Adan Valdevenito Olavarría, married, father of 4, former coal miner and militant of the Communist Youth, was detained on September 25, 1974, at his home located in Lota Alto by two Carabineros from the Lota Alto Sub-precinct.

They arrived in the early hours of the morning and, after carrying out the arrest, fired their service weapons before leaving the scene. That same day, his spouse, Mrs. Isabel Quiñones Garrido, went to the aforementioned police station, where they initially denied her any information, only to later inform her that the detainee had been transferred to Concepción and placed at the disposal of military authorities, as they had ordered his apprehension.

This order was never shown to her. Efforts made at detention centers in Concepción yielded no results, as his apprehension was denied in all of those locations.

Through hearsay, she learned that her husband was presumably being held at the Talcahuano Naval Base. For this reason, she wrote to the Commander-in-Chief of the Second Naval Zone, Christian Storaker Pozo, who was also serving as the Acting Regional Intendant.

The military authority replied on March 20, 1975, indicating that her spouse had been detained by order of the DINA, that he was not at the Naval Base, and that she should contact the SENDET to obtain information.

Despite this information emanating from the highest naval and administrative authority in the zone, his detention continued to be denied by police and security agencies. Despite numerous efforts made by his family, his whereabouts remain unknown to this day, and his fate at the hands of his captors remains ignored.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On March 11, 1975, Mrs. Isabel Quiñones Garrido filed a writ of amparo on behalf of her spouse before the Court of Appeals of Concepción. During the processing of said writ, registered under case file 3371, the Command-in-Chief of the II Naval Zone informed the Court that the person in question was not being held at the Naval Base, nor were there any records of him.

A similar response, stating that there were no records regarding the victim, was received from the II Army Division and from the Minister of the Interior, General Raúl Benavides Escobar. Based on the reports received, on March 25, 1975, the Court of Appeals rejected the writ of amparo and resolved to remit the records to the competent Criminal Court in order to initiate a summary proceeding to investigate the disappearance of Adan Valdevenito Olavarría.

In the previous month, on February 25, 1975, Mrs. Isabel Quiñones filed a complaint with the Lota Investigative Police, giving rise to a case for alleged disappearance in the Lota Criminal Court, case file 28.888.

In the respective investigation order carried out by the Investigative Police, Carabineros Captain Gustavo Vergara y Romero, Sub-commissioner of Lota Alto, was interviewed. After checking the records at both that Sub-precinct and the Eighth Precinct of Lota Bajo, he reported that he did not appear as a detainee according to the respective logs.

Subsequently, on August 5, 1975, the Lota Alto Sub-precinct ratified this information to the court, adding that the affected party had a record of detention on March 14, 1974, for playing soccer in a prohibited area with six other people, remaining in provisional liberty and summoned to the Local Police Court, according to report No. 80, and that through inquiries made, it was established that he worked at the Empresa Nacional del Carbón until September 22, 1973.

The Court, after taking statements from the detective who carried out the investigation order and from the victim's spouse, closed the summary proceeding on August 7, 1975, and temporarily dismissed the case. This resolution was approved by the Court of Appeals of Concepción on September 4 of that year.

On the other hand, Mrs. Isabel Quiñones made submissions to various military authorities of the time, most notably the one sent to the II Naval Zone, in whose response, dispatched on March 20, 1975, she was informed that her husband was detained by the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), and that to learn of his situation, she should go to the National Service for Detainees (SENDET).

This information was not investigated by the Court.

Source: Vicariate of Solidarity

Two visiting ministers investigating human rights violation cases issued resolutions in the proceedings they are overseeing within the jurisdictions of the Court of Appeals of Concepción and Santiago, respectively.

First, Minister Carlos Aldana, of the Concepción appellate court, issued a first-instance conviction in the investigation into the aggravated kidnapping of Adán Valdebenito Olavarría, which occurred starting on September 24, 1974, in the city of Lota.

The magistrate sentenced Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda to 541 days and Orlando Manzo Durán to 61 days of suspended prison for their responsibility as author and accomplice in the crime of aggravated kidnapping.

In the case of Contreras Sepúlveda, the sentence was considered served due to the time he has remained in preventive detention. Meanwhile, Minister Alejandro Solís, of the Santiago Court of Appeals, issued an indictment in the investigation into the aggravated homicide of Ramón Martínez González, which occurred on January 13, 1975, in Santiago.

The magistrate indicted Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, Mario Jahn Barrera, Marcelo Moren Brito, Fernando Lauriani Maturana, and Miguel Krassnoff Martchenko for their responsibility as authors of the aforementioned crime.

Regarding the indicted Contreras Sepúlveda, Moren Brito, and Krassnoff Martchenko, preventive detention was ordered, to be served concurrently with the sentences they are currently fulfilling. Regarding the indicted Lauriani Maturana, the benefit of provisional liberty is maintained, and regarding the indicted Jahn Barrera, his entry into preventive detention was ordered, as he is considered a danger to society.

Source: June 18, 2010 Radio Bio Bio

Date: 18-06-2010

Manuel Contreras receives additional sentence for Lota disappeared person

The Court of Appeals of Concepción issued a second-instance sentence against the former head of the dissolved DINA, Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda, and former agent Orlando Manzo Durán, in the investigation into the aggravated kidnapping of Adán Valdebenito Olavarría, which occurred in Lota starting on September 24, 1974.

In a unanimous ruling (in case file 68-2011), ministers Sara Herrera, Juana Godoy, and Vivian Toloza (acting) ratified the first-instance ruling issued by visiting minister Carlos Aldana Fuentes. In this case, Manuel Contreras Sepúlveda was sentenced to 541 days in prison for his responsibility as the author of aggravated kidnapping, and Manzo to 61 days in prison for his responsibility as an accomplice to aggravated kidnapping.

In the case of Contreras Sepúlveda, the ruling establishes that the sentence was considered served due to the time he has remained in preventive detention. Manzo, for his part, was granted the benefit of supervised release.

Source: Friday, June 17, 2010 La Nacion

Date: 17-06-2010