33 years old, married, steel fixer, forcibly disappeared on September 26, 1973, in Chillán. Luis Omar Contreras Godoy, a leader of the Agricultural Workers' Union of the Agrarian Reform Corporation, was detained in the presence of witnesses on September 26, 1973, in the city center by military personnel.

He was taken to the Infantry Regiment No. 9 «Chillán», where his arrest was not acknowledged to his family members. Since then, he has remained in the status of disappeared. A conscript performing his military service at said regiment declared that several detainees (including Luis Contreras) were taken out during the night by a special group composed of military personnel, Carabineros, and investigative police from Chillán, without it being possible to determine his whereabouts or fate to this day.

Prior to the date of his disappearance, according to accounts by witnesses, Luis Contreras Godoy had already been detained and tortured on two occasions by the same uniformed men, even being a victim of mock executions.

Considering the evidence gathered and the investigation conducted by this Corporation, the Superior Council reached the conviction that Luis Omar Contreras Godoy was detained by State agents and disappeared while being held in that capacity. For this reason, it declared him a victim of human rights violations.

Source: (Corporacion)

I am the wife of the forcibly disappeared Luis Omar Contreras Godoy, married, 5 children, a steel fixer by profession, and an agricultural union leader in the commune of El Carmen, Ñuble Province. I find it important to place on record that, far from the image that the military dictatorship transmitted regarding the forcibly disappeared, they were people as sensitive and human as many others.

In my particular case, I can say that Luis Omar, my husband, was an excellent friend and loved helping his neighbor. As a father and husband, he was a selfless man concerned for his home. He was a cheerful man who liked to joke; on one occasion, I remember that while playing with his younger brother, he began to pull on the sleeve of the red sweater he was wearing at the time.

With the struggle, he tore the sleeve of the sweater. My mother-in-law, who was watching the scene, began to scream in desperation, believing he had ripped his arm off, but she burst into laughter upon realizing her mistake, which became a source of jokes for many days.

My husband liked country life; he was simple in his habits and, although he was not a picky eater, he did not like legumes, preferring carbonadas, pantrucas, empanadas, and cazuelas. He usually wore black pants, white shirts, and loafers. Although he generally liked all sports, his favorite, however, was rayuela.

Source: Carmen Llanos Maldonado

These correspond to 25 cases in which the State had not taken judicial action. The announcement was made in the framework of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances and following a breakfast held by President Boric with human rights organizations.

Almost 12 years ago, in December 2010, the United Nations General Assembly declared August 30 as the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. Under that framework, this Tuesday, at the facilities of the Santiago Court of Appeals, the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Marcela Ríos, the Undersecretary of Justice, Jaime Gajardo, and the Undersecretary of Human Rights, Haydee Oberreuter, presented 17 lawsuits regarding 25 cases of victims of the most recent civic-military dictatorship in which no judicial actions had been deployed to date.

The filings were carried out in the jurisdictions of Santiago, San Miguel, Concepción, and Valparaíso. Three of these documents are in favor of victims of enforced disappearance. A lawsuit was also filed for the unborn child of survivor Clementina del Carmen Soto Rivera.

Six and a half months pregnant, Soto appeared at a military facility on September 22, 1973, following the apprehension of her partner. She was then detained and tortured by military personnel from the Infantry School Regiment of San Bernardo at the Cerro Chena facility, causing her to miscarry.

Breakfast with the President During this year, a total of 54 lawsuits will be filed to investigate the cases of 61 victims for whom the State had not taken judicial action. Of these 61 people, 54 correspond to political executions, three to forcibly disappeared persons, and two to unborn children. “No one had filed a lawsuit until today for these people who have been identified as victims of the dictatorship,” highlighted Minister Ríos, emphasizing the commitment of President Gabriel Boric’s administration “in the search for truth, justice, and reparation.” The President himself shared a breakfast prior to the presentation with the ministry authorities and representatives of human rights organizations who later went to the Palace of Tribunals. Present were the president of the Association of Relatives of the Forcibly Disappeared, Gabriela Rivera; the president of the Association of Political Executed, Alicia Lira; Alberto Rodríguez; as well as representatives of the Lonquén Memory Corporation, the 3 y 4 Álamos Corporation, and family members of victims.

Detail of the 17 filings

Santiago Court of Appeals Qualified homicide of Hernán Castillo Calcagni. Qualified homicide of Jorge Villaseca Díaz. Qualified homicide of Luis Benaiges Albert. Homicide of Carlos Alberto Bustamante Mancilla (to which Ernesto Alfonso Pérez Navarrete was added).

Qualified homicide of Jessica del Carmen Riffo Troncoso. Qualified homicide of Julio Enrique Reyes Espinoza. Qualified homicide of Soto Rivera, unborn child of Clementina del Carmen. Qualified homicide of Alejandro Ramiro Bravo Vega, Juan Carlos Ulloa Carrillo, Roberto Adán Riquelme Avilés, and the brothers Adán Antonio, Jaime Benjamín, and Francisco José, all surnamed Riquelme Pacheco.

Qualified kidnapping of María Eliana Acosta Velasco. Qualified kidnapping of Ratchel Elisabeth Venegas Illanes. San Miguel Court of Appeals Qualified homicide of Jorge Patricio Venegas Labra. Concepción Court of Appeals Qualified homicide of Luis Antonio Castillo Ahumada, Palermo Sandoval, and Óscar Rodríguez Peña.

Qualified homicide of Humberto Javier Villagra Cruz. Qualified homicide of Manuel Jesús Lara Núñez. Qualified homicide of Darío Hugo Montoya Torres. Qualified kidnapping of Luis Omar Contreras Godoy. Valparaíso Court of Appeals Qualified homicide of Eduardo Bernabé Acevedo Cisternas.

The Report of the National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation, chaired by lawyer Raúl Rettig regarding human rights violations that occurred in Chile from September 11, 1973, to March 11, 1990, delivered on February 9, 1991, records 2,279 people as victims of political violence.

According to subsequent analyses, the Undersecretariat of Human Rights prepared a proposed List of Victims of Enforced Disappearance, which considers a universe of 1,469 people, of whom 1,092 correspond to forcibly disappeared persons and 377 to political executions without the return of bodies.

Source: latercera.cl 30/8/2022

Date: 08-30-2022