Oscar Abdón Retamal Pérez, single, 19 years old, student, was detained on September 25, 1973, by Carabineros from the Retiro Police Station, after having voluntarily appeared in response to a summons issued by police officers.

On September 25 of that year, Carabineros from the local police station arrived at his home at Calle Brasil 66, in the commune of Retiro. The victim was not present at that time. The Carabineros officers raided the house and subsequently left a summons ordering him to report to the police station.

Oscar Retamal Pérez was informed by neighbors of what had occurred and of the summons that had been left for him, which led him to decide to go to the police unit.

Once he arrived there, he was detained; his family was unaware of the reasons. Upon being informed of what had happened, his sister, Beatriz del Carmen Salinas Pérez, went to the police station, whose chief at the time was Lieutenant José Moya, and was told there that her brother would be transferred to the Parral prison.

She immediately went to the prison facility, where she was able to witness the moment her brother was taken off a police van, although she was unable to speak with him. From that day until October 10, 1973, both the detainee's mother, Mrs.

Clara Luz Pérez, and his aforementioned sister went daily to the Parral prison, bringing clothing and food that were received by the guards, although they were never able to see the victim.

On October 10, a prison official informed them that Oscar Retamal Pérez was no longer there and that he had been transferred to the Linares Artillery School. On that occasion, along with the information, they were given the identity card he had been carrying at the time of his detention.

His mother, Mrs. Clara Luz Pérez, went to the city of Linares, inquiring about her son's whereabouts at the Artillery School, the Intendancy, and the Public Prison, without obtaining an answer. Only at the Artillery School, according to the mother, was she attended to by "...a female military officer with the surname Díaz, tall and heavy-set, who told her that her son was in that place and that she should bring him things...".

She returned with the requested items, which were received, but this time she was told that her son had been taken to the prison and that "...they would take care of bringing the things...".

From that moment on, she obtained no further information regarding his whereabouts.

Some time later, based on accounts from two people—a man with the surname Riquelme and a young man with the surname Fuentes, the latter a former detainee of the Linares Prison—she was informed that her son, Oscar Retamal Pérez, was taken out one night, around 11:00 PM, and was never seen again.

According to the records held by the National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation, on October 23, 1973, seven people were recorded as leaving the Parral Public Prison, from where they were taken by a Carabineros patrol to testify at the Military Prosecutor's Office, by order of the Parral Departmental Governor.

Upon reviewing the Logbook of the Parral Public Prison, there is a record that on that day, October 23, "...by order of the Mr. Departmental Governor..., the following detainees are released: Oscar Abdón Retamal Pérez, Claudio Jesús Escanilla Escobar, Rafael Alonso Díaz Meza, Ireneo Alberto Méndez Hernández, José Ignacio Bustos Fuentes, Manuel Eduardo Bascuñán Aravena, and Roberto del Carmen Romero Muñoz".

All of these individuals remain forcibly disappeared to this day.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On April 5, 1979, by order of the Chillán Court of Appeals, the Parral Court of Letters was ordered to open a summary proceeding to investigate the disappearance of Oscar Abdón Retamal Pérez, a case registered under No. 33.461.

On April 25, the Court decreed the first investigative steps, issuing writs to the Carabineros of the Retiro locality, the Linares Artillery School, and the Parral Public Prison.

On April 26 of that year, the Parral Gendarmerie reported that "...Oscar Abdón Retamal Pérez entered that facility on September 26, 1973, by order of the Departmental Governor and left on October 23 of the same year, having been handed over to the Governor".

Faced with the lack of response from the Retiro Carabineros, the investigating judge of the case reiterated the corresponding writs on May 7 and June 19, 1979, obtaining a response on July 5 of the same year from the Third Police Station of Parral, which stated that all documentation from the year 1973 had been incinerated and, therefore, it was not possible to report whether or not Oscar Abdón Retamal Pérez was detained by personnel of the Retiro Precinct.

The Artillery School, for its part, following a reiteration of the writ dated May 7, finally responded on June 6, 1979. In the communication sent to the Court, it made reference to other requests for information required by the same Parral Court of Letters, stating that "...there are no records of detention in this Military Unit for the following persons: Rafael Alonso Díaz Meza, Oscar Abdón Retamal Pérez, Enrique Angel Carreño González, José Ignacio Bustos Fuentes, Luis Enrique Rivera Cofré, and Víctor Julio Vivanco Vásquez.

Having reviewed the relevant documents, there is no record on the required dates of the existence of a Lieutenant with the surname Homero or a military officer with the surname Carvallo, dependent on this Military Institute". The communication was signed by Patricio Gualda Tiffaine, Colonel and Director of the Artillery School.

It should be noted that all the persons mentioned as not being detained in the report by the Director of the Linares Artillery School are currently classified as forcibly disappeared.

This is not the only time that Colonel Patricio Gualda Tiffaine informed the Court of his lack of knowledge regarding the detention of this and other victims.

On May 17, June 19, and July 12, 1979, the Linares Provincial Government was requested to provide the information it possessed regarding the investigated facts.

On July 13 of the same year, now in his capacity as Governor of the Linares Provincial Government, Colonel Patricio Gualda Tiffaine responded, his answer being the same as the one he provided to the court as Colonel and Director of the Artillery School: "...there is no record regarding the indicated persons".

Other investigative steps ordered during the course of the process were no more successful; no progress was made in determining the whereabouts of the victim. On July 20, 1973, the closure of the summary proceeding and the temporary dismissal of the case were decreed, a resolution that was approved by the Chillán Court of Appeals on July 30 of the same year.

As of the date of this report, no authority has provided an answer regarding what happened to Oscar Abdón Retamal Pérez, who remains in the status of a forcibly disappeared person.

Source: Corporation report

Testimonies, photographs, letters, and other documents that families and friends provided or wrote specifically for publication are incorporated into the book "Breaking the silence of children and adolescents who were victims of political execution during the civil-military dictatorship 1973-1990," which was produced by the Association of Relatives of Victims of Political Execution (AFEP) with the support of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage, through the Culture, Memory, and Human Rights Unit, and the Human Rights Chair of the University of Chile.

The publication, based primarily on the Report of the National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation (1991) and the Report of the National Commission for Reparation and Reconciliation (1996), seeks to reconstruct each of the lives and stories of the victims in a comprehensive and careful manner.

During the research, access was granted to the archive of the Association of Relatives of Victims of Political Execution, where documents that families have preserved over the years are kept. Illustrations by Álvaro Gómez were also included.

The creation process was a complex challenge that involved combining delicacy, respect, and methodological rigor to state a painful and inescapable truth in this work.

Source: cultura.gobierno.cl 4/20/2023

Date: 04-20-2023

State of Chile to be tried at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for sentence reduction for crimes against humanity

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) will put the State of Chile on trial for applying "half-prescription" (a form of sentence reduction) to perpetrators of crimes against humanity committed during the dictatorship and sentenced between 2007 and 2010.

On February 1, 2023, a hearing for the case of Vega González and others vs. Chile will be held at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights located in San José, Costa Rica. This hearing is being held with the intention of judging the international responsibility of the State of Chile in the reduction of criminal sentences for dictatorship-era crimes.

In particular, it concerns 14 criminal proceedings regarding political executions and forced disappearances perpetrated against 49 victims. In these cases, the Supreme Court of Justice of Chile applied "half-prescription" between the years 2007 and 2010, which allowed it to drastically reduce sentences and permit the majority of the perpetrators to be released.

Thus, the IACHR must determine whether the State of Chile fulfilled its duty to administer justice with sentences that are adequate and proportional to those who committed crimes against humanity.

"We ask for and demand the sentence that corresponds to crimes that continue to affect us to this day, which meant the loss of our loved ones," expressed Gaby Rivera Sánchez, president of the Association of Relatives of Forcibly Disappeared Detainees (AFDD). "Next year will be 50 years since the military coup in Chile.

It is time for the relatives of victims to have full justice," added Alicia Lira Matus, president of the Association of Relatives of Political Executions, both quoted in a statement from the Association of Relatives of Political Executions (AFEP).

"A proportional and fair sentence is essential for the non-repetition of crimes against humanity in Chile and the region," highlighted Jimena Reyes, Director for the Americas of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).

According to information provided by the AFEP, the 14 cases in question involved the following victims:

• JUAN LUIS RIVERA MATUS: A Communist Party member and union leader, he had a wife and seven children. 52 years old at the time of his kidnapping and subsequent disappearance on November 6, 1975, his body was found on March 13, 2001.
• CARDENIO ANCACURA MANQUIÁN: Cardenio Ancacura was married and had four children. He was a farmer and also worked as a boatman. He was a member of the Socialist Party and participated actively in the Agrarian Reform process.
• TEOFILO ZARAGOZO GONZÁLEZ CALFULEF: Teófilo González was 24 years old and married. He was a transport worker and a member of the Socialist Party.
• MANUEL HERNÁNDEZ INOSTROZA: Manuel Hernández was 42 years old, married, and had four children. He was a tailor. He was a member of the Socialist Party and had been a candidate for councilman for Lago Ranco.
• ARTURO BENITO VEGA GONZÁLEZ: Arturo Vega was 20 years old and single. He worked as a bakery worker and transport worker. He was a member of the Socialist Party.
• LUIS EVANGELISTA AGUAYO FERNANDEZ: Luis Aguayo, 21 years old, single. He worked as an inspector at the Liceo Nocturno in Parral. He was a leader of the Socialist Youth. He was detained on September 14, 1973, and transferred to the Parral Public Jail. On the 26th of the same month, along with three other detainees, he was removed from that location to testify at the Military Prosecutor's Office. His whereabouts have been unknown since that date.
• MANUEL EDUARDO BASCUÑAN ARAVENA: Manuel Bascuñán, 23 years old, single. He was a student and a member of the Socialist Party of Parral. Detained on September 22, 1973, by Carabineros, he was transferred to the Parral Public Jail, where he was held. On October 23, 1973, by order of the Military Governor of Parral, he was transferred from this facility, along with other people, to the Military Prosecutor's Office. His whereabouts have been unknown since that date.
• JOSÉ IGNACIO BUSTOS FUENTES: José Bustos was 52 years old and single. He was a merchant and carried out social activities in the rural community; he was a member of the Communist Party. On September 13, 1973, he presented himself voluntarily at the Parral Carabineros Station and was detained. He was transferred to the Parral Public Jail that same day. On October 23, 1973, he was removed by a military patrol along with seven other detainees from that facility to testify at the Military Prosecutor's Office. His whereabouts have been unknown since that date.
• ENRIQUE DEL ANGEL CARREÑO GONZÁLEZ: Enrique Carreño was 22 years old and single. An agronomy student at the University of Concepción and a member of the Socialist Party. Detained by Carabineros on September 20, 1973, at his home in Parral. From there, he was sent to the Parral Public Jail, where he was released on January 9, 1974. He was detained again by state agents and transferred to the Linares Artillery School. There is no information regarding his whereabouts since that date.
• RAFAEL ALONSO DIAZ MEZA: Rafael Díaz was 23 years old and single. A laborer. Detained by Carabineros on September 22, 1973, on a public street, he was transferred to the Public Jail. On October 23, 1973, by order of the Military Governor of Parral, he was transferred from this facility, along with other people, to the Military Prosecutor's Office. His whereabouts have been unknown since that date.
• CLAUDIO JESUS ESCANILLA ESCOBAR: Claudio Escanilla was 16 years old. He was a student and worked as a shoeshiner. On September 13, 1973, he was detained in the plaza of Parral by a military patrol and handed over to the Parral Carabineros Station. That same day, he entered the Public Jail. On October 23, 1973, he was removed by a military patrol along with seven detainees from the Parral Public Jail to testify at the Military Prosecutor's Office. His whereabouts have been unknown since that date.
• ROLANDO ANTONIO IBARRA LOPEZ: Rolando Ibarra was 32 years old and married. No known political affiliation. He was a farmer. He was detained by the Parral Carabineros on October 25, 1974, when he presented himself at the station in response to a summons. Another person was detained along with him, who is also forcibly disappeared. Rolando Ibarra's whereabouts have been unknown since the date of his detention.
• AROLDO VIVIAN LAURIE LUENGO: Aroldo Laurie was 30 years old and single. He worked as a traveling salesman. Apparently, he was linked to the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR). He was detained by the Parral Carabineros, along with a friend who is also forcibly disappeared, on July 28, 1974. They were seen being taken into the local station under arrest. He was reportedly transferred to the Londres N° 38 facility in Santiago. Aroldo Laurie's whereabouts have been unknown since then.
• IRENEO ALBERTO MENDEZ HERNÁNDEZ: Ireneo Méndez was 22 years old and single. A member of the Socialist Party, he was unemployed. Detained at his home on September 20, 1973, by Carabineros from the Copihue station, who took him to the Parral Public Jail. On October 23, 1973, by order of the Military Governor of Parral, he was transferred from this facility, along with other people, to the Military Prosecutor's Office. His whereabouts have been unknown since that date.
• ARMANDO EDELMIRO MORALES MORALES: Armando Morales was 19 years old and single. He was in his fourth year of secondary school at the Parral Liceo. A member of the Socialist Party. On October 4, 1973, he went voluntarily to the Parral Station and was detained. He was transferred to the Parral Public Jail. His whereabouts have been unknown since that date.
• JOSÉ LUIS MORALES RUIZ: José Morales was 21 years old, married, with one child. His spouse was eight months pregnant. He worked as a street vendor at open-air markets. A member of the Communist Party. He was detained by the Parral Carabineros on August 1, 1974. José Morales's whereabouts have been unknown since the date of his detention.
• AURELIO CLODOMIRO PEÑAILILLO SEPULVEDA: Aurelio Peñailillo was 32 years old and single. He was retired due to disability. Detained on September 16, 1973, in Copihue by Carabineros from the local station. Transferred to Parral, where he entered the Public Jail. On the 26th of the same month, along with three other detainees, he was taken from that place to testify at the Prosecutor's Office. His whereabouts have been unknown since that date.
• LUIS ALCIDES PEREIRA HERNANDEZ: Luis Pereira was 31 years old and married. No known political affiliation. He worked as an agricultural laborer. Detained by Carabineros on October 25, 1974, when he presented himself voluntarily at the Parral Station. His whereabouts have been unknown since the date of his detention.
• AROLDO ARMANDO PEREIRA MERI'O: Aroldo Pereira was 49 years old and married. No known political affiliation. He worked as a farmer. He was detained by Carabineros on October 25, 1974, when he presented himself voluntarily at the Parral Station. His whereabouts have been unknown since the date of his detention.
• OSCAR ABDON RETAMAL PEREZ: Oscar Retamal was 19 years old and single. A secondary school student and member of the Socialist Party. Detained on September 25, 1973, in Retiro by Carabineros from the local station. The following day, he entered the Parral Public Jail. On October 23, 1973, by order of the Military Governor of Parral, he was transferred from this facility, along with other people, to the Military Prosecutor's Office. His whereabouts have been unknown since that date.
• LUIS ENRIQUE RIVERA COFRE: Luis Rivera was 21 years old, married, with two children, one of whom was born posthumously. A member of the Socialist Party. Detained by soldiers from the Linares Artillery School on October 5, 1973, at his home. They took him to the Parral Carabineros Station to give a statement. There is no information regarding his whereabouts since that date.
• JOSE HERNÁN RIVEROS CHÁVEZ: José Riveros was 27 years old at the time of his disappearance and single. He worked as a construction laborer. Detained at his home by Parral Carabineros on October 12, 1973, and taken to the local station. There is no information regarding his whereabouts since that date.
• ROBERTO DEL CARMEN ROMERO MU'OZ: Roberto Romero was 23 years old. He was single and worked as a laborer. In October 1973, he presented himself voluntarily at the Parral Carabineros Station and was detained. He was transferred to the Public Jail. On October 23, 1973, he was removed from the jail along with six other detainees to be taken to the Military Prosecutor's Office, by order of the Military Governor of Parral. There is no information regarding his whereabouts since that date.
• OSCAR ELADIO SALDIAS DAZA: Oscar Saldías was 22 years old and single. He worked as a carpenter. A member of the Socialist Party. He was detained at a relative's house on September 20, 1973, by Carabineros and transferred to the Public Jail. On September 26, 1973, he left with other detainees to testify at the Parral Military Prosecutor's Office. Only one of the detainees returned. His whereabouts have been unknown since that date.
• HERNÁN SARMIENTO SABATER: Hernán Sarmiento was 26 years old and single. A medical student at the University of Chile. A member of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR). He was detained by the Parral Carabineros on July 28, 1974, along with a friend who accompanied him, who is also forcibly disappeared. They were seen being taken into the Parral station under arrest. He was reportedly transferred to the Londres 38 facility in Santiago. Hernán Sarmiento's whereabouts have been unknown since then.
• HUGO ENRIQUE SOTO CAMPOS: Hugo Soto was 18 years old and single. A third-year secondary student at the Liceo Nocturno in Parral. He worked during the day at a lumber yard. He was detained by the Parral Carabineros on a public street on September 13, 1973, and transferred to the Public Jail. On the 26th of the same month, he was taken from that facility, along with three other detainees, to be placed at the disposal of the Parral Prosecutor's Office. He has been forcibly disappeared since that date.
• RUPERTO ORIOL TORRES ARAVENA: Ruperto Torres was 58 years old at the time of the events, married, and had three children. A chemical engineer by profession, he worked as a farmer. He was detained by Carabineros from the Catillo station on October 13, 1973, when he went to sign in, an obligation he had since his first detention. His whereabouts have been unknown since that date.
• EDELMIRO ANTONIO VALDEZ SEPULVEDA: Edelmiro Valdez was 42 years old and married. No known political affiliation. He worked as an agricultural laborer. He was detained by the Parral Carabineros on October 25, 1974, when he presented himself voluntarily, complying with a summons he had received the previous day. Another person was detained on that occasion, who is also forcibly disappeared. Edelmiro Valdez's whereabouts have been unknown since the date of his detention.
• VICTOR JULIO VIVANCO VASQUEZ: Víctor Vivanco was 19 years old, single, and a fourth-year secondary student at a Parral Liceo. He was a member of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR). On October 8, 1973, he was detained by a military patrol at his home and transferred to the Investigations Barracks, from where he was taken to the Parral Carabineros Station. Víctor Vivanco's whereabouts have been unknown since that date.
• NELSON CRISTIÁN ALMENDRAS ALMENDRAS: Nelson Almendras was 22 years old and married. He had worked as an agricultural laborer at the Canteras estate, Quilleco commune. He was a member of the Communist Party.
• JOSÉ RICARDO LOPEZ LOPEZ: José López was 32 years old and a father of one child. He worked as an agricultural laborer at the Canteras estate, Quilleco commune. No known political affiliation.
• JUAN DE LA CRUZ BRIONES PÉREZ: Juan Briones was 28 years old, married, and had four children. He worked as an agricultural laborer at the Canteras estate. No known political affiliation.
• VICTORIANO LAGOS LAGOS: Victoriano Lagos was 35 years old, married, and had six children. He worked as an agricultural laborer at the Canteras estate. No known political affiliation.
• CARMEN MARGARITA DÍAZ DARRICARRERE: Carmen Díaz was 24 years old and single. She was studying nursing at the University of Chile, Temuco campus, and was a member of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR).
• EUGENIO IVÁN MONTTI CORDERO: Eugenio Montti was 29 years old, married, and had one child. He was a member of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR) and a mechanical engineering graduate from the State Technical University.
• LUCIANO AEDO HIDALGO: Luciano was 37 years old, married, and a father of four children. He was a shoemaker and president of the Rural Supply Center. On October 11, 1973, in the early morning hours, a patrol from the Cunco police station, traveling in a police van, arrived at his home, where he was sleeping in the company of his wife and young daughter, and took him away as a detainee, without any order from a competent authority to justify it, transferring him to an unknown location. His whereabouts remain unknown to this day.
• FELIPE SEGUNDO RIVERA GAJARDO: Felipe Rivera was 42 years old and married. An electrician. He worked at the General Treasury of the Republic. A member of the Communist Party of Chile (PC). On September 8, 1986, at two in the morning, a group of heavily armed men surrounded his house in the Pudahuel commune, kidnapped him, and put him into a taxi headed to an unknown destination. His body was found hours later in a vacant lot in a sector of Route 70, with multiple bullet wounds in his body.
• GASTON FERNANDO VIDAURRÁZAGA MANRÍQUEZ: Gastón Vidaurrázaga was 30 years old, married, and a father of one daughter. A state teacher in basic general education and a member of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR). On September 8, 1986, at four in the morning, six heavily armed individuals broke into his home in the San Bernardo commune, kidnapping him and taking him to an unknown destination. His body was found with multiple bullet wounds at kilometer 15 of Route 5 South.
• JOSÉ HUMBERTO CARRASCO TAPIA: José "Pepe" Carrasco was 43 years old, married, and a father of two children. A prominent journalist, international editor of the magazine Análisis, and national leader of the Journalists' Association. A member of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR). On September 8, 1986, near five in the morning, three armed civilians arrived at his home and proceeded to take him away by force in the presence of his family. Moments later, they riddled him with bullets. His body was found on the side of the Parque del Recuerdo Cemetery.
• ABRAHAM MUSKATBLIT EIDELSTEIN: Abraham Muskatblit was 45 years old, married, and a father of two children. An advertiser by profession, he was a member of the Communist Party of Chile (PC). On September 9, 1986, 12 armed individuals arrived at his home on the plot in the Casas Viejas sector of Las Vizcachas and took him away by force; moments later, they riddled him with bullets. His body was found hours later in an irrigation canal on the road leading to Lonquén.
• FÉLIX SANTIAGO DE LA JARA GOYENECHE: Félix was a member of the MIR and a history and geography student at the University of Chile. He was kidnapped at 24 years of age on a public street in the city of Santiago on November 27, 1974, by a DINA commando. He was transferred to the clandestine detention center known as "Venda Sexy," where he was tortured. Witnesses report that between December 18 and 24, 1974, he was removed from the center by his captors, and his whereabouts remain unknown.
• CECILIA MIGUELINA BOJANIC ABAD: Cecilia Bojanic, 23 years old, was married, had one child, and was four months pregnant when she was kidnapped. She worked as a secretary at a pharmaceutical company. A member of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR).
• FLAVIO ARQUÍMIDES OYARZÚN SOTO: Flavio Oyarzún was 27 years old, married, and had one child. He was a company salesman. A member of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR).
• JOSÉ FÉLIX GARCÍA FRANCO: He was a medical student of Ecuadorian nationality. He presented himself voluntarily to the Carabineros unit in Temuco on September 13, 1973; his house had previously been raided by Carabineros. His wife brought him clothes and food to this facility daily until September 19 of that year, when authorities informed her that they had released him at 6 a.m. at a border crossing. It is indicated that his whereabouts remain unknown to this date.
• MARÍA ARRIAGADA JEREZ: María Arriagada was 25 years old, married, had 6 children, was a rural teacher, and a member of the Communist Party. She was kidnapped on September 27, 1973, by officials of the Chilean Air Force (FACH) who arrived at her home, located at the Chilpaco rural school, in a helicopter. She was then transferred to Lonquimay, where she was held for three days at the Carabineros station, subsequently transferred to the Curacautín Carabineros Barracks, and then to the Maquehue Air Base in the city of Temuco, from where she disappeared.
• JORGE AILLON LARA: Jorge Aillón was married, had three children, and was an employee of the Agricultural Trade Company. He lived in Lonquimay and was a member of the Communist Party. He was kidnapped by Lonquimay Carabineros on September 11, 1973, and transferred to the police barracks. He was then taken to the Victoria jail, where he remained until September 27, 1973, the date on which he was released. That same day, upon arriving at the train station on his way home, he was detained by military personnel from the Lautaro Regiment, who handed him over to FACH personnel. He was transferred to the Maquehue Air Base in Temuco, from where he disappeared.
• MARCELO EDUARDO SALINAS EYTEL: Marcelo was 31 years old at the date of his disappearance at the hands of state agents. He was an electronics technician and was married to Jacqueline Paulette Drouilly Yurich, who is also a forcibly disappeared detainee. Marcelo was kidnapped on October 31, 1974, in the city of Santiago, under circumstances in which he had coordinated to pick up his wife that day. Security agents had arrived at the meeting place on October 30 and kidnapped his wife; the following day, they kidnapped Marcelo and transferred him to the clandestine DINA facility known as "José Domingo Cañas" and subsequently took him to the "Villa Grimaldi" barracks, where he was interrogated and tortured. Later, he was transferred along with his wife to the "Cuatro Álamos" center, from where his trail is lost.
• GERARDO ANTONIO ENCINA PÉREZ: Gerardo was 33 years old at the date of his detention, married, with two children, a member of the Socialist Party, and an inhabitant of the town of Melozal, located in the San Javier province. In September 1973, he had been detained and placed at the disposal of the Military Prosecutor's Office, remaining on supervised release, when in the first days of October 1973, a police patrol arrived at his house looking for him. Not finding him, they left a summons for him at the 5th Carabineros Station of San Javier. Upon receiving the message, he decided to go to the police unit with his wife, where he was detained. It is reported that his wife waited for him all day and returned the next day without being given a satisfactory explanation. His trail was lost from then on. There are accounts maintaining that, ten or fifteen days later, relatives of other disappeared persons from the same locality requested permission from the military authority of the zone to search the Loncomilla River in order to find the remains of their relatives. In that search, they found the lifeless body of Gerardo Antonio Encina Pérez, bearing traces of gunshot wounds, which they had to return to the waters for fear of reprisals, as they only had authorization to recover the bodies of their own relatives.
• MIGUEL ANTONIO FIGUEROA MERCADO: He was 46 years old at the date of his detention, married, with five children, and was a member of the Communist Party. On September 29, 1973, during the night, while he was at his home—which he occupied as a union leader of the Fundo Peñuelas settlement, Villa Alegre commune—a patrol composed of about ten or twelve soldiers and a Carabinero who was the head of the sector's station arrived and kidnapped him. He has remained disappeared since that moment.

Source: resumen.cl 31/1/2023 Date: 31-01-2023

THE PRIDE OF BEING FROM PARRAL (book)

They sent "Callín" to buy yeast and he never returned. His mother waited for him at the door until she died. She would say: "But how? He just went to buy something, how can he be taking so long?" and she would sit on the porch of her door to wait for him.

"Callín" was always a restless boy; he liked to hang out with the older ones. They would gather in the plaza on the corner, paint graffiti in favor of Allende, or throw pamphlets. At sixteen, he believed in the revolution.

His family—eight or nine siblings, children of farmers—never got involved in politics, but Callín did. He worked shining shoes in the Plaza de Armas of Parral, where you can still see the shoeshine stands, although all of them disappeared.

Claudio Jesús Escanilla Escobar was his name, but everyone in Parral called him "El Callín." On September 13, he was detained by a military patrol. He was with Nelson León and Emiliano Mena, but they would be released days later.

Mrs. Julia, his mother, was told by the shoeshiners in the plaza that the soldiers and the Carabineros sergeant Luis Hidalgo had detained him, and that, apparently, he was a prisoner at the Parral Station. And indeed, on September 14, they transferred him to the jail, where Mrs. Julia could only leave him clothes and food, as they never allowed her to see him.

Along with Callín, thirty-three other people were detained, most of them young people who were not over twenty-two. Children of laborers, farmers, poor people who, for one reason or another, were detained, taken to the Parral Station, and then never heard from again.

Already from that time, the idea circulated that they had been taken to Colonia Dignidad, the German enclave that operated with total impunity for decades in Chile and was directed by the former member of the Hitler Youth, Paul Schäfer.

The first to be detained was Luis Evangelista Aguayo Fernández, twenty years old; he was followed by Hugo Enrique Soto Campos, eighteen years old and a secondary student. Also detained was Aurelio Clodomiro Peñailillo Sepúlveda, thirty-two years old and retired due to disability.

Also Oscar Eladio Saldías Daza, twenty years old, from a low-income family, who worked to take care of his mother and a five-year-old niece they were raising. Also Enrique Ángel Carreño González, the only university student, who was released and then arrested, never to be heard from again.

Also José Ignacio Bustos Fuentes, fifty-two years old, a farmer who lived with his mother, who toured the military barracks of Linares and Talca, but no one ever saw him again. Also Rafael Alonso Díaz Meza, twenty-three; Irineo Alberto Méndez Hernández, twenty-two; Manuel Eduardo Bascuñán Aravena, twenty-three; Óscar Abdón Retamal Pérez, nineteen and a student; Roberto del Carmen Romero Muñoz, twenty-three and an agricultural laborer.

In October, the following people disappeared: Armando Edelmiro Morales Morales, nineteen years old and a secondary student. Luis Enrique Rivera Cofré, twenty-one years old, father of nine-month-old Vladimir Rivera Órdenes and an unborn child they would also name Luis.

Also disappeared were Víctor Julio Vivanco Vásquez, nineteen years old; and José Hernán Riveros Chávez, twenty-three. In Catillo, a community near Parral, Miguel Rojas Rojas and Gilberto Rojas Vásquez, father and son, were detained.

Also Ruperto Oriol Torres Aravena, fifty-eight years old, a farmer and father of three children who were left orphaned. Also Ramiro Romero González, twenty-eight years old, a farmer, married, two children. And Alfredo Durán Durán, forty-eight years old, who worked at the Civil Registry.

The last cases of forcibly disappeared detainees in Parral correspond to 1974, plus one murdered woman, Bella Aurora Sepúlveda Valenzuela. These involved twelve men, eight of whom were linked to a singular repressive event known as the "El Águila" case. Among them were Aroldo Vivían Laurie Luengo and Hernán Sarmiento Sabater.

The last detainees were José Luis Morales Ruiz, twenty-one years old, an artisan who had two children, and Juan Francisco Ponce González, of whom there is no record and who does not even appear in the Rettig Report.

In the majority of the detainees, except for those involved in the "El Águila" case, the name of Luis Hidalgo appears—an amiable gentleman who, until the day of his death, walked through the center of Parral with total impunity.

No one ever confronted him, out of fear, of course. He was not convicted, he did not step foot in jail, he did not repent, and it is most likely that for many, he is one of the most prominent figures of Parral.

When I asked Mrs. Julia why she went out every day to sit outside her house, she replied: "In case Callín appears, so he knows this is his house." No one could ever get her up from there until she died, waiting for the son who, on that fateful day, went out to buy yeast.

Book: En el pueblo hay una casa pequeña y oscura.

Author: Vladimir Rivera Órdenes (Parral, 1973) is a screenwriter, narrator, and teacher. Chronicle: El orgullo de ser parralino.

Source: ruil.cl 30/08/2021 Date: 30-08-2021

Sentences reclassified for former military personnel implicated in Parral crimes

The Third Chamber of the Santiago Court of Appeals reclassified, in the second instance, the sentences handed down by the special judge Alejandro Solís against three uniformed officers accused of the aggravated kidnapping of 21 dissidents to the military regime, in events that took place in Parral between September 1973 and January 1974, which include a case of child abduction.

On August 6, 2003, Judge Solís sentenced the former governor and retired Carabineros colonel Pablo Caullier Grant, retired Army commander Hugo Cardemil Valenzuela, and retired Carabineros non-commissioned officer Luis Hidalgo to prison terms of between 10 and 15 years.

In a split vote (2-1), the capital's appellate court, composed of judges Alejandro Madrid, Juan Muñoz Pardo, and Humberto Provoste, resolved to increase the punishment imposed on Hidalgo from seven years to ten years and one day; maintain the ten-year prison sentence for Caulier; and decrease the sentence for Cardemil Valenzuela from 17 years to 15 years and one day of presidio mayor.

The investigation, initiated at the beginning of this decade by retired judge Juan Guzmán Tapia, allowed for the determination of the responsibility held by the accused in the disappearances of Enrique Carreño González, Rolando Ibarra Ortega, Edelmiro Valdés Sepúlveda, Haroldo Laurie Luengo, Hernán Sarmiento Sabater, Armando Morales Morales, José Luis Morales Ruiz, Aurelio Peñailillo Sepúlveda, Luis Pereira Hernández, Armando Pereira Merino, Oscar Retamal Pérez, José Riveros Chávez, Enrique Rivera Cofré, Hugo Soto Campos, and Víctor Vivanco Vásquez.

All were detained between September 11, 1973, and 1974 in Parral, taken to the police station and the city jail, but in several cases, their trail was lost after being placed at the disposal of the local Military Prosecutor's Office. In some of the cases, their relatives have stated that there is information that they were taken to Colonia Dignidad.

Of them, Carreño González, Morales Morales, Peñailillo Sepúlveda, Retamal Pérez, Riveros Chávez, and Soto Campos appear in the Armed Forces report issued by the Dialogue Table on human rights as having been thrown into the Putagán River.

Originally, this proceeding began in Parral based on the Rettig Report in 1991; later, it was taken up by the judge of the Seventh Criminal Court of Santiago, Lientur Escobar, who was investigating the disappearance of MIR militant Álvaro Vallejos Villagrán at Villa Baviera.

Source: June 16, 2005, La Nación Date: 16-06-2005