find any weapons. Regarding the detention of Angulo, in reality, I do not remember if he was detained or not, although if he was detained, he must have been released in Puerto Octay." He later added that "I did know that Angulo was an extremist, although I do not know which party he belonged to."

On June 15, 1979, Hans Siebert Held appeared before the Judge and denied that his vehicle had been used in the victim's detention.

In June 1979, the Judge denied the plaintiff access to the summary proceedings, leading them to appeal to the Court of Appeals of Valdivia, which, in a ruling on July 9, 1979, overturned the Judge's decision.

On July 10, an official letter from the Osorno Commissariat of the Investigative Police was delivered to the Judge, reporting on the steps taken by that agency following a Court order to investigate the case.

On October 16, 1979, the Judge resolved to close the summary proceedings.

On October 22, 1979, the Investigating Judge of the case resolved to temporarily dismiss the case because "with the investigated evidence, the perpetration of a crime is not completely justified."

On October 30, 1979, an appeal was filed against the aforementioned resolution.

On December 6, 1979, the Court of Appeals of Valdivia overturned the appealed resolution, considering the investigation to be incomplete. The Court of Appeals' resolution noted that the processing of the case had been carried out in a negligent and irregular manner.

On December 11, 1979, the Extraordinary Visiting Minister of the Court of Appeals, Juana González Inzunza, was constituted at the First Criminal Court of Osorno in order to hear case file No. 22.742 regarding the alleged disappearance of Lucio Angulo.

The minister had been appointed on December 7 by the Plenary of the Court of Appeals of Valdivia to take cognizance of complaints regarding forcibly disappeared persons in Osorno.

During the month of December 1979, various agencies and police units informed the Visiting Minister that they had no records regarding the victim's detention.

A statement presented in another case by Captain of Carabineros Juan Artemio Ríos Villalobos was added to the proceedings. In his appearance, the officer acknowledged having ordered various detentions of people in the town of Puerto Octay after the 1973 coup d'état. He further stated that he did not remember the names of the people detained "given the time that has passed."

During the month of December 1979, various witnesses to the victim's detention testified before the Magistrate. The Provincial Chief of the Civil Registry and Identification Service informed the Visiting Minister that the victim's death was not registered.

On December 18, 1979, information was dated from the Minister of the Interior, Sergio Fernández Fernández, stating that his Secretariat of State had not issued any order affecting Lucio Angulo.

Local cemeteries and the Municipality of Osorno reported having no record of the victim's death.

On January 24, 1980, a confrontation was held between the victim's spouse, her parents-in-law, and Carabineros officers Francisco Obando and Héctor Matus.

In March 1980, various witnesses to the victim's detention appeared. On the 6th of that month, Captain of Carabineros Juan Artemio Ríos Villalobos testified before Minister Juana González; he did not acknowledge having detained the victim, adding that "it is possible that he was detained but I do not remember; in those days, raids and detentions were carried out without orders, given the circumstances..." That same day, a confrontation was held between the aforementioned officer and the victim's father-in-law.

On that same day, March 6, 1980, Rita Aguila appeared and stated that after Lucio Angulo was detained, he was put into a pickup truck with Carabineros and that she saw it pass near her, "in the back was Lucio Angulo, lying down and tied up."

On March 18, a confrontation was held between witness Rita Aguila and Carabineros Officer Juan Ríos Villalobos.

In the month of April 1980, some agricultural workers from the El Encino settlement, coworkers of the victim, testified.

On April 8, 1980, Visiting Minister Juana González went to the Puerto Octay Carabineros station in order to review the prisoner intake logs and other records. On that occasion, she was informed that the logs from 1973 had been incinerated in accordance with regulations.

On April 17, 1980, the magistrate stated that "from the merit of the accumulated evidence, it is clear that Carabineros officers were involved in the investigated events," and therefore declared herself incompetent and ordered the case to be sent to the Military Prosecutor's Office of Osorno.

On April 22, 1980, the resolution was appealed.

On July 4, 1980, the resolution was confirmed by the Court of Appeals of Valdivia, as it was estimated that the accused officers were members of the Carabineros and because "for the purposes of this legal body (Code of Military Justice), it is understood that there is a state of war or that it is a time of war, not only when it has been officially declared, but also when it exists in fact, a situation that occurred on September 11, 1973, as is a matter of public notoriety."

On July 14, 1980, the victim's family filed a complaint against the ministers of the Court of Appeals of Valdivia before the Supreme Court.

On October 22, 1980, the Supreme Court dismissed the complaint filed by the victim's family.

On February 6, 1991, through official letter No. 2086, the National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation presented a complaint to the 1st Criminal Court of Osorno regarding the detention and subsequent disappearance of various people in the town of Rahue, Osorno, which occurred in the days following the coup d'état of September 11, 1973, in Chile.

On February 18, 1991, the Judge of the aforementioned court resolved to instruct a summary proceeding for the reported events. The case was assigned file No. 39.911-3. On that occasion, he summoned the relatives of the victims to testify.

On March 27, 1991, the Judge deemed that "it is necessary and convenient to break down the present case in order to instruct a separate summary proceeding for each of the people identified in the complaint" presented on February 6 of that year.

Source: (Corporation Report)

Ten former Carabineros prosecuted for human rights violations are released. Ten former Carabineros prosecuted last Monday for human rights cases were released today.

Retired Colonel Adrián Fernández and nine non-commissioned officers were prosecuted for crimes committed between 1973 and 1974 in the province of Osorno.

The group of former uniformed officers has been under investigation for more than a year for the aggravated kidnapping of Lucio Angulo, René Urbina, Jorge Altamirano, Joel Fierro, José Huenuman, Luis Aro, Arturo Banderas, and José Panguinamún.

In addition, they are accused of the aggravated homicide of Martín Nuñez and the frustrated aggravated homicide of the former mayor of Entre Lagos, Blanca Banderas.

Initially, the investigation was led by one of the magistrates of the Tenth Region who had to abandon the case to assume duties in the courts of the Criminal Procedure Reform; the case was taken over by Judge Ramírez, who works with a multidisciplinary team of investigators.

Source: October 30, 2004, Tercera

Date: 30-10-2004