Luis Gregorio Muñoz Rodríguez, 22 years old, single, former student at the Universidad Católica, and a militant of the MIR, had moved to Santiago in search of work around the end of 1973, taking up residence at the home of his aunt and uncle, Raquel Rodríguez Saavedra and Guillermo Leyton Silva, located at Nueva Extremadura 4356, in the commune of Quinta Normal.

On January 20, 1975, at approximately 2:00 PM, the victim left the aforementioned address to purchase medicine or find a doctor for his eleven-year-old cousin, Cristián, who was ill. He has remained forcibly disappeared ever since.

Although there are no eyewitnesses to the detention of Luis Muñoz Rodríguez, the certainty of its occurrence and the responsibility of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA) are confirmed by subsequent events.

Indeed, on February 9, 1975, at approximately 7:00 PM, a hurried phone call was received at the home of a friend of the victim, in which Luis Muñoz Rodríguez himself stated that he was being held at "Villa Grimaldi" (a secret detention and torture center run by the DINA, located at Avda.

José Arrieta 8.200, Peñalolén), and that his family should be notified so they could go to the "Tres Alamos" Prisoner Camp, the facility to which he was to be transferred. Before he could provide further explanations, the phone call was suddenly cut off.

Alerted by this information, the victim's family members began to visit the "Tres Alamos" camp regularly in order to locate him or obtain information about him. In March or April of 1975, they had the opportunity to speak with Mr.

Luis Costa del Pozo, who was being held at that facility. This person, who had been a fellow student of the victim, told them that Luis Gregorio Muñoz had been detained alongside him in January 1975 at Villa Grimaldi, and that he knew the victim had made the aforementioned call while taking advantage of the opportunity to use a phone while cleaning the Villa.

The witness added that he was detained on January 21, 1975, by a DINA agent known by the nickname Lieutenant "Marcos" (whose identity was only discovered years later, establishing that he was the then-Carabineros Lieutenant Gerardo Godoy García), the same individual who carried out the victim's detention.

He further noted that on that same day, January 21, he was subjected to a confrontation with Luis Muñoz, directed by the aforementioned agent.

Finally, Mr. Costa stated that Luis Gregorio Muñoz Rodríguez was removed from Villa Grimaldi on February 20, 1975, along with other detainees, and taken to an unknown destination.

The victim's presence at the Villa Grimaldi facility in January and February 1975 was also confirmed by the statements of former detainee Walkiria Jorquera Iturrieta, who knew him previously and was even able to speak with him.

Despite the multiple efforts made by his family, Luis Gregorio Muñoz Rodríguez has remained disappeared since he was detained by the DINA in 1975.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

Luis Darío Muñoz Rodríguez filed a writ of amparo (habeas corpus) on behalf of his brother with the Santiago Court of Appeals on February 12, 1975, which was registered under No. 226-75.

After requesting the respective reports from the Minister of the Interior, the Commander-in-Chief of the State of Siege Zone of the Province of Santiago, and the Commander of the Combat Aviation Command for Wartime Tribunals, all of them reported that the victim was neither detained nor prosecuted by Military Tribunals.

Based solely on these negative reports, and without sending official letters to the Minister of Defense, the National Executive Secretary of Detainees, the Commander of the "Tres Alamos" Prisoner Camp, or the National Intelligence Directorate, as the petitioner had expressly requested, the Court dismissed the writ of amparo on March 26, 1975, ordering the records to be sent to the 9th Criminal Court of Santiago so that the corresponding summary investigation could be initiated.

Indeed, on April 7, 1975, a case for the alleged illegal detention of Luis Muñoz Rodríguez was opened before the indicated court, registered under No. 13.819-6.

Once the corresponding investigation order was carried out, it was noted in the case files that inquiries made at the National Secretariat of Detainees yielded no positive results. This entity stated that the victim "is not among the detainees controlled by this Agency." Other efforts made to determine the whereabouts of Luis Gregorio Muñoz also proved fruitless.

After an official letter was sent to the head of the "Tres Alamos" Detention Camp, Colonel Jorge Espinoza Ulloa, in his capacity as National Executive Secretary of Detainees (SENDET), he informed the Court on April 23, 1975, that the victim was not among the detainees controlled by that agency.

On October 23, 1975, the presiding judge of the 9th Criminal Court, Luis Villarroel Carvallo, temporarily dismissed the case, as the evidence in the files did not sufficiently prove the existence of the reported crime, pending the presentation of new and better investigative data.

Upon review by the Santiago Court of Appeals, the noted resolution was approved by this Court on December 29, 1975.

Rosa Muñoz Rodríguez, the victim's sister, filed a criminal complaint for kidnapping on July 8, 1980, before the Extraordinary Visiting Minister Servando Jordán, directed against the then-Carabineros Lieutenant and DINA agent, Gerardo Godoy García, nicknamed "Lieutenant Marcos."

Minister Jordán declared himself incompetent to hear the reported facts and ordered the case files to be sent to the Military Justice system on August 22, 1980.

The preceding resolution was appealed and subsequently confirmed by the Supreme Court in January 1981.

The details and records of the proceedings held before the Military Justice system regarding the kidnapping of Luis Gregorio Muñoz Rodríguez are unknown.

This situation was not uncommon, and it has occurred with various cases that, once submitted to the knowledge and ruling of Military Courts, have not had their subsequent procedures and outcomes made public.

Source: (Corporation Report)

On Wednesday, May 15, a Memorial Plaque was inaugurated at the Central House of the Universidad Católica de Valparaíso in memory of eight former members of the university community—women and men—who were executed and forcibly disappeared by State agents during the dictatorship.

Seven of them remain Forcibly Disappeared: María Teresa Eltit Contreras, Alfredo García Vega, María Isabel Gutiérrez, Luis Muñoz Rodríguez, and Silvio Pardo Rojas, militants of the MIR; Jaime Aldoney Vargas, a militant of the Socialist Party; and Miguel Woodward Iribarry, a priest from the Christians for Socialism movement and a militant of the MAPU.

The eighth, Enrique López Olmedo, was kidnapped by Navy personnel at the end of October 1977 and executed in a staged confrontation on November 11 of the same year.

Dozens of people attended this ceremony organized by the University and the Collective of former students of the Universidad Católica de Valparaíso "Rescuing Memory," which was also attended by members of local Human Rights organizations, university authorities, union and social leaders, as well as students and leaders of the Catholic University Student Federation.

The Rector, Claudio Elórtegui, opened this solemn act by stating:

"We have gathered this afternoon to remember former students, academics, and staff of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso who were victims of human rights violations, being Forcibly Disappeared or Executed during the dictatorship following the coup d'état of September 11, 1973.

We will do so by unveiling and blessing a Plaque with the same characteristics as the one that was in this same place, on which you will be able to read the names of the members of the university community whose fundamental rights were violated..."

On behalf of the Rescuing Memory Collective, composed of former students of the Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Eliana Vidal spoke, stating: "It is a very special moment that unites us today, which is to recover the forgotten memory that symbolizes an act of reparation.

Two years ago, within the framework of the commemoration of the 50 years of the University Reform process, which took place at our University, we began to locate former students from those years. By locating those people, we began to realize that there were also students from this University who were no longer there, but we also did not know where they were.

And, in the last activity of that week in June 2017, we presented a letter to Rector Claudio Elórtegui where we requested the placement of a Plaque in tribute to the fight they waged for a better, fairer, more solidary world, 8 companions, members of this University, who had been detained, tortured, murdered, and forcibly disappeared during the civil-military dictatorship that began in 1973.

That letter was not only signed by the people of the Collective of former students, but it was also supported by Human Rights organizations that I will name below: Human Rights Commissions of Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, and Quillota; Association of former Political Prisoners of the V Region; Association of former Minors Victims of Political Imprisonment and Torture; Association of Executed Political Prisoners V Region; El Buen Pastor former Political Prisoners Collective; Exil Chile V Region; Rocas Santo Domingo, Site of Memory; and the Human Rights Institute V Region.

There is a special thanks that we want to give, and that is to the Student Federations. First of all, to the 2017 Student Federation, led by Camila Lucero and her team, who also participated with us in the 50 years of the University Reform.

Also to the following Federation, led by Felipe Godoy and Catalina Castillo, and to the current one whose President is Sáfora Pinto. All of them were always willing to give their support to this initiative.

For us, the participation of the Student Federation is vital, because they are the ones who continue the path. Our companions, for whom we gather today to remember and greet, were left-wing militants, several of them from political parties such as the Socialist Party, the MIR, the MAPU, with that common dream that so many of us had that the reality we were living could be changed.

However, some were already detained close to September 11, 1973. And, even though at one point it seemed that everything was collapsing, others continued the fight in the most adverse conditions, the fight against the civil-military dictatorship.

Each of them carried something beautiful from this University in their lives. Today they are not here. That is why we thought it was fair that they return home, to this house, to our house, with this tribute to that fight they gave, so that it serves—hopefully—as an example to the youth who pass through these classrooms.

Jaime, María Teresa, Alfredo, María Isabel, Enrique, Luis, Silvio, and Miguel, welcome home, because the dreams you had are still alive and you will continue to be present in them, Now and always!"

After hearing the names, through words broken by the emotion expressed by Eliana Vidal, a marble plaque with their names was unveiled, located on the left wall of the entrance hall to the Central House of the university.

The letters engraved on the Memorial Plaque, made of white marble at the Faculty of Architecture of the Catholic University, unfortunately do not have any contrasting color, which makes it difficult to see even when standing in front of it, and the look of surprise on the attendees' faces was evident when it was unveiled.

It is hoped that this will be resolved as soon as possible, so that the companions remembered there do not continue in this kind of "visual anonymity."

Source: resumen.cl 5/17/2019 Date: 05-17-2019

Request to the Rector of the PUCV to install a plaque in memory of the victims of the dictatorship who belonged to that institution

Former students of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso and Human Rights organizations delivered a letter to Rector Claudio Elórtegui, requesting that a commemorative plaque for the victims of the civil-military dictatorship be installed at the institution's central house.

The idea is to pay tribute to the victims of the dictatorship who belonged to the university, to honor their memory.

According to Eliana Vidal, a former political prisoner and member of the Unitary Command of Former Political Prisoners and Relatives, who was part of the Student Federation of the Universidad Católica de Valparaíso in 1967, the goal is for the institution to acknowledge part of its history.

In the university's central house, there is a message alluding to the respect for Human Rights, but Eliana Vidal points out that both students and organizations indicate that there should be something more visible and explicit in its content.

The request was made personally to Claudio Elórtegui, reading it in his presence and handing him the document at the closing activity of the 50th anniversary of the occupation of the then-UCV, which marked the beginning of the university reform process in the country.

There are already precedents of universities in the area that have addressed this issue, such as the Universidad de Valparaíso, which installed a memorial plaque to its deceased in its Faculty of Architecture, and the Universidad de Playa Ancha, with a monolith and murals alluding to it in its central house.

Source: rvl.uv.cl 7/21/2017 Date: 07-21-2017

UC to award posthumous degrees to victims of the dictatorship

On Thursday, September 5, the Vice Grand Chancellor of the university will celebrate a memorial mass for at least 28 students who could not finish their degrees because they were forcibly disappeared or executed.

The Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC) will award professional degrees, posthumously, to those who were its students and suffered human rights violations during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

The ceremony on Thursday, September 5, will take place within the framework of the 40th anniversary of the 1973 Coup d'état that overthrew the government of Salvador Allende, at the university's San Joaquín campus.

The commemoration will begin at 6:30 PM with a memorial mass celebrated by the Vice Grand Chancellor of the University, Cristián Roncagliolo, and at 7:30 PM, the diplomas will be presented to the families of the students who were forcibly disappeared or executed after September 11, 1973.

The act is organized by the UC Memory collective and has the support of the university's Student Federation (FEUC).

This is the second higher education institution to announce a ceremony of this type to remember the coup d'état. The Universidad de Santiago has already done so, which will remember 40 of its students who were victims of post-coup repression.

Source: resumen.cl 8/27/2013 Date: 08-27-2013

New conviction against "Mamo" Contreras

The Supreme Court today sentenced retired General Manuel Contreras to five years and one day in prison for the qualified kidnapping of a university student in 1975.

According to judicial sources, the final ruling of the Second Criminal Chamber of the highest court also sentenced former Brigadier Miguel Krasnoff Marchenko and former Colonel Marcelo Moren Brito to five years and one day.

The new sentence against the former head of the DINA is in addition to some twenty previous ones handed down against him, totaling nearly 300 years in prison.

The two military officers were convicted for the disappearance of Luis Gregorio Muñoz Rodríguez, a 22-year-old student at the Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, who was detained on January 20, 1975, by DINA agents in Santiago, where he lived.

The young man, a militant of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR), was seen in the following days at 'Villa Grimaldi', a DINA torture center, according to testimony during the trial by other prisoners who managed to survive.

Furthermore, on February 9 of the same year, his family members received a phone call from Muñoz Rodríguez, in which he informed them that he was being held at 'Villa Grimaldi'.

According to judicial testimony, the young man took advantage of a couple of minutes when he was left alone in an office at the torture center that he had been ordered to clean to make the call.

Contreras, 80, was taken to the Military Hospital yesterday, where he remained for about twelve hours after fainting and hitting his head while being questioned in another trial for human rights violations during the military dictatorship.

The retired general was returned to the military prison where he is serving his sentences in the late hours of Thursday.

Source: Friday, August 14, 2009 El Mostrador Date: 08-14-2009

DINA leadership prosecuted for kidnapping of MIR militant

A new blow was dealt to the leadership of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA), after visiting Minister Juan Fuentes Belmar prosecuted retired General Manuel Contreras, retired Colonel Luis Moren Brito, and retired Brigadier Miguel Krassnoff yesterday for the crime of qualified kidnapping of the student and former member of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria, Luis Muñoz Rodríguez.

The resolution states that on January 20, 1975, agents of the intelligence agency detained Muñoz on a public street, who at that time was known as "Marcos" and "Ernesto."

The resolution states that after his detention, the MIR militant "was taken to the clandestine detention center known as Villa Grimaldi or Terranova, his whereabouts remaining unknown since then, as well as the fate of his physical and mental health and physical integrity."

The three defendants are being held at the Cordillera Penitentiary Compliance Center, having been convicted in other cases of human rights violations that occurred during the dictatorship of retired General Augusto Pinochet.

Tejas Verdes In a prosecution issued on Thursday by Minister Joaquín Billard, Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda was also charged as the author of the qualified homicide of six stevedores from the port of San Antonio, detained between September 13 and 22, 1973, by military personnel.

In the same case, the magistrate also charged retired General Eugenio Videla Valdebenito and retired military officers David Miranda, Patricio Carranca, Carlos Araya, and Mario Jara.

For Billard, the Army attempted to justify the crimes through a military communiqué in which it falsely reported that the deceased "had been subjected to the 'Escape Law,' as they had attempted to flee while being transported from the Tejas Verdes Military Engineer School Regiment to a supposed concentration camp located in the town of Bucalemu."

Source: March 18, 2006 La Nacion Date: 03-18-2006

Santiago Court confirms sentence ordering the State to pay compensation to the brother of a person forcibly disappeared since 1975.

In a unanimous ruling, the Santiago Court confirmed the sentence ordering the State to pay compensation of $10,000,000 to the brother of Luis Muñoz Rodríguez, who has been forcibly disappeared since November 20, 1975.

The first-instance ruling maintains that the conduct described above accounts for the commission of illegal and arbitrary acts that affect the most essential aspects of human beings, such as life, liberty, and dignity, and that due to their extent and scope, they transcend the individual, affecting all of humanity, and therefore fall within the concept of a crime against humanity.

The resolution adds that the damages suffered by the plaintiff appear as a natural and logical consequence of everything experienced: illegal detention, physical and psychological torture, and forced disappearance—all facts that undoubtedly affect any person's life to a great extent, causing, among other things, obstacles to family and social emotional stability.

These circumstances were proven by the records reviewed, and in particular by the texts of the cited sentences and the testimony provided on page 187 bis and following, where the 2 witnesses presented by the plaintiff were consistent regarding the suffering endured by the family of Mr.

Luis Gregorio Muñoz Rodríguez, which were a direct consequence of the episodes experienced by his disappeared brother. These have extended for years, as his whereabouts and final destination remain unknown, and they certainly account for the causal link between the proven criminal acts and the damage suffered by the family of the forcibly disappeared person, since without the former, the latter would never have occurred.

Source: eldesconcierto.cl 6/15/2017