Former Cautín Intendant Hernán Ramírez regained his freedom after his defense attorney invoked humanitarian grounds before the ministers of the Temuco Court of Appeals, in the ongoing trial in which he is accused as the perpetrator of the homicide of seven members of the Partido Comunista in 1973.

Let us recall that Hernán Ramírez Ramírez, a retired Army colonel, was the administrative and military head of the Cautín province starting on September 11, 1973, having been appointed Intendant. In the investigation being conducted by Minister Álvaro Mesa regarding the case of the "Asalto al Polvorín" (Assault on the Powder Magazine) at the Tucapel regiment, Ramírez is being prosecuted as the perpetrator of the deaths of seven members of the PC at Isla Cautín.

Attorney José Martínez, representing the former military officer, pointed out to the ministers of the second chamber that his 90-year-old client is confined to a wheelchair, suffers from advanced diabetes, has lost his sight, and that the house arrest to which he was being subjected prevented him from carrying out his health monitoring, which the professional asserted is very deteriorated.

After the hearing concluded and following a debate, ministers Luis Troncoso, Julio César Grandón, and the acting attorney Fernando Mellado revoked the decision of Minister Álvaro Mesa and granted freedom to Hernán Ramírez, who had been under total house arrest, equivalent to a preventive detention measure.

Source: Radio Bio Bio, November 26, 2013

Minister Mesa prosecutes 4 retired military officers for qualified homicide and illegal coercion of Dr. Hernán Henríquez Aravena and 4 other people in Temuco, 1

The visiting minister of the Temuco Court of Appeals, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, ordered the prosecution and preventive detention of four retired Army officials for the qualified homicides of Hernán Henríquez Aravena and Alejandro Flores Rivera and the illegal coercion of 3 other people, events that occurred between September and October 1973.

The magistrate indicted

Luis Raimundo Quezada Chandía as the perpetrator of the qualified homicides of Hernán Henríquez Aravena – former director of the regional hospital – and Alejandro Flores Rivera – former president of the regional FENATS –, perpetrated on October 5, 1973, inside the Base Aérea del Grupo N° 3 de Temuco .

Hernán Jerónimo Ramírez Ramírez was indicted as an accomplice to the same crimes, and Víctor Manuel Volante Leonardi and Xavier Fernando Pérez Chávez were prosecuted as accessories to the facts. Likewise, for the illegal coercion of Jorge Silhi Zarzar, Víctor Hugo Painemal Arriagada, and Sergio Riquelme Inostroza, perpetrated during the months of September and October 1973 inside the Base Aérea del Grupo N° 3, Maquehue, in Temuco, Hernán Jerónimo Ramírez Ramírez was indicted as an accomplice, and Víctor Manuel Volante Leonardi and Xavier Fernando Pérez Chávez were indicted as accessories.

In the case (File number 113.969), the magistrate established: A.- That immediately after the military coup on September 11, 1973, the Commander of the No. 3 Helicopter Group of the Maquehue Air Base, Colonel Andrés Pacheco Cárdenas (R.I.P.), delegated the operational command of the base to the second-in-command Benjamín Fernández Hernández (R.I.P.) in order to assume functions in the Comando de Acción Jurisdiccional ante Situación Interna (CAJSI), whose office was located at the Regimiento de Infantería número 8 Tucapel in the city of Temuco.

However, he never formally relinquished command of the aforementioned unit, attending that place daily to determine the actions to follow. From that same day, the new local authority called several Air Force Reserve officers, who were civilian pilots, to active service, along with other retired officers who joined the Maquehue Base contingent and who, according to their rank, began to fulfill the same operational functions as the rest of the line officers and non-commissioned officers, at least during the most critical period of September and October 1973.

These functions included integrating patrols tasked with enforcing the curfew, guarding public service facilities and bridges, participating in operations of varying magnitude whose purpose was to raid homes and carry out the detention of people opposed to the new regime or supporters of the outgoing administration, crewing helicopters for the purpose of transferring detainees from one point of the region to another, crewing private light aircraft to monitor the coastal zone, and performing rounds or guard duty officer shifts inside the air base.

These latter shifts could last between 12 and 24 hours. It should be noted that a large part of the Air Force reserve officers were also appointed as intervenors in different state companies, so they had to balance both activities during the aforementioned period without ceasing to fulfill these tasks, since each branch of the armed forces and order present in the city designated an intervenor per company, so activities in the intervened companies were always well covered.

B.-

Given the need to systematize and coordinate activities aimed at the detention of people and their transfer to the Maquehue air base for subsequent interrogation, Second-in-Command Benjamín Fernández Hernández organized a specially selected group to handle intelligence and political prisoner matters, a group that was under his command and included Lieutenants Ángel Campos Quiroga (R.I.P.), Jorge Freygang Campaña (R.I.P.), Captain Leonardo Reyes Herrera, Sergeant Orlando Garrido Riquelme (R.I.P.), several members of the permanent staff of various ranks, including among others Luis Arturo Soto Pinto, Heriberto Pereira Rojas, Luis Osmán Yáñez Silva, Jorge Aliro Valdebenito Isler, and Jorge Eduardo Soto Herrera; and a civilian employee who had a nursing specialty named Crisóstomo Hugo Ferrada Carrasco. From that date, this group gradually stopped fulfilling the functions of their specialty to devote themselves to the tasks assigned to them by the high command of the Maquehue base. This special group received the alternating and sporadic collaboration of line and reserve officers who, motu proprio or by an express order received, joined on some occasions the patrols intended to raid homes and detain people, or witnessed and collaborated in the interrogations of the detainees who remained inside the base. The people detained in the various operations were kept in the guard facilities, the infirmary, in two offices located in the Administrative or Command building, in an old wooden tower that was previously used to store unused material and which, after September 11, was enabled for the aforementioned purposes, and on some occasions, they were also moved to a hangar located inside the base. Many of these detainees remained held at the Maquehue base for a period of no less than a week, during which time they were interrogated and tortured by the aforementioned officers and non-commissioned officers, in addition to having been administered, in certain cases, drugs such as Pentothal so that they would confess their alleged crimes. Said drug was administered by the base nurse. Also during that time, the detainees were taken out to the unit's courtyard during the day to rest a little or were taken to the bathrooms existing in the unit, an opportunity in which they were seen and attended to by conscript soldiers who were able to verify the deteriorated physical state in which these people were found. Some of these conscripts had to perform sentry duties to guard the place where the detainees were kept. Finally, the aerial operations carried out in helicopters on some occasions consisted of transporting Army troops to locations in the IX region whose mission was to detain people opposed to the military regime. These people were transported to the Maquehue air base and also to the Regimiento de Infantería número 8 Tucapel in this city, with the aircraft transporting them landing at both units, as the case may be. Likewise, transfers of detainees by land were carried out from the Maquehue air base to the Tucapel regiment, which were carried out by members of the special group described above and also on occasion by reserve officers who received an order to that effect.

C.-

That Hernán Henríquez Aravena, Surgeon and Zonal Director of Health of Temuco as of September 1973, was required by the military authority of the time to appear before the Military Prosecutor's Office of this city, located inside the Regimiento de Infantería número 8 Tucapel.

On September 12, 1973, Henríquez appeared before the prosecutor's office and was sent to his home. On the night of September 12 or 13, 1973, Carabineros from the 2nd Precinct of Temuco raided the home of Hernán Henríquez Aravena, whom they took out and transferred to the aforementioned unit.

He spent the night there, being seen by several witnesses who have testified to that effect in the process. The next day he was again placed at the disposal of the Military Prosecutor's Office of Temuco, where his transfer to the city jail was ordered, and subsequently, his total house arrest was ordered, with the express order to appear at the military court first thing on September 25, 1973.

On the night of September 24, 1973, the house of Hernán Henríquez Aravena was raided again, this time by personnel from the Investigative Police who were attached to the Tucapel regiment. After a while, the patrol withdrew from the place.

However, later another patrol appeared, this time from the Carabineros 2nd Precinct, who took the doctor Hernán Henríquez from his home, taking him away without giving any explanation to his wife. From that moment on, Mrs.

Ruth Kries Saavedra, spouse of Hernán Henríquez, began to inquire about the whereabouts of her husband, asking first at the 2nd Precinct of Carabineros of Temuco, where they told her that he had been taken to the Military Prosecutor's Office in this city.

Subsequently interviewing the competent military authority, or their representative, at the Military Prosecutor's Office, she was informed that her husband had not arrived at that place and that his whereabouts were unknown there.

During the following days, Mrs. Ruth Kries Saavedra received information that her husband was being held at the Base Aérea del Grupo n° 3 of helicopters, Maquehue, where he was being subjected to interrogations and illegal coercion.

She then interviewed the Commander of that unit, Mr. Andrés Pacheco Cárdenas, who denied the fact. That one night in the month of October, civilian pilot Arnoldo Van Weezel, who was acting as guard officer on that occasion, entered the guard room of the Maquehue Base where he could see that in a small room, Doctor Hernán Henríquez Aravena was lying on a bunk, whom he almost did not recognize because he presented multiple bodily injuries that suggested he had been a victim of illegal coercion.

Such were his injuries that the doctor did not show any sign of consciousness, with the guard officer even thinking that he was close to death. Later, when his shift ended in the morning, he entered the unit's guard room again, verifying that Hernán Henríquez Aravena was no longer in that place.

D.-

That Alejandro Flores Rivera, Nursing Assistant in the Psychiatry Department of the Regional Hospital of Temuco and President of the National Federation of Health Workers (Fenats), was required by Communiqué n° 11 dated September 12, 1973, to appear before the Military Prosecutor's Office of this city, located inside the Regimiento de Infantería n° 8 Tucapel.

That day, Flores appeared before the prosecutor's office and was sent to his home. Subsequently, on a date still undetermined in the process, but prior to October 5, 1973, Mr. Raúl Cerda Aguilef, a conscript of the Tucapel regiment of Temuco, arrived for relief in the morning hours at the guard of the aforementioned unit, being able to see Alejandro Flores Rivera there, whom he knew from before because he was his stepbrother.

At that moment, he gave him breakfast. During the afternoon of that day or the next day, he returned to the guard and Alejandro Flores was still in that place, who asked Cerda Aguilef that if anything happened to him, he should take care of his wife and children.

The next morning, Cerda went to the guard, but Alejandro Flores was no longer there. Then he began to ask about his whereabouts, until a conscript who was a Reserve Sergeant told him not to look for his brother anymore because during the previous night he and Lieutenant Alejandro Rubio Balladares (R.I.P.) had taken him to the Maquehue Air Base, a place where he had been executed and buried in a plot of land that had been subdivided.

This Conscript soldier, according to the information provided to the process, was part of a group specially selected by Lieutenant Rubio Balladares to carry out actions related to political prisoners.

E.-

That on October 5, 1973, the local authority issued Communiqué n° 9, which was signed by the Commander of the Military Garrison of Temuco, which in its point n° 2 informed the community that "Given the escape attempt planned by ALEJANDRO FLORES RIVERA and in complicity with HERNÁN HENRÍQUEZ ARAVENA while they were detained at the barracks of the No. 3 Helicopter Group and in collusion with individuals from the outside who tried to help them, they were eliminated by the Guard.

The other subjects fled the place without other casualties being obtained. These extremist elements were buried." Said Communiqué was published in the newspaper "El Austral" of Temuco, whose daily circulation was previously reviewed by a Flight Captain of the Maquehue Air Base of Temuco, who was an aide to Colonel Andrés Pacheco Cárdenas and, in addition, in charge of Public Relations at the Cautín Intendancy.

Attending to the merit of the evidence that exists in this process up to the moment that, in this regard, contradicts what is expressed in the aforementioned communiqué, leads the Court to form the conviction that Henríquez Aravena and Flores Rivera were executed by personnel of the Maquehue Air Base and by Army personnel of the Tucapel Regiment who were in charge of their custody, in a situation different from that indicated in the Communiqué, ruling out the escape of both as a motive for this fact; taking into consideration, furthermore, that up to the moment it does not appear in the records that the bodies have been effectively delivered to their families.

F.-

That Jorge Silhi Zarzar, a 4th-year high school student at the Liceo de Hombres N° 1 of Temuco and a member of the MIR, was detained at the end of October 1973 from his home by a Chilean Air Force patrol led by the civilian employee and nurse at the Maquehue Base, Crisóstomo Hugo Ferrada Carrasco, whom he recognized immediately for having been the person who, in his capacity as an intern for doctor Antonio Said Yaar, had performed some dressings on him in the past resulting from minor surgery that said doctor had performed on him in his private practice.

Once they approached the Maquehue Air Base, one of the members of the patrol ordered him to cover his head with the jacket the detainee was wearing, who was left in a room, lying on a cot with a mattress and with his eyes blindfolded.

During the night, Silhi Zarzar was taken out of the aforementioned room and taken to another building where he was subjected to interrogations and illegal coercion such as asphyxiation by introducing his head into nylon bags, application of electricity, physical blows with boards and sticks, and other known techniques.

At a certain moment, the nurse who had detained him provided him with Coramine in a glass of water. This person, in addition, directed the interrogations, and every time Silhi's answers seemed false to him, he remained in the power of the torture team.

This situation continued for more than ten days and several times a day. Finally, Jorge Silhi was released, being taken to his house by Jorge Freygang Campaña.

G.-

That Víctor Hugo Painemal Arriagada, by September 1973, worked at Socoagro as an Accounting Assistant. The Intervenor of that company was a Flight Captain of the Chilean Air Force. On October 8 or 9 of that year, in the morning hours, while he was at his work, in the presence of the aforementioned intervenor, he was detained by the Maquehue Air Base Non-Commissioned Officer Orlando Garrido Riquelme (R.I.P.), with whom he boarded a patrol and was taken to the aforementioned base.

As soon as he boarded the jeep in which they were moving, they put a blindfold on his eyes. He was left in a room where there were two or three beds. That same day he was transferred to an outdoor location, where they ordered him to keep his hands raised for a period of almost an hour.

As a result of fatigue, Painemal lowered his hands for a moment, receiving a blow with a rifle butt. At all times, despite being blindfolded, he felt that there were more people detained around him. After this, he returned with other people to the room described above, among whom he could recognize the voice of Sergio Riquelme Inostroza, also an accountant.

During his captivity, the Socoagro intervenor and Pablo Alister Vega, a Reserve Officer whom he knew previously, approached to interrogate him, proposing that if he told them where the weapons were hidden, they could give him his freedom immediately.

Painemal Arriagada was detained for about two weeks, a period in which he was subjected to several interrogations, being able to remember Non-Commissioned Officer Garrido as one of his interrogators. In addition, on one occasion he was taken out of the unit to go in search of the home of a person named Pedro Matus, who lived in the Población Lavandero.

They allowed him to remove the blindfold from his eyes to find the address, but he could not locate it. As a result of this, he received illegal coercion, being tortured on several occasions by applying the dry submarine technique, that is, a bag over his head to cut off his breathing, in addition to mock executions.

Finally, he was released, being left in front of his house by Non-Commissioned Officer Garrido.

H.-

That Sergio Riquelme Inostroza, a member of the Partido Comunista, Accountant and professor at the Instituto Superior de Comercio in the city of Temuco by September 1973, while teaching classes in that place, was detained by a Chilean Air Force patrol among whose members he recognized Orlando Garrido Riquelme.

He was taken to the Maquehue Air Base, but before entering the unit, his eyes were blindfolded. In the guard room, they took off his shoes and all his personal effects and laid him on a stretcher or bunk.

Later he was taken to another sector to be interrogated. The next day, during the morning, another interrogation began, but this time he was physically coerced through the application of blows to different parts of his body, in addition to other methods of suffering.

This procedure was repeated for ten days, a period during which he was taken out to the courtyard and other dependencies of the unit, always blindfolded. One day he was taken to the room where he was interrogated and someone asked him to remove the blindfold from his eyes.

Then he could recognize the person in front of him as the brother of a classmate that Riquelme had. This person who was interrogating him was Emilio Sandoval Poo, a Reserve Officer who was a civilian pilot, who indicated to him that he had come to learn about his situation by order of the Intendant of the IX region, who at that time was the Army Colonel and Commander of the Regimiento La Concepción de Lautaro.

In addition, this person gave him a paper and a pencil to write down all the names of his relatives and acquaintances, giving him ten minutes to do so. He withdrew during that period and returned later to ask him for the paper.

Since Riquelme did not write down any names, the Reserve Officer became annoyed, tore up the paper and the pencil, insulted him, and left the place. Finally, days later, Sergio Riquelme was released, being transported by Sergeant Orlando Garrido to his home, where he was almost not recognized by his wife due to the physical state in which he was found," the ruling maintains.

The detainees entered the Maquehue Air Base and the Regimiento de Infantería Número 8 Tucapel of Temuco, and [the court] requested the extradition of Luis Quezada Chandía, who resides in São Paulo, Republic of Brazil.

Source: araucaniacuenta.cl, December 30, 2015

Operation Condor: two Chilean military officers are sentenced to life imprisonment in Italy

Hernán Jerónimo Ramírez Ramírez was the military and administrative head of the Cautín Province, one of the heads of the repression in the area and responsible for the deaths of doctors such as Arturo Hiller and Hernán Henríquez Aravena, in addition to Jécar Neghme.

Rafael Francisco Ahumada Valderrama was an artillery officer of the Tacna Regiment – and previously a military aide to President Allende – and international Interpol arrest warrants were pending against him for the death of nine French citizens.

Two Chileans have been sentenced today by the Italian justice system due to their participation in Operation Condor, the famous South American-level cooperation scheme between right-wing dictatorships in the 70s to persecute and execute political opponents.

They are Hernán Jerónimo Ramírez Ramírez and Rafael Ahumada Valderrama, who have received life imprisonment. Ramírez was the military and administrative head of the Cautín Province, one of the heads of the repression in the area and responsible for the deaths of doctors such as Arturo Hiller and Hernán Henríquez Aravena, in addition to Jécar Neghme.

Ahumada Valderrama, meanwhile, was an artillery officer of the Tacna Regiment – and previously a military aide to President Allende – and international Interpol arrest warrants were pending against him for the death of nine French citizens.

According to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, the list of those convicted by the 3rd Court of Rome is completed by the former Bolivian dictator Luis García Meza Tejada – famous for the cruelty of the repression during his mandate –, his general Luis Arce Gómez, the former Uruguayan foreign minister Juan Carlos Blanco, the former de facto President of Peru Francisco Morales Bermúdez, and fellow Peruvians Pedro Richter Prada and Germán Luis Figueroa.

At the hearing, where 18 other accused were also acquitted, the Vice President of Uruguay, Raúl Sendic; the president of the National Institution of Human Rights and Ombudsman of Uruguay, Mirtha Guianze; and representing the Italian Government, the Undersecretary of the Presidency, Maria Elena Boschi, were present.

Among those acquitted are the Chileans Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Daniel Aguirre Mora, Carlos Luco Astroza, Orlando Moreno Vásquez, and Manuel Abraham Vásquez Chauán.

Source: elmostrador.cl, January 17, 2017

Minister Álvaro Mesa issues indictment against retired Army members for homicides and illegal coercion in the so-called "Caso el Polvorín"

The Magistrate held Manuel Vásquez Chahuán, Anacleto Aguire Rivera, Manuel Campos Ceballos, Juan Carlos Concha Belmar, Sergio Vallejos Garcés, Gabriel Dittus Marín, and Héctor Villablanca Huenulao responsible as perpetrators of the qualified homicide of the victims.

The visiting minister for human rights cases of the Courts of Appeals of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique indicted 25 retired Army members for their responsibility in qualified homicides and illegal coercion in the so-called "Caso El Polvorín." In the investigation into the crimes of qualified homicide and illegal coercion of Florentino Alberto Molina Ruiz, Juan Antonio Chávez Rivas, Víctor Hugo Valenzuela Velásquez, Juan Carlos Ruiz Mancilla, Amador Francisco Montero Mosquera, Pedro Juan Mardones Jofré, and Carlos Aillañir Huenchual, which occurred between September and November 1973 inside the Regimiento N° 8 "Tucapel" of Temuco. The Magistrate held Manuel Vásquez Chahuán, Anacleto Aguire Rivera, Manuel Campos Ceballos, Juan Carlos Concha Belmar, Sergio Vallejos Garcés, Gabriel Dittus Marín, and Héctor Villablanca Huenulao responsible as perpetrators of the qualified homicide of the victims. In addition, Jaime García Covarrubias, Raimundo García Covarrubias, Pablo Gran López, Mario Arias Díaz, and Alfonso Podlech Michaud were indicted as perpetrators of the qualified homicide and illegal coercion of the victims. For their part, Carlos Oviedo Arriagada, Norberto Uribe Moronio, Pedro Tichahuer Salcedo, Romilio Lavín Muñoz, and Juan Bautista Labraña Luvecce were indicted as perpetrators of qualified homicide and accomplices to illegal coercion. Orlando Moreno Vásquez, Raúl Schonherr Farías, Daniel San Juan Clavería, Omar Burgos Dejean, and Hernán Quiroz Barra were held responsible as accomplices to qualified homicide and perpetrators of illegal coercion. Regarding Libardo Schwartenski Rubio and José Inzunza Reyes, they were indicted as perpetrators of illegal coercion. Arnoldo Aedo Matus was held responsible as an accomplice to qualified homicide. Minister Mesa's investigation determined that: After September 11, 1973, the Armed Forces and Order took control of Temuco, appointing Colonel Hernán Ramírez Ramírez as Intendant and Colonel Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse as Governor, both now deceased. That same day, the lawyer Alfonso Podlech Michaud, an Army reserve lieutenant, was called to collaborate with the new regime, who supported the management of the military prosecutor who began operating inside the "Tucapel" regiment and who was in charge of Major Luis Jofré Soto, also deceased. Before this special tribunal, personalities opposed to the new regime were summoned to appear, among them the victims, who were detained by personnel of the "Tucapel" Regiment and special patrols formed in that military unit. The resolution states that during the days following September 11, 1973, a significant number of people were killed or disappeared in the IX region, with several of these deaths being explained by regional military authorities through the publication of communiqués issued either from the Intendancy or from the Military Garrison of Temuco. The communiqué that explained the events subject to this investigation, in light of the evidence gathered in this process, gives an implausible version of how the events of the night of November 10, 1973, unfolded, taking into consideration what was declared by Manuel Ángel Fernández Carranza (fs. 222), who, after the events of November 10, 1973, and once he arrived from a mission he was entrusted with toward the Pucón sector in search of guerrillas, was summoned by the then commander of the Regimiento N° 8 Tucapel of Temuco, Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse (R.I.P.), to inform him that the assault on the powder magazine had not been such, but rather an execution carried out at the shooting range, information that he gave him personally so that he would not find out through rumors.

Source: diarioconstitucional.cl, April 4, 2018

Condemnation for Chilean former military officers of Plan Condor confirmed in Italy

The Italian justice system has ratified life sentences for three former Chilean military officers who were tried in absentia for their involvement in the disappearance of Italians during Operation Condor, the repression in Latin America in the 1970s and 1980s, sources close to the trial indicated to Efe this Thursday.

Colonel Rafael Ahumada Valderrama, Sub-officer Orlando Moreno Vásquez, and Brigadier Manuel Vásquez Chauan had been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Rome Court of Appeal in July 2019, a sentence that has been confirmed after their lawyer failed to file an appeal with the Supreme Court.

The highest court is scheduled to hold a hearing on July 8, where a final verdict is expected regarding the 24 leaders and military personnel from Bolivia, Chile, Uruguay, and Peru who were convicted in the first instance in 2019, including the three former Chilean military officers.

When the Supreme Court sent the case files to the parties involved, they realized that, for an unknown reason, the lawyer for the three, Valentina Perrone, did not file the appeal, which made the sentence issued by the Court of Appeal final, according to the sources.

The Rome Prosecutor's Office has already sent arrest warrants to the Chilean government for Ahumada Valderrama, Moreno Vásquez, and Vásquez Chauan, who were convicted for the homicide and the disappearance of the bodies of Italian citizens Omar Venturelli and Juan José Montiglio, they added.

On July 8, the Supreme Court must rule on the other life sentences issued in July 2019 by the Rome Court of Appeal, in the second instance, against a total of 24 leaders and military personnel from Bolivia, Chile, Uruguay, and Peru.

It will now have to rule on 19, since, in addition to the three whose sentences are final, two others have died in the meantime: the former Minister of the Interior during the Bolivian dictatorship, Luis Arce Gómez, and the Uruguayan José Horacio "Nino" Gavazzo Pereira.

The final verdict is especially important for the only defendant currently residing in Italy, the former Uruguayan military officer Jorge Néstor Troccoli, 69, who escaped his country's justice system in 2007. He was acquitted in the first instance and convicted in the second.

The process in Italy began in 1999 with the complaint of some relatives of the forcibly disappeared, one year after the arrest of the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was ordered following the investigation by Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón.

Over these more than two decades, efforts have been made to determine responsibility for the disappearance of Latin American citizens of Italian descent, political opponents, and leftist activists who disappeared in the shadows of what is known as Operation Condor.

In the Appeal trial, Italy issued twenty-four life sentences, all but one—Troccoli's—in absentia, as the defendants, many of advanced age, are in their home countries, either serving sentences or at liberty, and did not appear in Rome.

In addition to the three whose sentences are final and the two deceased mentioned above, another three are from Peru: former President Francisco Morales Bermúdez and former military officers Germán Ruiz Figueroa and Martín Martínez Garay.

The Chileans, in addition to the three whose sentences are final, are seven: Hernán Jerónimo Ramírez Ramírez, Pedro Octavio Espinoza Bravo, Daniel Aguirre Mora, and Carlos Luco Astroza.

The largest group is that of the Uruguayans, with thirteen convicted: In addition to Troccoli, they include the repressors José Ricardo Arab Fernández, Juan Carlos Larcebeau Aguirregaray, Pedro Antonio Mato Narbondo, Luis Alfredo Maurente Mata, Ricardo José Medina Blanco, Ernesto Abelino Ramas Pereira, José Sande Lima, Jorge Alberto Silveira Quesada, Ernesto Soca, Gilberto Vázquez Bissio, and Juan Carlos Blanco.

Source: swissinfo.ch/spa, July 1, 2021

Minister Álvaro Mesa issues indictment against former military prosecutor for illegal coercion resulting in the death of a university student

In the resolution (case file 113.961), Minister Mesa Latorre identified the former military prosecutor as the perpetrator of the crime against humanity committed against the victim Santiago Faúndez Bustos.

The minister on special assignment for human rights violation cases in the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Claudio Mesa Latorre, issued indictment No. 88 in the cases he is processing and filed charges against lawyer Oscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud for his responsibility in the crime of illegal coercion resulting in the death of university student Sergio Faúndez Bustos.

The crime was committed in November 1973, in the commune of Temuco.

In the resolution (case file 113.961), Minister Mesa Latorre identified the former military prosecutor as the perpetrator of the crime against humanity committed against the university student.

During the investigation stage of the case, the visiting minister managed to gather sufficient evidence to establish the following facts:

• A.- That, immediately following the military coup of September 11, 1973, the armed forces and security forces took control of the city of Temuco, with the Colonel Commander of the "La Concepción" Regiment of Lautaro, Hernán Jerónimo Ramírez Ramírez (deceased, as recorded on p. 2,039 (Volume VI)), becoming Intendant, and the Colonel of the No. 8 "Tucapel" Infantry Regiment of this city, Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse (deceased, as recorded on p. 2,040 (Volume VI)), becoming Governor of Temuco, who also remained as Chief of the Temuco Garrison. As recorded on pp. 892 to 893 (Volume III), 908 to 909 (Volume III).
• B.- That on the same day, September 11, 1973, the lawyer Oscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud of Temuco, who was also a Reserve Lieutenant in the Chilean Army, was called to collaborate with the new regime. He presented himself at the "Tucapel" regiment to support the work of the Military Prosecutor's Office that operated inside the unit and was in charge of the Second Commander, Major Luis Jofré Soto (deceased, as recorded on p. 2,037 (Volume VI)). This officer, however, had to assume greater functions as Second Commander of the Tucapel Regiment shortly thereafter (as recorded in the evidence on pp. 267 to 268 (Volume I)). From that day forward, civilians began to arrive at the regiment who had been called to present themselves before the Military Prosecutor's Office through edicts published in the written press and on the radio, or who were brought in as detainees from different points in the region by police and military patrols, as recorded on pp. 182 to 183 (Volume I); pp. 238 to 239 (Volume I); pp. 240 to 241 (Volume I); pp. 285 to 286 (Volume I); pp. 368 to 369 (Volume II); 930 to 931 (Volume III); 941 (Volume III) and other evidence.
• C.- That due to the high number of detainees and people called to provide statements, the Military Prosecutor's Office was reinforced to carry out its work with officials from the Judiciary who were requested from the Illustrious Court of Appeals of Temuco by the aforementioned lawyer, who, acting as Ad-hoc Prosecutor, made a presentation to the Plenary of the Appellate Court, after which some clerks from different courts and a Court Rapporteur were assigned on special service, a situation that is recorded in the minutes signed by the Plenary of the Illustrious Court of Appeals of Temuco, found on pp. 1,704 to 1,705 (Volume V) in these records.
• D.- That due to a lack of knowledge in criminal procedural matters, added to his weak character and his work as Second Commander of the regiment, Major Luis Jofré Soto began delegating functions as Military Prosecutor to the legal advisor of the Prosecutor's Office, who began to hold the position of de facto Prosecutor, to the point that relatives consulted him about the fate of the detainees. However, Major Jofré Soto continued to sign the administrative paperwork most of the time and participated in some interrogations of detainees. (According to p. 142 (Volume I), 272 to 275 (Volume I) and other evidence).
• E.- That the people called to present themselves to the Military Prosecutor's Office and those brought in as detainees were kept in facilities located next to the guardhouse and in the large gymnasium. Once interrogated by personnel from the Military Prosecutor's Office, by detectives from the Investigative Police attached to the regiment, or by the officers themselves who participated in these activities, some of them were released, others were sent to their homes under house arrest, and others were taken to the public jail where they remained while their procedural situation was resolved. (As recorded on pp. 29 to 31 (Volume I), pp. 113 to 114 (Volume I), pp. 294 to 296, and other evidence).
• F.- That the victim Santiago Omar Faúndez Bustos, 23 years old, a university student and member of the Socialist Party, was detained at his home on November 27, 1973, by military personnel and taken to the Tucapel Regiment in Temuco. He was seen inside the regiment by his mother, Mrs. Rosalía Bustos (deceased, as recorded on p. 2,038 (Volume VI)), in very poor condition, as he was descending from a military truck. He was likewise seen by other political prisoners inside said place, as attested to in their statements by Ronny Orlando Carrasco Sáez and Luis Armando Aguilera Sandoval, the latter of whom was able to observe the deplorable condition of Santiago Omar Faúndez Bustos after a torture session, with the victim indicating to him that: "I could not withstand another session of this type." The relatives state that on November 30 of that year, the military informed them that he had been released. However, the body of Santiago Omar Faúndez Bustos was found and identified at the morgue of the Temuco Regional Hospital by Mrs. Rosalía Bustos and Teresa Catrileo Sánchez. As can be inferred from pp. 27 to 28 (Volume I); 29 to 31 (Volume I); pp. 32 to 33 (Volume I); 39 to 41 (Volume I); 69 to 70 (Volume I); pp. 111 to 113 (Volume I); 250 to 251 (Volume I); 260 to 262 (Volume I); 263 to 264 (Volume I), among other evidence.
• G.- That among the evidence collected is found on p. 111 (Volume I), a statement by Santiago Omar Faúndez Bustos from November 28, 1973, provided before the Military Prosecutor's Office, which says the following: "Political affiliation (Socialist sympathizer). I have been a Socialist sympathizer for 2 years. I have a sister named Rosa Adriana Faúndez Bustos, 18 years old, a 4th-year student at the Girls' Lyceum, of Christian Left militancy, and she was dating a blond man, 1.65 meters tall, thin, named Juan Carlos, from Villarrica. My sister went to Santiago last Monday, alone at night. I met José Peralta at a political rally where he spoke; I know he is from Concepción. For a year and a half, he has been coming to the house, and he was brought by my sister Rosa A. Faúndez B., who brought him saying he was a friend; he is approximately 25 years old. He was at the house for about 5 months, he went out with my sister continuously, he would arrive at the house and sleep on a sofa, when he slept at the house, since he would continuously leave in the mornings, and arrive around 8:00 PM, go out again, and disappear for 3 days or a week. My mother belonged to the JAP (Supply and Price Boards). I also have an aunt who lives in Santiago. There is a boy in my house named Luis Freire Peña, he studies at School No. 11. The night my sister Rosa A. Faúndez B. went to Santiago, she was accompanied to the station by Miss Corina Duhalde, who lives in the Carabineros Housing Project and is the daughter of Pedro Duhalde, former Chief of Investigations of this city."
• H.- That Mrs. Rosalía Bustos, after the death of her son, went to the Tucapel Regiment in Temuco to request the return of photographs and other items seized during the raid on her home, which belonged to Santiago Omar Faúndez Bustos, and for this purpose, she interviewed Mr. Oscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud, who did not accede to Mrs. Rosalía's request and offered apologies for the error committed with her son, a situation that outraged Mrs. Rosalía Bustos, as a consequence of which Oscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud ordered that she be locked in a dungeon.
• I.- That, furthermore, and for better illustration, there is the statement of Leandro Alberto Abarca Carrillo, on pp. 116 to 118 (Volume I), which pertinently maintains that: "Then, I returned to the Regiment to confront Nelson Ubilla Toledo (deceased, as recorded on p. 2,174 (Volume VII)), who told me without further details that what happened to Santiago Faúndez had been a regrettable accident. For this reason, he had authorized him to be waked and buried like any other citizen."
• J.- That regarding the aforementioned facts, it is worth noting that the autopsy protocol of Santiago Faúndez Bustos, found on pp. 108 to 109 (Volume I), concludes in the relevant part: "The precise and necessary cause of the death of Santiago Omar Faúndez Bustos was suffocation caused by a convulsive state. The original cause of the alterations determining this death. Due to its microscopic and histological morphological characteristics, it must be posed as corresponding to the effects of an electric current applied to the anterior thoracic skin as well as to the wrist of the left hand. Otherwise, the necropsy only demonstrated the existence of condyloma acuminatum and old cicatricial retraction on the penis. In particular, it is noted that there are no additional pathological alterations that would allow for other possibilities for this death, which is estimated to have occurred suddenly and for which no police records are available regarding what happened." Furthermore, the autopsy protocol states: "Requested by: Cautín Military Prosecutor's Office; Origin of the body: Brought by a military patrol." Furthermore, on p. 85 (Volume I), it refers to the place of death as: military facility.
• K.- That the aforementioned facts must have been known by the Reserve Lieutenant and lawyer Oscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud, since, as mentioned in letters B, C, and D of this resolution, he acted from September 11, 1973, as legal advisor and ad-hoc Military Prosecutor of the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, interrogating detainees and deciding the fate of those deprived of liberty, having on that date the decision-making and command powers within the facilities of the aforementioned regiment. Furthermore, in his capacity as Ad-hoc Prosecutor and Legal Advisor to the Military Prosecutor's Office, he did not denounce or inform the military hierarchy or any other authority of the investigated illicit acts, nor is there any record that an investigation was carried out, nor the existence of a registry as a consequence of the commission of these acts. Such were the powers that this lawyer had that the very words of Aquiles Alfonso Poblete Muller (on pp. 287 to 289 (Volume I)) stated that: "The great person responsible for all this and who decided the fate of the detainees was the lawyer Alfonso Podlech, who was in charge of the Military Prosecutor's Office." Eleodoro Rubilar Bascur refers in similar terms on pp. 307 to 308 (Volume I), which pertinently maintains: "Mr. Alfonso Podlech at the time in question was a Military Prosecutor and attended the penitentiary periodically, most of the time in military attire, and he would pass by the officer of the guard to whom he would give the news and announce himself to the Warden with whom he spoke." A corollary to the above are the multiple assertions made by members who served within the regiment at the time of the investigated events, namely: in the words of José Heriberto Mansilla Gatica, on pp. 304 to 306 (Volume I), who maintains: "However, I only took statements from two people, but the one who interrogated was Alfonso Podlech, whom I asked that same day to help two civilians I knew who were detained." Likewise, and to reinforce what was stated above, it is of utmost importance to mention what is concluded by the documentary expert report found on pp. 1,395 to 1,423 (Volume IV), issued by the Central Criminalistics Laboratory of the Investigative Police of Chile, which among other things expresses the following: "the evidence examined on this occasion allows us to establish that the impugned signature traced over the text indicating FISCAL, in the 'LIBERTAT' (RELEASE) order No. S/N, of the Cautín Temuco Military Prosecutor's Office, dated September 28, 1973, addressed to the Carabineros of Chile, Villarrica Sub-station, which orders the release of Mario Fernando Cortes Bornard and Ubildo Antonio Jiménez Vargas, is genuine of Oscar Alfonso Podlech Michaud." Another report that reinforces the above is on pp. 2,043 to 2,049 (Volume VI), which pertinently concludes: "the impugned signature, subscribed over the text 'Luis A. Jofré Soto Mayor Fiscal', on the copy of the authorization dated in Temuco on Dec. 18, 1973, addressed to Doctor Wolfgang REUTER B, Regional Hospital, issued by the Cautín-Temuco Military Prosecutor's Office of the Chilean Army, is genuine of Oscar Alfonso Podlech Michaud." Furthermore, found on pp. 2,052 to 2,170 (Volume VI) is the final report "Reflection on the actions of the Army and its members in the last 50 years and their effects on the military ethos."

Source: pjud.cl, May 9, 2023

Minister Álvaro Mesa sentences former military prosecutor to 12 years in prison for the qualified kidnapping of a bank employee

In the ruling, Minister Mesa Latorre sentenced Podlech Michaud to 12 years of effective imprisonment, plus the legal accessories of absolute perpetual disqualification for public offices and positions and political rights, and absolute disqualification for professional titles for the duration of the sentence, in his capacity as the perpetrator of the crime.

The minister on special assignment for human rights violation cases in the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, in sentence number 90 on the matter, convicted the lawyer and former military prosecutor Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud for his responsibility in the consummated crime of qualified kidnapping with serious harm, as a crime against humanity, of the bank employee Ambrosio Eduardo Badilla Vasey.

The illicit act was committed in September 1973, in the city of Temuco.

In the ruling (case file 113.950), Minister Mesa Latorre sentenced Podlech Michaud to 12 years of effective imprisonment, plus the legal accessories of absolute perpetual disqualification for public offices and positions and political rights, and absolute disqualification for professional titles for the duration of the sentence, in his capacity as the perpetrator of the crime.

In the sentence, Minister Mesa Latorre established the following facts:

• A.- That immediately following the military coup of September 11, 1973, the armed forces and security forces took control of the city of Temuco, with the Colonel Commander of the La Concepción Regiment of Lautaro, Hernán Jerónimo Ramírez Ramírez (deceased, as recorded on p. 2,233, Volume VII), becoming Intendant, and the Colonel of the No. 8 Tucapel Infantry Regiment of this city, Pablo Iturriaga Marchesse (deceased, as recorded on p. 2,234, Volume VII), becoming Governor of Temuco, who also remained as Chief of the Temuco Garrison.
• B.- That on the same day, September 11, 1973, the lawyer Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud of Temuco, who was also a reserve lieutenant in the Chilean Army, was called to collaborate with the new regime. He presented himself at the Tucapel regiment to support the work of the Military Prosecutor's Office that operated inside the unit and was in charge of the second commander, Major Luis Jofré Soto (deceased, as recorded on p. 2,235, Volume VII). This officer, however, had to assume greater functions as second commander of the Tucapel Regiment shortly thereafter (as recorded in the evidence on pp. 433 to 435 (Volume II), and pp. 507 to 508 (Volume II)). From that day forward, civilians began to arrive at the regiment who had been called to present themselves before the Military Prosecutor's Office through edicts published in the written press and on the radio, or who were brought in as detainees from different points in the region by police and military patrols, as recorded on pp. 429 to 432 (Volume II), pp. 417 to 418 (Volume II), pp. 507 to 508 (Volume II), and other evidence.
• C.- That due to the high number of detainees and people called to provide statements, the Military Prosecutor's Office was reinforced to carry out its work with officials from the Judiciary who were requested from the Illustrious Court of Appeals of Temuco by the aforementioned lawyer, who, acting as ad-hoc prosecutor, made a presentation to the plenary of the appellate court, after which some clerks from different courts and a court rapporteur were assigned on special service, a situation that is recorded in the minutes signed by the plenary of the Illustrious Court of Appeals of Temuco, found on pp. 1,947 to 1,948 (Volume VI) in these records.
• D.- That due to a lack of knowledge in criminal procedural matters, added to his weak character and his work as second commander of the regiment, Major Luis Jofré Soto began delegating functions as military prosecutor to the legal advisor of the Prosecutor's Office, who began to hold the position of de facto prosecutor, to the point that relatives consulted him about the fate of the detainees. However, Major Jofré Soto continued to sign the administrative paperwork most of the time and participated in some interrogations of detainees. (According to pp. 404 to 407 (Volume II), pp. 445 to 446 (Volume II), and other evidence).
• E.- That the people called to present themselves to the Military Prosecutor's Office and those brought in as detainees were kept in facilities located next to the guardhouse and/or in the large gymnasium. Once interrogated by personnel from the Military Prosecutor's Office, detectives from the Investigative Police attached to the regiment, or by the officers themselves who participated in these activities, some of them were released, others were sent to their homes under house arrest, and others were taken to the public jail where they remained while their procedural situation was resolved. (As recorded on pp. 413 to 416 (Volume II), pp. 440 to 442 (Volume II), pp. 1,866 to 1,871 (Volume VI), and other evidence).
• F.- That the victim Ambrosio Eduardo Badilla Vasey, 28 years old, married and father of two children, a former employee of the Banco Estado of Temuco and member of the central committee of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), was detained on the night of September 22, 1973, by a group of military personnel at the home of Mrs. Gaby Silvia Venegas Avilés, located on Pedro de Valdivia Street, across from the Carabineros housing project in Temuco. This was the place where he was hiding after having been called to present himself at the Tucapel Regiment, according to an edict published in the Diario Austral on September 13, 1973, on p. 1,918 bis (Volume VI). On that occasion, the victim was detained along with Gaby Venegas and Pedro García, the latter of whom was also hiding in the aforementioned home.
• G.- That they were taken to the Tucapel Regiment in Temuco, where he was seen with his head shaved and with clear evidence of having been tortured, as can be inferred from the statements of Luis Alberto Chihuailaf Arriagada on pp. 44 to 45 (Volume I), who maintains: "In this place, I was able to see lying on a bench the person I previously knew as Ambrosio Badilla Vasey, dressed, without a blindfold over his eyes, and in deplorable physical condition; his face showed brutal blows, as well as one of his shoulders being completely dislocated. I remember he told me: 'They are going to kill me, tonight according to what I heard they are taking me to Caburgua,' warning me among other things about what was going to happen to me." In this same sense, María Eugenia Gottschalk Catalán testifies on p. 56 (Volume I): "I saw Ambrosio at some point standing inside this facility, while I remained on the street in front of the regiment guardhouse, waiting to be informed about what I was inquiring about regarding my husband. I must say that after my husband regained his freedom, he told me that he had indeed been held inside the Tucapel and that he had managed to see our friend Ambrosio Badilla Vasey," among other evidence recorded in this procedural stage.
• H.- That his family tried to find out about his whereabouts and condition by making inquiries to the respective military authority; however, they received erroneous or ambiguous answers, not informing them about his location nor allowing them to search for his body. The above is recorded on pp. 62 to 64 (Volume I), where they were informed at the No. 8 Tucapel Regiment in Temuco that he was no longer in said military facility. Without prejudice to the evidence found on pp. 33 to 36 bis (Volume I), Mrs. Gaby Venegas Avilés testifies that: "I went to talk to Podlech, who denied Badilla's detention and even showed me the detainee registry books, where Badilla's name did not appear"; then she continues: "He cited me for another day, as he had to find out through his connections what had happened to him. The following week I went to his office again, where he indicated to me not to look for Badilla anymore because there was nothing left to do." That his spouse, Mrs. Sonia Edith Vásquez Villavicencio, on pp. 42 to 43 (Volume I), states that: "Once in Santiago, approximately twelve days after Ambrosio's last detention, I decided to travel to Temuco again, as I knew nothing about him, because I interviewed the bishop of that city at the time, Mr. Bernardino Piñera, whom I asked to find out how my husband was, to which he agreed, and after a few days, I don't remember how many, he sent me a letter by mail in which he informed me that Ambrosio was dead." Thus, to this date, Ambrosio Badilla Vasey remains forcibly disappeared.
• I.- That the aforementioned facts must have been known by the reserve lieutenant and lawyer Óscar Alfonso Ernesto Podlech Michaud, since, as mentioned in letters B, C, and D of this resolution, he acted from September 11, 1973, as legal advisor and ad-hoc military prosecutor of the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco, interrogating detainees and deciding the fate of those deprived of liberty, having on that date the decision-making and command powers within the facilities of the aforementioned regiment. Furthermore, in his capacity as ad-hoc prosecutor and legal advisor to the Military Prosecutor's Office, he did not denounce or inform the military hierarchy or any other authority of the investigated illicit acts, nor is there any record that an investigation was carried out, nor the existence of a registry as a consequence of the commission of these acts. Such were the powers that this lawyer had that the very words of Aquiles Alfonso Poblete Müller on pp. 419 to 420 (Volume II) stated that: "The great person responsible for all this and who decided the fate of the detainees was the lawyer Alfonso Podlech, who was in charge of the Military Prosecutor's Office."

A corollary to the above are the multiple assertions made by members who served within the regiment at the time of the investigated events, namely: in the words of José Heriberto Mansilla Gatica, on pp. 433 to 435 (Volume I), who maintains: "However, I only took statements from two people, but the one who interrogated was Alfonso Podlech, whom I asked that same day to help two civilians I knew who were detained." Likewise, and to reinforce what was stated above, it is of utmost importance to mention what is concluded by the documentary expert report found on pp. 1,494 to 1,522 (Volume V), issued by the Central Criminalistics Laboratory of the Investigative Police of Chile, which among other things expresses the following: "the evidence examined on this occasion allows us to establish that the impugned signature traced over the text indicating FISCAL, in the 'LIBERTAT' (RELEASE) order No. S/N, of the Cautín Temuco Military Prosecutor's Office, dated September 28, 1973, addressed to the Carabineros of Chile, Villarrica Sub-station, which orders the release of Mario Fernando Cortés Bornard and Ubildo Antonio Jiménez Vargas, is genuine of Óscar Alfonso Podlech Michaud." Another report that reinforces the above is on pp. 2,238 to 2,244 (Volume VII), which pertinently concludes: "the impugned signature, subscribed over the text 'Luis A. Jofré Soto Mayor Fiscal', on the copy of the authorization dated in Temuco on Dec. 18, 1973, addressed to the doctor Wolfgang REUTER B, Regional Hospital, issued by the Cautín-Temuco Military Prosecutor's Office of the Chilean Army, is genuine of Óscar Alfonso Podlech Michaud." Furthermore, found on pp. 2,247 to 2,367 (Volume VII) is the final report "Reflection on the actions of the Army and its members in the last 50 years and their effects on the military ethos."

• J.- That to this date, no public official of the Chilean Army or any other branch of the Armed Forces and/or Security Forces who served at the time of the events has provided any information to the respective authority in relation to what happened to Badilla Vasey, maintaining to this day the concealment of all types of information regarding his whereabouts."

In the civil aspect, the minister ordered the state treasury to pay a total compensation of $540,000,000 for moral damages to the victim's spouse and children.

Source: Judiciary, May 10, 2024