On September 24, 1974, Luis Armando SILVA SILVA, a 20-year-old electrical technician and active member of the PS, was detained along with his pregnant spouse, María Eliana Castro, and a neighbor, by approximately 20 military personnel who identified themselves as belonging to the Regimiento Tacna. The two women were released the same day.

The authorities of the time acknowledged the detention of Luis Silva during the proceedings regarding his disappearance. They stated via official correspondence that he had been detained for "being linked to extremist activities" and that, after being interrogated, he was sent to Tres Alamos, placing the victim at the disposal of the DINA.

The Minister of the Interior claimed that he had been released by that security agency on November 31. The Commander of the Regimiento Tacna, for his part, reported—in contradiction to the claims made by the Minister of the Interior—that he had been released by the DINA on October 7, 1974.

This Commission cannot accept the aforementioned versions, not only because it is inadmissible to think that an authority would confuse dates in this manner, but also because it has not been proven, nor are there any presumptions that would allow one to think, that the victim was effectively set free.

The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of State agents, who thereby violated his human rights.

Luis Armando Silva Silva, married, electronic technician, and militant of the Socialist Party, was detained on September 24, 1974, around 14:00 hours, during an operation carried out by a large group of soldiers from the Tacna Regiment, heavily armed with submachine guns, who raided his home located in the Población Herminda de la Victoria.

The arrest was carried out in the presence of his spouse, Mrs. María Eliana Castro Quezada, who was pregnant at the time. After his apprehension, he was taken to the Tacna Regiment, from where he exchanged notes with his wife. On September 26, he was handed over to the DINA and transferred to 3 Alamos, from where he was forcibly disappeared.

In the corresponding judicial proceedings, the statements of Mrs. María Castro Quezada are recorded. She explains that when she went to the Tacna Regiment, she was informed that he was there because he had been denounced as a member of the MIR and because he had some connection to a clandestine radio station.

He sent her a note, which she answered, in which he indicated that he was well and asked her to send him clothes. Later, she returned to the Regiment with the clothes, only to learn that he had been transferred, without being told where he had been taken.

About a month later, she learned he was at 3 Alamos. He appeared on a list of detainees there, but when she asked about him, she was informed that he had been transferred. This was the last she ever heard of her husband.

The judicial file contains the statements of 13 witnesses, all neighbors from the same residential area, who state that they were eyewitnesses to the detention. Of particular importance is the testimony provided by Mrs.

Iris Flores Noriel, a direct neighbor of the victim, who states that she was detained on the 24th by the same military personnel and, like Luis Armando, taken to the Tacna Regiment. There, they were left in a room and later interrogated separately. She was asked about Luis Armando and whether she knew him to be an extremist.

However, it was the Commander of the Tacna Grouping himself who officially confirmed the detention when responding to a Court Order, stating that Luis Armando Silva Silva was detained on September 24 by personnel from that group "for being linked to extremist activities." He added in his report that the victim was sent to the Tres Alamos Detention Camp on September 26, 1974, as a detainee at the disposal of the DINA; subsequently, on October 7, 1974, the DINA informed that Grouping that Luis Silva had been released due to a lack of evidence.

Nevertheless, despite numerous efforts and the information provided by the Commander of the Tacna Grouping, his family still does not know the fate that befell Luis Armando Silva Silva at the hands of the DINA.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On September 26, 1974, Mrs. María Eliana Castro Quezada filed a writ of amparo (habeas corpus) with the Santiago Court of Appeals, case file 1144-74, in which she set forth the circumstances of the arrest and the subsequent transfer of her spouse to the Tacna Regiment.

The Court of Appeals declared itself incompetent to hear the appeal and referred the case to the Court Martial. The latter tribunal accepted jurisdiction, assigning the amparo case number 187-74, and requested reports from the Ministers of the Interior and Defense.

On January 13, 1975, the Minister of the Interior, Division General Raúl Benavides Escobar, reported that the person in question was not being held by order of that Ministry. For its part, on February 17, the Minister of Defense stated that he had not been detained by services under that Secretariat and that there was no record of him in the National Executive Secretariat of Detainees (SENDET).

That same month, the Court took a statement from the petitioner, who ratified the facts and added that her spouse had been transferred from the Tacna Regiment to 3 Alamos and that she had not seen him since his detention.

On March 6, 1975, the Court Martial rejected the writ of amparo based on the information provided by administrative authorities, while simultaneously referring the case to the Ninth Court of Greater Quantities of Santiago to investigate whether a crime had been committed in the disappearance of the victim.

On March 19, the Ninth Court initiated case file 13742. That same month, a complaint for illegal arrest was filed with that Court and added to the proceedings. The filing included a list of approximately 15 eyewitnesses to the detention, all of whom provided statements ratifying the circumstances under which the arrest occurred.

In the investigation order carried out by the Investigative Police, the complainant was interviewed and SENDET was consulted, where he did not appear in their records.

On April 15, 1975, the Commander of the "TACNA" Grouping, Colonel Julio Fernández Atienza, informed the Court that Luis Armando Silva Silva was detained on September 24, 1974, for being linked to extremist activities, and that by Official Letter (R) No. 3550/1574 dated September 26, 1974, he was sent to 3 Alamos, remaining at the disposal of the DINA.

Subsequently, by Official Letter (R) No. 3550/1286 dated October 7, 1974, the DINA reported that he had been released due to a lack of evidence. When the DINA was requested to provide information regarding the victim, it responded through the Minister of the Interior, General Raúl Benavides Escobar, reporting that by Exempt Decree of that Secretariat, the release of Luis Armando Silva was ordered on November 31, 1974, and that the DINA was unaware of his current whereabouts.

On September 21, 1975, Judge Luis Villarroel Carvallo temporarily dismissed the case on the grounds that, based on the evidence gathered, the existence of the investigated crime had not been clearly established.

On November 28 of that year, the resolution was approved by the Court of Appeals, disregarding the opinion of the Court Prosecutor. The Prosecutor, in addition to noting that the Ordinary Justice system had been unable to gather suitable evidence to provide an answer to the victim's family, highlighted the contradiction between the information provided by the Commander of the Tacna Grouping and the Ministry of the Interior regarding the date of the victim's alleged release.

He ultimately recommended overturning the dismissal so that the original court could declare itself incompetent and refer the case to the Military Justice system. No further processing of the case is known.

Source: (Corporation Report)