Political Affiliation : Member of the Communist Youth (JJ.CC.) Date of Detention : April 28, 1975

Pedro Gabriel Acevedo Gallardo, single, 19 years old, a student at the Universidad Técnica del Estado and a communist militant, was detained on April 28, 1975, at his home in Tierra Amarilla. Around 10:00 p.m., five agents from the regional security services (CIRE) suddenly entered through the back of the house.

Among them were Carabineros Lieutenant Francisco León Jamett, Sergeants from the same police institution Pedro Eduardo Vivian Guaita and Manuel Jesús Retamal Cifuentes, and an Army sergeant surnamed Valderrama. His mother and siblings were witnesses to the detention.

After thoroughly searching the various rooms and inquiring about a typewriter, they proceeded to detain the victim and transport him to the N°23 "Copiapó" Motorized Infantry Regiment in a private white pickup truck.

The following day, at 9:00 a.m., Ana Virginia Gallardo Morán, Pedro Gabriel's mother, went to the Regiment to inquire about her son. At that moment, she saw the arresting agent she had identified as Sergeant Valderrama leaving, dressed in civilian clothes.

When she approached him, he asked her to wait about 10 minutes because he had to carry out an errand. At 3:00 p.m., Ana Virginia Gallardo decided to return home, as the Sergeant had not yet returned and no one had informed her of the victim's situation.

During her absence, the same Sergeant Valderrama, accompanied by other agents, had returned to the house, conducted another search, and destroyed several household items. According to what they told Georgina Acevedo, Pedro Gabriel's sister, they were looking for other people who appeared on a list of individuals who were politically active alongside the detainee, as well as a typewriter.

Ana Virginia Gallardo then left again for the Regiment, where she was informed that her son had been detained at the Tierra Amarilla Carabineros Station. When she arrived at that police facility, she only learned that the information was false. Subsequent events would confirm this. Pedro Gabriel Acevedo Gallardo had remained detained at the Regiment the entire time.

On May 1, 1975, the home was searched for a third time by security service agents, who were traveling in two pickup trucks, one of which bore an Enami sticker. When Ana Virginia Gallardo asked about the victim, she received an unexpected answer: they were after Pedro Gabriel Acevedo Gallardo because—the agents claimed—he had escaped from the "Copiapó" Regiment in the early hours of that day.

Days later, the home of Juana Rosa Ramírez, the victim's paternal grandmother, also received a visit from three uniformed men (she did not identify which branch of the Armed Forces they belonged to), who told her they were looking for her grandson because he had escaped, adding that they had had to shoot him.

A similar situation occurred at the home of Rosa Herminia Acevedo Ramírez, Pedro Gabriel's aunt.

During the processing of the case initiated by a report of a presumed disappearance, the participation of three agents—all members of the Carabineros—in the detention of Pedro Gabriel Acevedo was uncovered. However, the captors belonging to the Army and officials of the N°23 "Copiapó" Motorized Infantry Regiment, one of whom was a sergeant surnamed Valderrama, were not identified.

Through the statements of the Carabineros—Pedro Eduardo Vivian Guaita and Manuel Jesús Retamal Cifuentes, both sergeants, and Francisco León Jamett, who in 1975 was the Lieutenant in charge of the Tierra Amarilla Station—it was established that between 1974 and 1975, a special team for the detection, tracking, and detention of participants in "subversive activities in the area" operated in Copiapó.

This team—as declared by the sergeants themselves—was composed of various officials, both from the Carabineros and Army personnel, and operated under the command of the Chief of the Zone in a State of Emergency, Lieutenant Colonel Arturo Alvarez Sgolia, who was also the Commander of the "Copiapó" Regiment.

According to police official Manuel Jesús Retamal Cifuentes, many people—men, women, and youths—were detained in Tierra Amarilla between 1974 and 1975, all of whom were placed at the disposal of the Army's Specialized Services that operated within the Regiment.

This information was corroborated by Lieutenant Francisco León Jamett, who declared that he had participated in several operations jointly with military personnel and that all detainees were handed over at the military facility.

For his part, the military officer Arturo Alvarez Sgolia—in a statement provided by writ to the Court on April 7, 1981—said that the victim had indeed been detained on April 28, 1975, at the Regiment he commanded at the time. To this admission, Alvarez Sgolia added that, however, Acevedo Gallardo had escaped on May 1, 1975, at 3:00 a.m., by "opening a hole."

To this date, Pedro Gabriel Acevedo Gallardo remains forcibly disappeared.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On August 4, 1978, Ana Virginia Gallardo Morán filed a report of a presumed disappearance for her son with the 2nd Criminal Court of Copiapó, which was registered under N°6509. The mother stated that she had not previously resorted to the justice system for fear of the fate of her other son, who was fulfilling his military service.

During the processing of the case—which was closed and reopened five times and is currently archived—in addition to taking statements from witnesses to Pedro Gabriel Acevedo's detention, the three Carabineros who participated in his arrest were summoned.

For his part, Major Juan Nielsen Stambuk, Security Officer of the N°23 "Copiapó" Motorized Infantry Regiment, informed the Court on October 31, 1980, that the victim had been detained in order to investigate the origin of "pamphlets and Marxist literature found in his home." He also reported the victim's escape, which occurred on May 1, 1975, after the detainee "opened a hole in the room where he was being held."

On July 11, 1980, a complaint was filed with the same Court for illegal home entry, kidnapping, and the eventual homicide of the victim against Francisco León Jamett, Pedro Eduardo Vivian Guaita, Manuel Jesús Retamal Cifuentes, and Colonel Arturo Alvarez Sgolia.

Once the latter had testified by writ—on April 7, 1981—the summary was closed on April 28 of the same year, and a temporary stay of proceedings was issued on May 4, 1981. The Copiapó Court of Appeals approved the resolution on June 13, 1981. Throughout the entire processing of the case, there was no knowledge of the existence of an internal Army summary regarding the alleged escape of the victim.

Simultaneously with this process, two requests were made for a Visiting Judge to investigate the disappearance of Pedro Gabriel Acevedo. In 1978, the Episcopal Vicars of Santiago had done so before the Supreme Court of Justice.

For his part, in November 1980, the Bishop of Copiapó, Monsignor Fernando Ariztía Ruiz, asked the Court of Appeals of that city to appoint an Extraordinary Visiting Judge to take up the cases regarding the disappearances of Alonso Lazo Rojas, Aladín Esteban Rojas Ramírez, and Pedro Gabriel Acevedo Gallardo, all of whom were forcibly disappeared in 1975 in Copiapó.

On December 26, 1980, the Copiapó Court of Appeals rejected the request.

Source: Vicariate of Solidarity

On March 27, 1975, in the town of Tierra Amarilla, near Copiapó, Carabineros and Army troops detained MIR militant Pedro Gabriel ACEVEDO GALLARDO.

The commander of the N° 23 Regiment of Copiapó acknowledged that Pedro Acevedo was detained and remained held at that unit's facility. However, he stated that on May 1, he escaped from the regiment through a hole he had allegedly made in the room where he was being held.

The information available to the Commission has allowed it to conclude that the previous version is not factual, and it has therefore reached the conviction that Pedro Gabriel Acevedo disappeared due to the actions of Army personnel, in violation of his human rights.

Source: Rettig Report

The University of Santiago inaugurated a monument called the "Memorial of Dignity" to commemorate the students, academics, and detainees of the educational establishment who were victims of the military dictatorship.

The memorial is located on the main access esplanade and is surrounded by 87 olive trees, which represent each of the victims. Furthermore, the place where it is located will be called "Human Rights Avenue" in the future.

The rector of the University of Santiago, Juan Manuel Zolezzi, commented that "this is the triumph of life over death, and in this way, we recognize forever our students, academics, and staff who believed in and fought for a better world."

Meanwhile, the president of the UTE-Usach Solidarity Corporation, Emilio Daroch, indicated that "there are 87 names that will always be in the memory of our University," adding that "we do not forget our past, our fallen, our heroes murdered, forcibly disappeared, and executed under the civil-military dictatorship that scourged us."

For his part, the president of the University of Santiago Student Federation, Juan Pablo de la Torre, pointed out that "there are things that do not expire with time, such as memory, the struggle, and ideals, which is why we feel proud to be the heirs of these 87 fighters."

It is worth remembering that during 2013, the university posthumously awarded university degrees to the families of 38 students who were victims during that era.

Source: biobio.cl 03/12/2018

Date: 03-12-2018

Santiago Court issues conviction for the aggravated kidnapping of Pedro Acevedo Gallardo.

The ruling was agreed upon with the caveat of Justice Villarroel, who was in favor of rejecting the request for partial statute of limitations alleged by the defense of the accused.

The Santiago Court of Appeals issued a sentence for the aggravated kidnapping of Pedro Acevedo Gallardo, an act perpetrated starting on April 28, 1975, in the city of Copiapó, Atacama Region.

In its sentence, the capital's Court applied the partial statute of limitations to reduce the sentence issued by Justice Mario Carroza on November 18, which sentenced agents Román Herrera and Vivian Guaita to 6 years in prison, and León Jamett to three years and one day.

Thus, by virtue of the information gathered in the investigation, it was possible to prove that: "On April 28, 1975, around 8:00 p.m., at the residence on Puente Ojancos N°3 street in the commune of Tierra Amarilla, Copiapó Province, a Cire patrol formed by officials belonging to the Army and the Carabineros of Chile appeared, who searched the property and proceeded to detain Pedro Gabriel Acevedo Gallardo, then transported him to the N° 23 Infantry Regiment of the same city, a place where, after being interrogated, he remained detained and was placed in a room, with family members being informed after a few days that the detainee had escaped from the military facility and that his whereabouts were unknown. Nevertheless, to this date, Pedro Acevedo Gallardo remains forcibly disappeared."

Finally, the Ninth Chamber of the appellate court determined a sentence of 5 years in prison, granting the benefit of supervised release to former state agents Patricio Román Herrera, Pedro Vivian Guaita, and Francisco León Jamett.

The ruling was agreed upon with the caveat of Justice Villarroel, who was in favor of rejecting the request for partial statute of limitations alleged by the defense of the accused and, consequently, sentencing them to individual terms of six years of major imprisonment in its minimum degree and legal accessories, without benefits.

Source: diarioconstitucional.cl

Date: 07-18-2014

Former state agents convicted for the aggravated kidnapping of a Copiapó native during the dictatorship

The Ninth Chamber of the Santiago Court of Appeals, formed by justices Patricio Villarroel, María Soledad Melo, and Ana Cienfuegos, issued a second-instance sentence for the aggravated kidnapping of Pedro Acevedo Gallardo, which occurred starting on April 28, 1975, in Copiapó.

The court determined a sentence of 5 years in prison, granting the benefit of supervised release to former state agents Patricio Román Herrera, Pedro Vivian Guaita, and Francisco León Jamett. This was due to the consideration of the partial statute of limitations to reduce the ruling of Justice Mario Carroza, who on November 18 had sentenced agents Román Herrera and Vivian Guaita to 6 years in prison and León Jamett to three years and one day in prison.

According to the investigation's findings, on April 28, 1975, officials belonging to the Army and the Carabineros of Chile searched the property and detained Pedro Gabriel Acevedo Gallardo, then transported him to the N° 23 Infantry Regiment of the same city, a place where, after being interrogated, he remained detained and was placed in a room.

After a few days, family members were informed that the detainee had escaped from the military facility and that his whereabouts were unknown. Nevertheless, to this date, Pedro Acevedo Gallardo remains forcibly disappeared.

Source: soycopiapo.cl

Date: 07-15-2014

Punta Peuco inmate for whom Kast requests a pardon is convicted again for kidnapping

A human rights violator who is serving a sentence for the disappearance of Communist Youth leader Pedro Acevedo Gallardo must now serve another six years for the kidnapping of student Nicza Báez Mondaca, who was imprisoned and tortured for more than 90 days in 1975. Congressman José Antonio Kast has advocated for Vivian to be released.

The extraordinary visiting judge for human rights violation cases of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Mario Carroza, convicted 10 retired members of the Army and Carabineros for their responsibility in the crime of the aggravated kidnapping of Nicza Báez Mondaca, perpetrated in November 1975 in the city of Copiapó.

Furthermore, in the civil aspect, the State of Chile was sentenced to pay an indemnity of one hundred million pesos to the victim for the moral damage caused.

In the ruling, Justice Carroza sentenced former military personnel Patricio Román Herrera, Felipe González Astorga, Juan Valderrama Molina, Cristóbal Marihual Suazo, Hernán Portillo Aranda, José Quintanilla Fernández, Adolfo Lapostol Sprovera, Héctor Navarrete Jara, and Erasmo Vega Sobarzo to effective 6-year prison terms as authors of the aforementioned crime.

Along with them, retired Carabinero Pedro Vivian Guaita was also convicted as an author.

Source: elciudadano.com, 2016