The minister on extraordinary assignment for the Santiago Court of Appeals, Mario Carroza, issued an indictment on February 16 regarding the investigation into the crimes of aggravated kidnapping and homicide known as "Operation Condor" (case file No. 2182-98).

One of the victims is the brother of one of the coordinators of the Association of Relatives of Forcibly Disappeared Detainees of Concepción, Elizabeth Velásquez Mardones. The magistrate elevated the case to the plenary stage and indicted: a) Cristoph Willeke Floel and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, as authors of the crimes of aggravated kidnapping of Héctor Heraldo Velásquez Mardones, Alexei Vladimir Jaccard Siegler, Jorge Isaac Fuentes Alarcón, Luis Muñoz Velásquez, Juan Humberto Hernandez Zaspe, Manuel Jesús Tamayo Martínez, and Julio Del Transito Valladares Caroca; and of the aggravated homicides of Ricardo Ignacio Ramírez Herrera, Ruiter Enrique Correa Arce, Matilde Pessa Mois, Jacobo Stoulman Bortnik, and Hernán Soto Gálvez. b) Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, as author of the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Héctor Heraldo Velásquez Mardones, Alexei Vladimir Jaccard Siegler, Luis Muñoz Velásquez, Juan Humberto Hernandez Zaspe, Manuel Jesús Tamayo Martínez, and Julio Del Transito Valladares; and of the aggravated homicide of Ricardo Ignacio Ramírez Herrera, Ruiter Enrique Correa Arce, Matilde Pessa Mois, Jacobo Stoulman Bortnik, and Hernán Soto Gálvez. c) José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, as author of the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Héctor Heraldo Velásquez Mardones, Alexei Vladimir Jaccard Siegler, Jorge Isaac Fuentes Alarcón, Luis Muñoz Velásquez, Juan Humberto Hernandez Zaspe, and Manuel Jesús Tamayo Martínez; and of the aggravated homicide of Ricardo Ignacio Ramírez Herrera, Matilde Pessa Mois, and Jacobo Stoulman Bortnik. d) Carlos Enrique Miranda Mesa, Carlos Eusebio López Inostroza, Gerardo Meza Acuña, Héctor Wacinton Briones Burgos, Herman Eduardo Ávalos Muñoz, Hugo Hernán Clavería Leiva, Jerónimo Del Carmen Neira Méndez, Jorge Luis Venegas Silva, Jorge Segundo Madariaga Acevedo, José Enrique Fuentes Torres, José Javier Soto Torres, José Mario Fritz Esparza, José Nelson Fuentealba Saldías, Juan Carlos Escobar Valenzuela, Pedro Mora Villanueva, Raúl Alberto Soto Pérez, Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel, and Silvio Antonio Concha González as authors of the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Jorge Isaac Fuentes Alarcón, Luis Muñoz Velásquez, Juan Humberto Hernandez Zaspe, and Manuel Jesús Tamayo Martínez. e) Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes, Eugenio Jesús Fieldhouse Chávez, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, Jorge Claudio Andrade Gómez, José Abel Aravena Ruiz, Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, Luis René Torres Méndez, Manuel Rivas Díaz, María Gabriela Ordenes Montecinos, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, Moisés Paulino Campos Figueroa, Oscar Belarmino La Flor Flores, Osvaldo Enrique Pulgar Gallardo, Rodolfo Valentino Concha Rodríguez, and Teresa Del Carmen Osorio Navarro, as authors of the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Jorge Isaac Fuentes Alarcón. f) Carlos José Leonardo López Tapia, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, Heriberto Del Carmen Acevedo, José Domingo Seco Alarcón, Juvenal Alfonso Piña Garrido, Lionel De La Cruz Medrano Rivas, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, and Pedro Segundo Bitterlich Jaramillo, as authors of the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Luis Muñoz Velásquez, Juan Humberto Hernandez Zaspe, and Manuel Jesús Tamayo Martínez. g) Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez, Orlando José Manzo Durán, Olegario Enrique González Moreno, and Demóstenes Eugenio Cárdenas Saavedra, as authors of the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Julio Del Tránsito Valladares Caroca. h) Hernán Luis Sovino Maturana, Jorge Marcelo Escobar Fuentes, Federico Humberto Chaigneau Sepúlveda, Gladys de las Mercedes Calderón Carreño, and Miguel René Riveros Valderrama, as authors of the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Héctor Heraldo Velásquez Mardones and Alexei Vladimir Jaccard Siegler; and of the aggravated homicide of Ricardo Ignacio Ramírez Herrera, Ruiter Enrique Correa Arce, Matilde Pessa Mois, Jacobo Stoulman Bortnik, and Hernán Soto Gálvez. i) Héctor Raúl Valdebenito Araya, Eduardo Alejandro Oyarce Riquelme, Guillermo Jesús Ferrán Martínez, and Juan Hernán Morales Salgado, as authors of the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Héctor Heraldo Velásquez Mardones and Alexei Vladimir Jaccard Siegler; and of the aggravated homicide of Ricardo Ignacio Ramírez Herrera, Matilde Pessa Mois, and Jacobo Stoulman Bortnik.

Source: tribunadelbiobio.cl, February 23, 2016

Visiting minister sentenced 106 DINA agents for their role in Operation Colombo

The visiting minister Hernán Crisosto sentenced 106 former agents of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) for their participation in the so-called "Operation Colombo." The magistrate issued the sentences for the aggravated kidnappings of Francisco Aedo Carrasco, Juan Andrónicos Antequera, Jorge Andrónicos Antequera, Jaime Buzio Lorca, Mario Eduardo Calderón Tapia, Cecilia Castro Salvadores, Juan Carlos Rodríguez Araya, Rodolfo Espejo Gómez, Agustín Fiorasso Chau, Gregorio Gaete Farías, Mauricio Jorquera Encina, Isidro Pizarro Meniconi, Marcos Quiñones Lembach, Sergio Reyes Navarrete, Jilberto Urbina Chamorro, and Ida Vera Almarza; who belonged to the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR) and the Socialist Party. According to the judge's investigation, the 16 victims were detained between June 17, 1974, and January 6, 1975, in different districts of the Metropolitan Region, such as Santiago, Providencia, La Reina, and Ñuñoa, and taken to the detention centers of Londres 38, José Domingo Cañas, Tres Álamos, Cuatro Álamos, and Villa Grimaldi, these being the last places where they were seen alive. As part of an unprecedented international disinformation maneuver, the names of the kidnapped individuals appeared in two lists published on June 25, 1975, in the magazine Novo O'Dia of Curitiba (Brazil) and on July 15, 1975, in the magazine Lea of Buenos Aires (Argentina). In both cases, these were unique editions of the aforementioned media outlets, but their information was replicated in Chile by newspapers such as La Segunda. The famous front page "Exterminated like rats" corresponds to this episode of covering up the mass crime. Details of the sentences Minister Hernán Crisosto decreed 20-year prison sentences, as authors, for DINA agents César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Espinoza Bravo, Raúl Iturriaga Neumann, and Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko. He sentenced Orlando Manzo Durán, Fernando Eduardo Lauriani Maturana, Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Ricardo Lawrence Mires, Ciro Torre Sáez, Manuel Carevic Cubillos, Rosa Humilde Ramos Hernández, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, José Abel Aravena Ruiz, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, Nelson Aquiles Ortiz Vignolo, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Gerardo Meza Acuña, Manuel Heriberto Avendaño González, José Nelson Fuentealba Saldías, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, Alejandro Francisco Astudillo Adonis, Demóstenes Eugenio Cárdenas Saavedra, Daniel Alberto Galaz Orellana, Francisco Maximiliano Ferrer Lima, Leoncio Enrique Velásquez Guala, Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González, Sergio Hernán Castillo González, Teresa del Carmen Osorio Navarro, José Enrique Fuentes Torres, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Pedro René Alfaro Fernández, Hiro Alvarez Vega, Gustavo Galvarino Caruman Soto, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, José Manuel Sarmiento Sotelo, Luis René Torres Méndez, Rodolfo Valentino Concha Rodríguez, Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, Juan Ángel Urbina Cáceres, Manuel Rivas Díaz, Risiere del Prado Altez España, Daniel Valentín Cancino Varas, Juan Duarte Gallegos, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, Guido Arnoldo Jara Brevis, Leonídas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, Jorge Antonio Lepileo Barrios, Lautaro Díaz Espinoza, Pedro Ariel Aravena Aravena, Carlos Alfonso Sáez Sanhueza, Juan Carlos Villanueva Alvear, Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda, Rafael de Jesús Riveros Frost, Silvio Antonio Concha González, Luis Fernando Espinace Contreras, Hernán Patricio Valenzuela Salas, Luis Rigoberto Videla Inzunza, Palmira Isabel Almuna Guzmán, Sylvia Teresa Oyarce Pinto, Osvaldo Pulgar Gallardo, José Yévenes Vergara, and Olegario Enrique González Moreno to 13 years in prison. Agents Werner Enrique Zanghellini Martínez and Héctor Alfredo Flores Vergara must serve 10 years in prison; Heriberto del Carmen Acevedo and Jaime Alfonso Fernández Garrido six years, and Samuel Fuenzalida Devia 541 days; all of these in the capacity of authors. In the capacity of accomplices, agents José Jaime Mora Diocares, Armando Segundo Cofre Correa, Moisés Paulino Campos Figueroa, Oscar Belarmino La Flor Flores, Sergio Iván Díaz Lara, Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel, Jaime Humberto Paris Ramos, Jorge Laureano Sagardía Monje, José Stalin Muñoz Leal, Víctor Manuel de la Cruz San Martín Jiménez, Juvenal Piña Garrido, Camilo Torres Negrier, Manuel Antonio Montre Méndez, Sergio Hernán Castro Andrade, Nelson Eduardo Iturriaga Cortes, Carlos Justo Bermúdez Méndez, Fernando Adrián Roa Montaña, Reinaldo Alfonso Concha Orellana, Osvaldo Octavio Castillo Arellano, Gustavo Humberto Apablaza Meneses, Hugo Hernán Clavería Leiva, Juan Carlos Escobar Valenzuela, Carlos Enrique Miranda Mesa, Víctor Manuel Alvarez Droguett, Juan Ignacio Suárez Delgado, Raúl Alberto Soto Pérez, José Dorohi Hormazabal Rodríguez, Rufino Espinoza Espinoza, Héctor Carlos Díaz Cabezas, Jorge Segundo Madariaga Acevedo, and Miguel Ángel Yáñez Ugalde were sentenced to five years in prison. With the same degree of participation, Crisosto sentenced agents Jorge Luis Venegas Silva, Edinson Antonio Fernández Sanhueza, and Pedro Mora Villanueva to three years and one day in prison, with the benefit of supervised release. A total of 13 agents were acquitted of the charges against them. In accordance with the provisions of Article 692 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for persons with "mental illness") regarding Jorge Sagardía Monje, Lautaro Eugenio Díaz Espinoza, and Víctor Manuel De la Cruz San Martín Jiménez, the serving of the sentence was suspended, and they must, in due course, be placed in the custody of a family member who must propose their defense. In the civil aspect, the judge ordered the State to pay a total sum of 5.065 billion pesos to the victims' families in specific amounts detailed in the 714-page sentence. The "Francisco Aedo and others" episode is the last of the proceedings instructed by Minister Hernán Crisosto in the series of cases of victims of the so-called "Operation Colombo," in which a first-instance sentence is issued.

Source: Cooperativa.cl, June 2, 2017

Justice for 16 victims of Operation Colombo

More than 1,200 former agents of the DINA and its successor—the CNI—have been prosecuted, but only 142 are serving effective prison time for torturing, imprisoning, making bodies disappear, staging false confrontations, or murdering while simulating accidents or illnesses.

The dictatorship created a vast mechanism to terrorize the population. However, there were men and women who kept the flame of freedom alive and who organized in the underground with the purpose of building a democratic country.

Justice is approaching for 16 forcibly disappeared detainees. 106 former DINA agents were convicted in a first-instance sentence issued by Minister Hernán Crisosto. The 16 disappeared are part of the 119 victims of Operation Colombo.

The DINA set up that operation in collaboration with intelligence agencies of the Southern Cone of Latin America. They disseminated in Brazil and Argentina reports of alleged confrontations and a list of 119 victims.

In reality, all had been massacred in Chile. The defense for the former DINA agents invoked that the organization had a legal existence and that they acted within the framework of a state of emergency under a government led by the Armed Forces and Order.

In this regard, Minister Hernán Crisosto argued that "the functions of the Armed Forces are not to rise up against the constitutionally current government, nor to apprehend supporters or social leaders affiliated with the deposed regime; even less, of course, to murder them or make them disappear." Furthermore—the magistrate adds—"we are facing crimes against humanity, committed by State agents in the context of serious human rights violations, within the framework of harassment, persecution, or extermination of a group of people whom the military regime labeled as ideological adherents to the deposed political regime, or whom the repressive groups considered suspicious of hindering the regime's purposes or the impunity of the intelligence service agents." Another of the grounds for exemption from criminal liability invoked by the former agents was that they were following superior orders. In this regard, Judge Crisosto pointed out that according to Article 334 of the Code of Military Justice, to be exempt from liability, the military officer must represent the illegality of the order to the superior, a matter that none of the convicted individuals proved. Likewise, Judge Crisosto justified the compensation granted to the victims' families, stating that "the disappearance of a son, a daughter, a father, a mother, a brother, a sister, a spouse, a partner, and even a brother-in-law, in the circumstances in which it occurred—that is, amidst the conviction that during their confinement they were tortured, abused, objects of cruel, inhuman treatment, harmful to their psychic and moral integrity, devoid of all due respect for the dignity inherent to the human being, without the most elementary pity for a fellow human being, and devoid of all moral principle—has caused the plaintiffs psychological suffering that has caused them moral damage that the State, as responsible for the actions of its agents, must compensate."

The victims Francisco Aedo Carrasco, architect, 63 years old, socialist; Juan Andrónicos Antequera, 23 years old, university student, MIR; Jorge Andrónicos Antequera, 25 years old, electrical engineering graduate, State Technical University, MIR; Jaime Buzio Lorca, 21 years old, student at the UTE, Revolutionary Communist League; Mario Eduardo Calderón Tapia, journalist, 31 years old, MIR; Cecilia Castro Salvadores, 24 years old, law student at the University of Chile, MIR; Juan Carlos Rodríguez Araya, 30 years old, engineering student at the University of Chile; Rodolfo Espejo Gómez, 18 years old, socialist; Agustín Fiorasso Chau, 23 years old, Spanish teacher, MIR; Gregorio Gaete Farías, 22 years old, laborer and night-school secondary student, socialist; Mauricio Jorquera Encina, 19 years old, sociology student at the University of Chile, MIR; Isidro Pizarro Meniconi, 21 years old, technician, MIR; Marcos Esteban Quiñones Lembach, 26 years old, public employee; Sergio Reyes Navarrete, 26 years old, Corfo official, MIR; Jilberto Patricio Urbina Chamorro, 25 years old, medical student at the Catholic University, MIR; Ida Vera Almarza, 31 years old, Bolivian architect, MIR. The convicted agents 20 years as authors: César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, and Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko. 13 years, as authors: Orlando Manzo Durán, Fernando Eduardo Lauriani Maturana, Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Ricardo Lawrence Mires, Ciro Torre Sáez, Manuel Carevic Cubillos, Rosa Humilde Ramos Hernández, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, José Abel Aravena Ruiz, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, Nelson Aquiles Ortiz Vignolo, Rudeslindo Urrutia Jorquera, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Gerardo Meza Acuña, Manuel Heriberto Avendaño González, José Nelson Fuentealba Saldías, Raúl Juan Rodríguez Ponte, Alejandro Francisco Astudillo Adonis, Demóstenes Eugenio Cárdenas Saavedra, Daniel Alberto Galaz Orellana, Francisco Maximiliano Ferrer Lima, Leoncio Enrique Velásquez Guala, Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González, Sergio Hernán Castillo González, Teresa del Carmen Osorio Navarro, José Enrique Fuentes Torres, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Pedro René Alfaro Fernández, Hiro Alvarez Vega, Gustavo Galvarino Carumán Soto, Orlando Jesús Torrejón Gatica, José Manuel Sarmiento Sotelo, Luis René Torres Méndez, Rodolfo Valentino Concha Rodríguez, Enrique Tránsito Gutiérrez Rubilar, Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, Juan Angel Urbina Cáceres, Manuel Rivas Díaz, Risiere del Prado Altez España, Daniel Valentín Cancino Varas, Juan Duarte Gallegos, Víctor Manuel Molina Astete, Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo, Guido Arnoldo Jara Brevis, Leonidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, Jorge Antonio Lepileo Barrios, Lautaro Díaz Espinoza, Pedro Ariel Aravena Aravena, Carlos Alfonso Sáez Sanhueza, Juan Carlos Villanueva Alvear, Alfredo Orlando Moya Tejeda, Rafael de Jesús Riveros Frost, Silvio Antonio Concha González, Luis Fernando Espinace Contreras, Hernán Patricio Valenzuela Salas, Luis Rigoberto Videla Inzunza, Palmira Isabel Almuna Guzmán, Sylvia Teresa Oyarce Pinto, Osvaldo Pulgar Gallardo, José Yévenes Vergara, and Olegario Enrique González Moreno. 10 years and one day, as authors: Werner Enrique Zanghellini Martínez and Héctor Alfredo Flores Vergara. 6 years, as authors: Heriberto del Carmen Acevedo and Jaime Alfonso Fernández Garrido. 5 years and one day in prison, as accomplices: José Jaime Mora Diocares, Armando Segundo Cofré Correa, Moisés Paulino Campos Figueroa, Oscar Belarmino La Flor Flores, Sergio Iván Díaz Lara, Roberto Hernán Rodríguez Manquel, Jaime Humberto Paris Ramos, Jorge Laureano Sagardía Monje, José Stalin Muñoz Leal, Víctor Manuel de la Cruz San Martín Jiménez, Juvenal Piña Garrido, Camilo Torres Negrier, Manuel Antonio Montre Méndez, Sergio Hernán Castro Andrade, Nelson Eduardo Iturriaga Cortes, Carlos Justo Bermúdez Méndez, Fernando Adrián Roa Montaña, Reinaldo Alfonso Concha Orellana, Osvaldo Octavio Castillo Arellano, Gustavo Humberto Apablaza Meneses, Hugo Hernán Clavería Leiva, Juan Carlos Escobar Valenzuela, Carlos Enrique Miranda Mesa, Víctor Manuel Alvarez Droguett, Juan Ignacio Suárez Delgado, Raúl Alberto Soto Pérez, José Dorohi Hormazabal Rodríguez, Rufino Espinoza Espinoza, Héctor Carlos Díaz Cabezas, Jorge Segundo Madariaga Acevedo, and Miguel Angel Yáñez Ugalde. 3 years and one day with the benefit of supervised release, as accomplices: Jorge Luis Venegas Silva, Edinson Antonio Fernández Sanhueza, and Pedro Mora Villanueva. 541 days in prison, as author: Samuel Fuenzalida Devia.

Source: puntofinal.cl, July 19, 2017

Case File No. 47.518, "Socialist Party Central Committee" episode

Thirtieth

That, in an extrajudicial statement on page 2149, on March 6, 2003, Jorge Segundo Madariaga Acevedo stated that he joined the Policía de Investigaciones of Chile in 1955, and in 1974 he was attached to the

DINA

, along with Nibaldo Jiménez, Juan Urbina, Eugenio Fieldhouse, Hermón Alfaro Mundaca, and others . They reported to the barracks on Avenida Arrieta, formerly Villa Grimaldi, where they were received by Army Officer Bernardo Espinoza.

He was assigned to a group that had no name and was under the command of Major Rolf Wenderoth; his function was to analyze all items coming from the various raids carried out by the operational groups (books, documents, soaps in which caches were hidden, messages, and even microfilm), evidence studied by the operational groups.

When they finished the analysis, they would prepare reports that were sent to the supreme chief of the barracks of the Brigada Caupolicán to which he belonged. In the same Villa Grimaldi , the operational groups functioned in separate facilities; he recalls the names of the Cóndor, Purén, and Águila groups.

Commander Manuel Contreras frequently visited the Villa to stay informed of developments. Miguel Krassnoff was second in command of the Villa; this chief would occasionally send him to make inquiries or gather information at firms or industries, never... g) Extrajudicial statement of Luis Villarroel Gutiérrez on page 8165, an official of the Policía de Investigaciones who was part of the DINA, who indicates that in 1975, following a restructuring, the Chief of the Brigade , Colonel López , created a special group of interrogators, composed of no more than five PDI officials, of whom he only remembers Sub-commissioner Madariaga.

Source: Judiciary, December 17, 2018

Authors of the disappearance of Rubén David Arroyo Padilla convicted

He was detained on November 25, 1974, and was last seen in December 1974 at Villa Grimaldi. He appeared on the list of 119 people whom the dictatorship attempted to portray as dead abroad to cover up its crimes.

The minister on extraordinary assignment for human rights violation cases of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Hernán Crisosto Greisse, issued a first-instance sentence against 41 agents of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA) for their responsibility in the aggravated kidnapping of Rubén David Arroyo Padilla, a crime perpetrated starting on November 25, 1975, as a victim of the so-called "Operation Colombo." In the resolution, Minister Crisosto sentenced the following DINA agents to 13 years in prison as authors of the crime: Juan Manuel Guillermo Contreras Sepúlveda , César Manríquez Bravo , Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo , Marcelo Luis Manuel Moren Brito , Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko , and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann . Meanwhile, he applied 10-year prison sentences, also as authors, to the agents: Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García , Ricardo Víctor Lawrence Mires , Ciro Ernesto Torré Sáez , Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos , Basclay Humberto Zapata Reyes , José Mario Friz Esparza , Julio José Hoyos Zegarra , Rosa Humilde Ramos Hernández , Pedro René Alfaro Fernández , Rufino Eduardo Jaime Astorga , Luis René Torres Méndez , Rodolfo Valentino Concha Rodríguez , Juan Angel Urbina Cáceres , Jerónimo del Carmen Neira Méndez , Raúl Alberto Soto Pérez , Luis Rigoberto Videla Inzunza , Jorge Segundo Madariaga Acevedo , Luis Fernando Espinace Contreras , Palmira Isabel Almuna Guzmán , and Leonidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno . Likewise, agent Samuel Fuenzalida Devia received a sentence, as an author, of 541 days of remitted imprisonment. Meanwhile, as accomplices, Minister Crisosto sentenced the following agents to 4 years in prison, without benefits: Eugenio Jesús Fieldhouse Chávez , José Jaime Friz Esparza , Jaime Humberto Paris Ramos , José Stalin Muñoz Leal , Pedro Segundo Bitterlich Jaramillo , Víctor Manuel de la Cruz San Martín Jiménez , Juvenal Alfonso Piña Garrido , Reinaldo Concha Orellana , Osvaldo Octavio Castillo Arellano , Daniel Valentín Cancino Varas , Víctor Manuel Molina Astete , Fernando Enrique Guerra Guajardo , Guido Arnoldo Jara Brevis , Hugo Hernán Clavería Leiva , Juan Carlos Escobar Valenzuela , Carlos Enrique Miranda Mesa , Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett , Olegario Enrique González Moreno , Miguel Ángel Yáñez Ugalde , and Héctor Carlos Díaz . In the case, the magistrate acquitted the former agents: Orlando Manzo Durán, Gerardo Ernesto Urrich González, Alejandro Francisco Molina Cisternas, Luis Eduardo Mora Cerda, Alfonso Humberto Quiroz Quintana, Héctor Raúl Valdebenito Araya, Máximo Ramón Aliaga Soto, Gustavo Galvarino Caruman Soto, Juan Evaristo Duarte Gallegos, Juan Ignacio Suárez Delgado, Carlos Enrique Letelier Verdugo, Herman Eduardo Ávalos Muñoz, Raúl Bernardo Toro Montes, and Víctor Abraham González Salazar. During the investigation stage, Minister Crisosto managed to determine the following sequence of events: -That on the morning of November 25, 1974, while Rubén David Arroyo Padilla, a militant of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR), was heading from his home, located at Calle Santo Domingo No. 3726, Santiago commune, to his workplace, located at Calle Lira No. 580, in the same commune, he was detained on a public street by agents belonging to the Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia (DINA), who transported him to the clandestine detention center known as "Villa Grimaldi," located at Lo Arrieta No. 8200, in the La Reina commune, which was guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access; -That the victim, Arroyo Padilla, during his stay at the Villa Grimaldi barracks, remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by the agents operating in said barracks for the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of the MIR, in order to proceed with the detention of members of that organization; -That the last time the victim, Arroyo Padilla, was seen alive occurred on an undetermined day in the month of December 1974, and to date, there is no information regarding his whereabouts; -That the name of Rubén David Arroyo Padilla appeared on a list of 119 people, published in the national press, after it appeared on a list published in the Argentine magazine "LEA," dated July 15, 1975, which reported that Rubén David Arroyo Padilla had died in Argentina, along with 59 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes that had arisen among those members, and -That the publications that declared the victim, Arroyo Padilla, dead had their origin in disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad.

Source: villagrimaldi.cl, April 27, 2018

Operation Colombo: Supreme Court sentences 25 DINA agents for the 1974 crime against a MIR detective

The Supreme Court confirmed the sentence that convicted 25 former agents of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA) for their responsibility in the aggravated kidnapping of photographer Teobaldo Antonio Tello Garrido, who has been forcibly disappeared since August 22, 1974, and is one of the 119 victims who appeared on the lists of the international disinformation maneuver known as "Operation Colombo." Teobaldo Tello, 25 years old, married, was a detective with the Policía de Investigaciones, a photographer, and a militant of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR).

He was detained and kidnapped in the afternoon of August 22 on a public street when he was preparing to hold a clandestine contact in the downtown area of Santiago. His detention was part of a repressive raid on members of the MIR linked to the Investigations department and the Identification Cabinet.

In the sentence (roll 36.979-2020), the Second Chamber of the highest court—composed of ministers Haroldo Brito, Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Leopoldo Llanos, and lawyers (i) Eduardo Morales and Gonzalo Ruz—rejected the cassation appeals filed by the convicted individuals and ruled out any error in the challenged sentence.

The ruling of the highest court sentenced former Army officers and DINA leaders César Raúl Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, and Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann to 13 years in prison for their responsibility as authors of the crime.

Meanwhile, also as authors of the crime, former officers Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García and Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos were sentenced to 10 years in prison, as were former agents Nelson Alberto Paz Bustamante, Julio José Hoyos Zegarra, Silvio Antonio Concha González, José Alfonso Ojeda Obando, Teresa del Carmen Osorio Navarro, Claudio Enrique Pacheco Fernández, José Abel Aravena Ruiz, Rosa Humilde Ramos Hernández, Pedro René Alfaro Fernández, Luis René Torres Méndez, Rodolfo Valentino Concha Rodríguez, Jerónimo del Carmen Neira Méndez, Palmira Isabel Almuna Guzmán, Leonidas Emiliano Méndez Moreno, Hermon Helec Alfaro Mundaca, Luis Rigoberto Videla Inzulza, and Jorge Segundo Madariaga Acevedo, the latter three being officials of the Policía de Investigaciones commissioned to the DINA. Former agent Samuel Enrique Fuenzalida Devia must serve a sentence of 541 days in prison, with the benefit of conditional remission, as an author of the crime. Finally, former agent Víctor Manuel Álvarez Droguett was sentenced to 4 years in prison, with the benefit of supervised release, as an accomplice to the crime. The sentence dismissed any infringement regarding the facts established by the first-instance courts, as they were crimes against humanity. "That regarding the grounds contained in Article 546 No. 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, given the nature of the proven events, which remain unalterable for this Court since the grounds allowing for their modification were dismissed, there is no doubt that they were committed as crimes against humanity, since the investigated illicit act occurred in a context of grave, massive, and systematic human rights violations, verified by State agents, with the victim in this case constituting an instrument within a general policy of exclusion, harassment, persecution, or extermination of a group of numerous people who, in the period immediately following September 11, 1973, were labeled as ideologically belonging to the deposed political regime or who, for any circumstance, were considered suspicious of opposing or hindering the realization of the social and political construction envisioned by those holding power, guaranteeing impunity for the executors of said program through non-interference in their methods, both by concealing the reality when ordinary courts of justice requested relevant reports, and by using state power to persuade local and foreign public opinion that the complaints filed to that effect were false and responded to a campaign aimed at discrediting the authoritarian military regime." It adds: "That crimes against humanity are those injustices that not only contravene the legal interests commonly guaranteed by criminal laws, but at the same time imply a denial of the moral personality of man, such that for the configuration of this illicit act, there is an intimate connection between common crimes and an added value that arises from the disregard and contempt for the dignity of the person, because the main characteristic of this figure is the cruel way in which various criminal acts are perpetrated, which clearly and manifestly contradict the most basic concept of humanity; also highlighting the presence of cruelty toward a special class of individuals, thus combining an eminent intentional element, as a specific inner tendency of the agent's will. In short, they constitute an outrage to human dignity and represent a grave and manifest violation of the rights and freedoms proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, reaffirmed and developed in other relevant international instruments." In the judicial investigation and the first-instance ruling, the minister on assignment Hernán Crisosto Greisse established that the kidnapped Teobaldo Tello was taken by his captors to the clandestine detention center known as "Ollagüe," located at Calle José Domingo Cañas No. 1367, in the Ñuñoa commune, and subsequently transferred to the clandestine detention centers of "Villa Grimaldi," located at Lo Arrieta No. 8200, in the La Reina commune, and "Cuatro Álamos," located at Calle Canadá No. 3000, in Santiago, centers that were controlled by the DINA. During his stay at the barracks of José Domingo Cañas, Villa Grimaldi, and Cuatro Álamos, he remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied, being continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents for the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of the MIR, in order to proceed with the detention of members of that organization. In these centers, Tello Garrido was seen by other surviving detainees with his arms and legs broken as a result of the torture. The last time he was seen alive occurred on an undetermined day in the month of September 1974. The name of Teobaldo Antonio Tello Garrido appeared on a list of 119 people, published in the national press after it appeared on a list published in the Argentine magazine "LEA," dated July 15, 1975, which stated that he had died in Argentina, along with 59 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes among those members. The aforementioned publications were the product of disinformation maneuvers carried out by the DINA, in what has become known as "Operation Colombo." by Darío Núñez

Source: resumen.cl, September 22, 2023

Kidnapping of Jorge Müller and Carmen Bueno: DINA agents convicted for the disappearance of the filmmakers

The members of the defunct Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional, César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Espinoza Bravo, Raúl Iturriaga Neumann, and Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko, will receive a 20-year prison sentence for their status as authors.

In a unanimous ruling, the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court confirmed the sentence that convicted César Manríquez Bravo , Pedro Espinoza Bravo , Raúl Iturriaga Neumann , and Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko to 20 years in prison, as authors of the crime.

The highest court rejected the cassation appeals in form and substance filed against the sentence that convicted agents of the defunct Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA) for their responsibility in the crime of aggravated kidnapping of the filmmaker couple Jorge Hernán Müller Silva and Carmen Cecilia Bueno Cifuentes .

These crimes were committed starting on November 29, 1974. In a unanimous ruling (case roll 43.971-2020), the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court—composed of ministers Haroldo Brito, Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Jorge Dahm, minister María Teresa Letelier, and lawyer (i) Pía Tavolari—confirmed the challenged sentence, issued by the Santiago Court of Appeals, which sentenced César Manríquez Bravo, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Raúl Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, and Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko to 20 years in prison , as authors of the crime .

Meanwhile, Orlando Manzo Durán, Manuel Andrés Carevic Cubillos, Alejandro Francisco Astudillo Adonis, Sylvia Teresa Oyarce Pinto, Gerardo Ernesto Godoy García, Manuel Heriberto Avendaño González, Nelson Aquiles Ortiz Vignolo, Silvio Antonio Concha González, Pedro Ariel Araneda Araneda, Luis Rigoberto Videla Inzunza, Jorge Segundo Madariaga Acevedo, Teresa del Carmen Osorio Navarro, José Abel Aravena Ruiz, Rosa Humilde Ramos Hernández, Pedro René Alfaro Fernández, Luis René Torres Méndez, Jerónimo del Carmen Neira Méndez, Palmira Isabel Almuna Guzmán, Carlos López Inostroza, Hugo del Tránsito Hernández Valle, Francisco Maximiliano Ferrer Lima, and Fernando Eduardo Lauriani Maturana must serve 12 years in prison , as co-authors . "That, in this way, the elements of the examined illicit act and the participation in them of these accused were deemed verified by the first-instance court, conclusions that the second-instance judiciary adopted, endorsed in consideration 7 of the challenged sentence," the ruling states. The resolution adds: "That, consequently, and even setting aside the grave formal defects of the examined substantial nullity appeals, the infringements denounced by the defenses of Carlos López Inostroza, Jerónimo Neira Méndez, Luis Videla Inzunza, Pedro Alfaro Fernández, Raúl Iturriaga Neumann, Pedro Espinoza Bravo, and César Manríquez Bravo have not been configured in this case, since the facts established in the challenged sentence and the participation in them of these accused have conformed to the laws regulating evidence, so that no reproach can be raised in this regard against the challenged sentence, and thus the substantial nullity appeals under examination will be entirely dismissed." Operation Colombo In the first-instance sentence, the minister of the Santiago Court of Appeals Hernán Crisosto Greisse

established the following facts

On November 29, 1974, Carmen Cecilia Bueno Cifuentes and her partner Jorge Hernán Müller Silva, militants of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR) , were detained on a public street, at the intersection of Calle Francisco Bilbao and Los Leones in Santiago, by agents belonging to the Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia (DINA), who forced them into a C-10 pickup truck and transported them to the clandestine DINA detention center known as ‘ Villa Grimaldi ’, located at Lo Arrieta No. 8200, in La Reina, and subsequently to the clandestine detention center known as ‘ Cuatro Álamos ’, located at Calle Canadá No. 3000, in Santiago, which were guarded by armed guards and to which only DINA agents had access. During their stay at the Villa Grimaldi and Cuatro Álamos barracks, they remained without contact with the outside world, blindfolded and tied, being in the former continuously subjected to interrogations under torture by DINA agents operating in said barracks for the purpose of obtaining information regarding members of the MIR, in order to proceed with the detention of its members. The last time the victims, Bueno Cifuentes and Müller Silva, were seen alive occurred on an undetermined day in mid-December 1974, and to date, there is no information regarding the whereabouts of both, as they remain disappeared. The name of Carmen Cecilia Bueno Cifuentes appeared on a list of 119 people , published in the national press after it appeared on a list published in the Argentine magazine

‘LEA’

, dated July 15, 1975, which reported that Bueno Cifuentes had died in Argentina, along with 59 other people belonging to the MIR, due to internal disputes that had arisen among those members . The publications that declared the victim, Bueno Cifuentes, dead had their origin in disinformation maneuvers carried out by DINA agents abroad .

In the civil aspect, the sentence that ordered the state to pay compensation of $50 million for moral damages to the victim Bueno Cifuentes's sister, who was the plaintiff, was confirmed.

Source: radio.uchile.cl, February 23, 2024