The minister on special assignment for human rights violation cases, Álvaro Mesa, sentenced them to 18 years in prison and ordered the State to pay $1.1 billion to the families of Sergio Navarro Schifferli and José Meliquén Aguilera.

The sentence, handed down against retired Carabineros commander Jorge Enrique Schweizer Gómez (96) and sergeants Domingo Antonio Campos Collao (84) and Víctor Matus Vásquez (86), corresponds to their responsibility as perpetrators of the aforementioned crime, committed on October 4, 1973, in Lautaro.

AGENCIA UNO/ARCHIVE Three retired Carabineros officers were sentenced to 18 years in prison for the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Sergio del Carmen Navarro Schifferli and José Andrés Meliquén Aguilera, events that occurred in the commune of Lautaro, La Araucanía Region, in October 1973.

The ruling by the minister on special assignment for human rights violation cases, Álvaro Mesa, established that the State must compensate the victims' families for a total of $1.1 billion to the wife and children of José Andrés Meliquén Aguilera and $200 million to the brother and nephew of Sergio Del Carmen Navarro Schifferli, totaling 1.1 billion pesos for moral damages resulting from the illicit act of aggravated kidnapping, as a crime against humanity.

The sentence, handed down against retired Carabineros commander Jorge Enrique Schweizer Gómez (96) and sergeants Domingo Antonio Campos Collao (84) and Víctor Matus Vásquez (86), corresponds to their responsibility as perpetrators of the aforementioned crime, committed on October 4, 1973, in Lautaro.

During the investigation, Minister Álvaro Mesa established that the convicted individuals arrived at the victims' homes, located in the rural area of the commune, and arrested them in the presence of their families, with their whereabouts remaining unknown to this day.

Source: eldinamo.cl, July 28, 2021

Minister Álvaro Mesa sentences retired Carabineros officer to 12 years in prison as perpetrator of the aggravated kidnapping of a farmer in Lautaro

In ruling number 52 issued by the minister on special assignment for human rights violation cases, Álvaro Claudio Mesa Latorre, he sentenced retired Carabineros officer Jorge Enrique Schweizer Gómez to 12 years of effective prison time, in his capacity as perpetrator of the consummated crime of aggravated kidnapping of farmer Benedicto Poo Álvarez.

This illicit act is classified as a crime against humanity, committed in the commune of Lautaro in October 1973. In ruling number 52 issued by the minister on special assignment for human rights violation cases for the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Claudio Mesa Latorre sentenced retired Carabineros officer Jorge Enrique Schweizer Gómez to 12 years of effective prison time, in his capacity as perpetrator of the consummated crime of aggravated kidnapping of farmer Benedicto Poo Álvarez.

This illicit act is classified as a crime against humanity, committed in the commune of Lautaro in October 1973. In the ruling (case file 45.364), Minister Mesa Latorre also applied to the former Carabineros officer the legal accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualification from public offices and political rights, and absolute disqualification from professional practice for the duration of the sentence; in addition to the payment of court costs.

In the resolution, the minister on special assignment establishes the following facts: “A.- That starting on September 11, 1973, at the 1st Carabineros Precinct of Lautaro, the command in charge of the unit, including a Major Jorge Enrique Schweizer Gómez and a Captain Marcial Edmundo Vera Ríos (deceased), organized and coordinated a special group of Carabineros that included Juvenal Santiago Sanhueza Sanhueza (deceased), Enrique Ferrier Valeze (deceased), Mario Ponce Orellana (deceased), and a corporal, among others, who, under the orders of Lieutenant José Orlando Huerta Ávila (deceased), collaborated with army personnel from the La Concepción Regiment of Lautaro, carrying out joint patrols in the rural area under the jurisdiction of the aforementioned police unit, while simultaneously identifying the names and addresses of individuals classified as opponents of the Military Regime. These individuals were subsequently detained and taken to the precinct to be interrogated in various areas of the facility, or removed by this special group of Carabineros or by military personnel to be taken to locations unknown to this date.

B.-

That Benedicto Poo Álvarez, a farmer and 41-year-old Communist Party militant, residing at the ‘San Carlos’ location situated on the Calle del Medio, 8 km from the commune of Lautaro, on that day, October 20, 1973, along with his partner, Ms.

Hilda del Carmen Fuentes Ortega, traveled to the commune of Lautaro primarily to carry out errands in the city. Upon arriving, they proceeded to visit Mr. Urbano Poo (deceased), a cousin of Benedicto Poo Álvarez, who resided in a property located at 276 Vicuña Mackenna Street in the commune.

After some time, at approximately 11:30 AM, the victim left the property alone, heading to the city center to carry out the errands for which he was there.

C.-

That around noon, while Benedicto Poo Álvarez was walking through the center of Lautaro, specifically on O’Higgins Street, he was detained by a Carabineros patrol belonging to the 1st Carabineros Precinct of Lautaro; they forced him into the back of the vehicle, which then prepared to move.

At that moment, Ms. Myriam Poo Carrasco , Benedicto’s niece and daughter of Mr. Urbano Poo, who happened to be walking through the city center, heard the voice of her uncle, who shouted from inside the moving vehicle, ‘Myriam, tell my uncle that the Carabineros are taking me.’ Following this alert, she immediately went to her father’s house, where she informed Ms.

Hilda Fuentes Ortega of what had happened, who in turn immediately went to the 1st Carabineros Precinct of Lautaro to obtain information regarding the event. Upon arriving at the police unit, the officer on duty denied the victim’s detention and suggested that Ms. Fuentes inquire about Benedicto at the commune’s Regiment.

D.-

That on that day, the officer on duty at the 1st Carabineros Precinct of Lautaro was Víctor Matus Vásquez , a 1st Corporal of the same police unit, who knew Benedicto Poo Álvarez personally from having played soccer with him.

Because of this, he was able to perfectly recognize Benedicto at the very moment he was being brought into the police station as a detainee, stating that the arresting personnel belonged to Lieutenant Huerta’s group; that is, Messrs. Ferrier, Ponce (both deceased), and the official with the surname Campos from the same unit.

E.-

That in this context, the Major of the 1st Carabineros Precinct of Lautaro also remembers the event with precision; stating consequently that Benedicto Poo Álvarez was indeed being held as a detainee in the facilities of the unit under his command on that October 20, 1973.

He specified that he remembers the event because he knew an officer with the rank of Captain named Poo, whom he communicated with after Benedicto’s detention.

F.-

That after the episodes described above, the victim’s relatives never again received news regarding his whereabouts, and the account currently held at the Museum of Memory and Human Rights remains, which documents his disappearance following his detention on that day, October 20, 1973.

G.-

Finally, to this date, no public official of the Carabineros de Chile or any other branch of the Armed Forces and/or Order and Security who served at the time of the events has provided any information to the respective authorities regarding what happened to Benedicto Poo Álvarez, maintaining to this day the concealment of all information regarding his whereabouts.” In the civil aspect, the minister ordered the State to pay compensation of $50,000,000 (fifty million pesos) for moral damages to Myriam Rosa Flor Poo Carrasco, the victim’s niece.

Source: adprensa.cl, June 15, 2021