On October 4, 1973, six workers from the Hogar de Cristo prefabricated housing construction plant were detained at their respective homes or workplaces:

José Salvador ACUÑA YAÑEZ, 29 years old, laborer, treasurer of the Factory Union.

Luis Alberto MUÑOZ VASQUEZ, 22 years old, laborer.

José Remigio PADILLA VILLOUTA, 23 years old, laborer.

Ernesto Raúl SALAZAR SALAZAR, 38 years old, laborer.

Luis Hernán SAN MARTIN CARES, 22 years old, laborer.

Ernesto René TORRES GUZMAN, 22 years old, laborer.

Their arrests were carried out by personnel from the carabineros unit of the Ñuble Highway Station and by military personnel. Eyewitnesses to the arrests state that the agents carried a list with the names of those to be detained.

Following the arrests, the presence of the victims was denied to their families at all detention centers in the Region. Despite this, some claim to have seen them at the aforementioned station. The various judicial investigations carried out yielded no positive results, as the authorities denied the fact of the detentions in response to every request for information.

The Commission reached the conviction that these six people were detained and subsequently forcibly disappeared by State agents, which constitutes an act of grave violation of human rights. The number of those affected makes any other explanation for their disappearances completely implausible, as none of the families have had any news of them since that time.

The detentions and imprisonments are verified for each of them, and the corresponding agencies have indicated that none of them have registered any civil procedures mandatory for all Chilean citizens in the last seventeen years.

D.O.B. : 11-15-50, 22 years of age at the time of detention Address : Viña Ñuble, Chillán Marital Status: Single Occupation : Worker at the "Hogar de Cristo" Housing Factory Repressive Org.: No information Date of Det.: October 4, 1973

REPRESSIVE SITUATION

Luis Alberto Muñoz Vásquez, single, a worker at the "Hogar de Cristo" Housing Factory in Chillán, was detained at approximately 11:00 hours at his workplace on October 4, 1973, by military personnel and Carabineros who were traveling in a green ARO brand jeep.

The uniformed officers carried a list of workers' names, about whom they inquired at the site. These were Luis Alberto Muñoz, Ernesto Salazar, and Luis Hernán San Martín Cares. Upon identifying the 3 workers, the captors separated them from the group, then beat them severely, forced them to remove their work clothes, and loaded them into the vehicle, telling those present that they were taking them to the No. 9 "Chillán" Regiment.

However, the following day they were seen by the wife of José Acuña Yáñez (also detained on the night of October 4, 1973, at his home) at the Puente Ñuble Highway Police Station. That day, a total of 6 workers from the housing factory were detained: José Salvador Acuña Yáñez, José Remigio Padilla Villouta, Ernesto Raúl Salazar, Luis Hernán San Martín Cares, Ernesto René Torres Guzmán, and the victim, all of whom remain forcibly disappeared.

His mother, Enriqueta Vásquez, upon learning of what happened from her son Juan Muñoz Vásquez, who also worked at the "Hogar de Cristo" factory and witnessed the events, went to the Chillán Regiment, the Carabineros police stations and the Ñuble Carabineros Prefecture, the Investigations police, and other locations without obtaining information about the victim.

In January 1975, she went to the Talcahuano Naval Base accompanied by the mother of José Padilla Villouta (also detained that day), where a Captain indicated that he would inquire about their sons at Isla Quiriquina, from where no information was provided as they did not have an order from Chillán authorizing them to carry out such an inquiry.

Advised by the officer, they toured various places in the city of Concepción without obtaining news of the whereabouts of their sons, who remain forcibly disappeared to this date.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On June 30, 1975, an amparo (habeas corpus) petition, roll No. 95.667, was filed before the Chillán Court of Appeals. The court issued writs to the Warden of the Chillán Prison, the Ñuble Military Prosecutor's Office, and the Ñuble Carabineros Prefecture. All responses indicated that there was no information regarding the victim and his detention.

On July 3, 1975, in only 3 days, the Court of Appeals rejected the amparo because "Luis Muñoz Vásquez has not been and is not currently detained." It also issued a writ to the Duty Court to initiate a summary proceeding for presumed misfortune. There is no record of the initiation of such a summary proceeding in any Criminal Court of Chillán.

On March 29, the Chillán Court of Appeals appointed Magistrate Boris Acharán Blau as a Minister in Extraordinary Visitation, who presided over case roll No. 45.414 of the 1st Criminal Court for the presumed misfortune of José Salvador Acuña Yáñez.

Given that Luis Muñoz Vásquez and José Padilla Villouta were mentioned in the amparo petition that originated the case and in witness statements, the Investigating Minister extended the investigation to the 4 victims. This process was dismissed in July 1979. (See the development of the process in the account regarding José Acuña Yáñez).

Subsequent to this process, a new complaint was filed before the Minister in Visitation for three of the forcibly disappeared detainees who worked at the Hogar de Cristo Housing Factory: José Acuña, Luis San Martín, and Luis Muñoz.

After almost 5 months, the Supreme Court resolved the issue of jurisdiction by designating the First Criminal Court of Chillán to hear the case. On November 26, 1980, after 10 months of processing and with both the arresting Carabineros and government authorities denying the detentions, the case was dismissed, as in the opinion of the presiding judge, although the summary proceeding established that the crime of having been detained without legal right, depriving them of their liberty, had been committed, there were no indications to accuse specific persons as authors, accomplices, or cover-ups. The resolution also adds that the perpetration of the crime of homicide does not appear fully justified.

He was born on November 15, 1950, meaning he was 23 years of age at the time of his detention. On October 4, 1973, at approximately 11:00 hours, a green minibus arrived at the "Hogar de Cristo Housing Factory," located at km 4 of the Pan-American Highway North, carrying a military patrol composed of members of the regiment and Carabineros.

They called for him and three of his coworkers, including the President of the company's Workers' Union.

They were taken to the back of the industrial site, where they were severely beaten and flogged for a long time. Immediately after beating them, they were made to remove their work clothes and were loaded into the minibus, where they were forced to lie on the floor.

Witnesses to this detention were the majority of the workers and employees who worked at the industry, especially his brother Juan Muñoz Vásquez.

His mother visited all the detention centers for political prisoners to find out his whereabouts: Infantry Regiment No. 9, various Carabineros police stations, including the Chillán prefecture, the Investigations police, and the public jail.

In the month of January of the following year, his mother traveled to the Talcahuano Naval Base, where she interviewed a captain who told her he would call Isla Quiriquina to ask about him, but since she did not carry an order from Chillán, no information was given to her; she was only advised to make inquiries at prisons, the Collao Stadium, and the Red Cross in Concepción, but everything was in vain, and his whereabouts have been unknown since that date.

Source: (Corporation Report)