4.- THAT each of the convicted individuals, Manuel Segundo Aguirre Cortés, Juan Carlos González Reyes, Sergio Orlando López Maldonado, Emilio Gerardo Pardo Pardo, Hugo Luciano Carrasco Pérez, Wilson Rubén Pacheco Obreque, and Pedro León Gutiérrez Ruiz, is sentenced as authors of the repeated crimes of illegal exhumation of the bodies of the victims executed by firing squad in Calama on October 19, 1973, to a penalty of THREE YEARS of minor imprisonment in its medium degree and a fine of 6 living wages; to the accessory penalties of suspension from public office or position during the term of the sentence, and to the payment of court costs.

Source: Judiciary, May 19, 2015

The Criminal Chamber issued final sentences against retired members of the Army for their responsibility in the crimes of kidnapping and qualified homicide of 26 victims who were illegally executed, and the subsequent illegal exhumation of their bodies.

These illicit acts were perpetrated in October 1973 and early 1976, respectively, within the framework of the extermination operation known as the “Caravan of Death. Calama Episode.”

In the first sentence (case file 104.259-2020), the Second Chamber of the highest court—composed of ministers Haroldo Brito, Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Jorge Dahm, minister María Teresa Letelier, and lawyer (i) Diego Munita—confirmed the single penalty of simple life imprisonment imposed on former officers Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo and Juan Viterbo Chiminelli Fullerton for their responsibility, as authors, in 21 qualified homicides and five qualified kidnappings of victims who were ultimately executed by firing squad in the Cerro Topater sector, in the commune of Calama.

Meanwhile, Carlos George Max Langer von Furstenberg, Hernán Rómulo Núñez Manríquez, and Víctor Ramón Santander Véliz must serve 15 years and one day in prison as authors of the consummated and repeated crime of qualified homicide.

In the case of Emilio Robert de la Mahotiere González and Luis Felipe Polanco Gallardo, they were sentenced to 12 years in prison as authors of the repeated crime of qualified homicide.

Finally, the court confirmed the sentence that revoked the acquittal of Óscar Figueroa Martínez, imposing instead a penalty of 16 years in prison as the author of the repeated crime of qualified homicide.

In the first-instance ruling, issued by visiting minister Hernán Crisosto, the following facts were established:

“That on October 19, 1973, Army officials, including an Army General acting as Delegate Officer of the Commander-in-Chief of the Government Junta, who arrived that same day from Santiago by a ‘Puma’ helicopter, reached the No. 15 Infantry Regiment of Calama, where they proceeded, together with personnel from said Regiment, to remove and take away—without any legal right or decree—26 people who were being held by the military authority from the Calama Public Jail.

They transported them to a desert area called ‘Topater,’ where the same officials who arrived in the helicopter, along with personnel from the Regiment, used firearms to execute them.

That only the skeletal remains of the victims Mario Argüelles Toro, Carlos Alfredo Escobedo Cariz, Luis Alberto Hernández Neira, Hernán Elizardo Moreno Villarroel, Fernando Roberto Ramírez Sánchez, Alejandro Rodríguez Rodríguez, José Gregorio Saavedra González, Jorge Jerónimo Carpanchay Choque, Luis Alberto Gaona Ochoa, José Rolando Hoyos Salazar, Roberto Segundo Rojas Alcayaga, Carlos Berger Guralnik, Bernardino Cayo Cayo, Daniel Jacinto Garrido Muñoz, Domingo Mamani López, Jorge Rubén Yueng Rojas, Manuel Segundo Hidalgo Rivas, Luis Moreno Villarroel, Rosario Aguid Muñoz Castillo, Sergio Moisés Ramírez Espinoza, and Víctor Alfredo Ortega Cuevas were found and identified, while Haroldo Cabrera Abarzúa, David Ernesto Miranda Luna, Rafael Pineda Ibacache, Carlos Alfonso Piñero Lucero, and Milton Alfredo Muñoz Muñoz disappeared, and their whereabouts remain unknown to this date.”

Regarding civil matters, the challenged sentence was confirmed, with the declaration that the state is ordered to pay Germán Berger Hertz, son of Carlos Berger Guralnik, the sum of $100,000,000 as compensation for moral damages.

Quebrada del Buitre

In the second ruling (case file 24.061-2019), the Second Chamber of the highest court—composed of ministers Haroldo Brito, Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Jorge Dahm, minister María Teresa Letelier, and lawyer (i) Diego Munita—confirmed the appealed sentence, with the declaration that the accused Carlos Humberto Minoletti Arriagada, Julio Fernando Salazar Lantery, and Luis Mario Aracena Romo are ordered to pay court costs and sentenced to 3 years and one day of imprisonment, with the benefit of intensive supervised release for the same period, as authors of the repeated crimes of illegal exhumation of the bodies of the victims executed by firing squad in Calama on October 19, 1973.

Meanwhile, Manuel Segundo Aguirre Cortés, Juan Carlos González Reyes, Sergio Orlando López Maldonado, Emilio Gerardo Pardo Pardo, Hugo Luciano Carrasco Pérez, Wilson Rubén Pacheco Obreque, and Pedro León Gutiérrez Ruiz received 720 days of imprisonment, with the benefit of conditional remission of the sentence, as co-authors of the repeated crime of illegal exhumation.

These illicit acts were perpetrated in the city of Calama in the first days of 1976, in the sector known as Quebrada del Buitre.

Finally, Héctor José Iturra Orrego was sentenced to 230 days of imprisonment, with the benefit of conditional remission, as an accomplice to the exhumations.

In the first-instance resolution, minister Leopoldo Llanos established the following:

“That based on the merits of these records, it is legally proven in these proceedings that on October 19, 1973, twenty-six male individuals were removed from the Calama jail by Army personnel and executed in the vicinity of Cerro Topater, in the sector of the same name, located on the side of the road, only to be buried that same day at night in a pit opened for that purpose, in a place approximately 16 kilometers from the site of the executions, about 200 meters to the left side of the road connecting Calama with San Pedro de Atacama (a sector called ‘Quebrada del Buitre’), a pit that was then covered with earth to prevent its location, with the operation directed by an Army Officer belonging to the Engineering Section of the No. 15 Regiment of Calama.

Subsequently, at the end of 1975 or the beginning of 1976, the aforementioned personnel were instructed to exhume the aforementioned corpses, with some remains left at the same site, a procedure directed by the same Officer who was in charge of the original burial of the victims, which was carried out without complying with the corresponding regulatory and legal provisions, with the pit being covered with earth once again.

The remains of the executed individuals referred to were deposited in bags placed in a military vehicle and transported to another sector (called ‘Moctezuma’), about 1,000 meters to the east of the initial burial site, where they were buried again in a pit already prepared for that purpose, which was also covered with earth and stones.

All of this occurred while a military exercise was being carried out, which allowed for the road mentioned above to be closed off to carry out the task.

Fifteen days later, the same personnel from the Calama Regiment returned to exhume the remains corresponding to the aforementioned corpses, which had been placed in the new pit, likewise without complying with the pertinent regulations and health standards, to proceed to deposit them in sacks that were placed in a military truck, with the sacks or bags being transported in the early hours of the morning to the El Loa Airport, where they were loaded onto a Chilean Air Force plane, which headed toward the sea to dispose of the remains.

The events described occurred in the context of an exceptional state that the country was experiencing starting on September 11, 1973, without respecting the fundamental rights of the victims, who were first deprived of their lives through execution, and then buried, with all information about the place where the remains had been deposited being hidden; these were subsequently exhumed, without respecting—as stated before—the legal, health, and regulatory standards regarding exhumations, in order to make them disappear immediately, with the notorious and precise purpose of leaving the authors of the event that occurred in the city of Calama on October 19, 1973, in impunity.”

Source: pjud.cl, September 24, 2022

Caravan of Death: Supreme Court issues sentences for qualified homicide and illegal exhumations in Calama

The Supreme Court issued final sentences against retired members of the Army for their responsibility in the crimes of kidnapping, qualified homicide, and subsequent illegal exhumation of 26 victims who were illegally executed between October 1973 and early 1976.

The criminal acts occurred within the framework of the extermination operation known as the “Caravan of Death. Calama Episode.”

In the first sentence, the Second Chamber of the highest court confirmed the single penalty of simple life imprisonment imposed on former officers Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo and Juan Viterbo Chiminelli Fullerton for their responsibility, as authors, in 21 qualified homicides and five qualified kidnappings of victims who were ultimately executed by firing squad in the Cerro Topater sector, in the commune of Calama.

Meanwhile, Carlos George Max Langer von Furstenberg, Hernán Rómulo Núñez Manríquez, and Víctor Ramón Santander Véliz must serve 15 years and one day in prison as authors of the consummated and repeated crime of qualified homicide.

In the case of Emilio Robert de la Mahotiere González and Luis Felipe Polanco Gallardo, they were sentenced to 12 years in prison as authors of the repeated crime of qualified homicide.

Finally, the court confirmed the sentence that revoked the acquittal of Óscar Figueroa Martínez, imposing instead a penalty of 16 years in prison as the author of the repeated crime of qualified homicide.

Quebrada del Buitre

In the second ruling, the Second Chamber of the highest court confirmed the appealed sentence, with the declaration that the accused Carlos Humberto Minoletti Arriagada, Julio Fernando Salazar Lantery, and Luis Mario Aracena Romo are ordered to pay court costs and sentenced to 3 years and one day of imprisonment, with the benefit of intensive supervised release for the same period, as authors of the repeated crimes of illegal exhumation of the bodies of the victims executed by firing squad in Calama on October 19, 1973.

Meanwhile, Manuel Segundo Aguirre Cortés, Juan Carlos González Reyes, Sergio Orlando López Maldonado, Emilio Gerardo Pardo Pardo, Hugo Luciano Carrasco Pérez, Wilson Rubén Pacheco Obreque, and Pedro León Gutiérrez Ruiz received 720 days of imprisonment as co-authors of the repeated crime of illegal exhumation.

These illicit acts were perpetrated in the city of Calama in the first days of 1976, in the sector known as Quebrada del Buitre.

Finally, Héctor José Iturra Orrego was sentenced to 230 days of imprisonment, with the benefit of conditional remission, as an accomplice to the exhumations.

Reactions to the case

Carmen Hertz, human rights lawyer and deputy of the party, published a reaction to the charge via her Twitter account, expressing her emotions regarding the late resolution of the Supreme Court against the individuals who murdered her husband, Carlos Berger, in 1973.

The lawyer posted that “Finally, after 49 years since the massacre of 26 political prisoners was carried out, among them my husband, the lawyer and journalist Carlos Berger Guralnik, in Calama by the Caravan of Death, a final ruling by the Supreme Court has been issued.”

Source: fortinmapocho.cl, September 26, 2022