Reinaldo Catriel Catrileo, a father of 9 children and an indigenous leader, was detained on November 9, 1973, at his home located in the Comunidad Indígena de Molco by a patrol composed of military personnel and Carabineros.

They arrived in a jeep, violently raided the home, and illegally seized documents and personal effects. The entire procedure was witnessed by his partner, Ms. Juana Loncomil Ancalaf, and 6 of his children, who saw the severe beating to which Reinaldo Catriel was subjected.

Once the raid was concluded, the victim was taken to an unknown destination. His family undertook multiple efforts to locate him and establish his fate at the hands of his captors. To this end, they visited prisons, barracks, and various detention centers in the area. However, all efforts proved fruitless, and he remains forcibly disappeared to this day.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On September 1, 1978, his father, Mr. Juan Martín Catriel Casimino, filed a complaint for alleged disappearance before the First Criminal Court of Temuco, in which he denounced the circumstances of the arrest described above.

In the case, registered under file No. 54442, an order to investigate was issued to the Investigative Police (Policía de Investigaciones). In October of that year, the agency informed the Court that, while processing the order, they interviewed the complainant, Juan Catriel, who ratified the statements made in the complaint.

They also consulted the Intelligence Services of the Carabineros, the Army, and the Air Force, obtaining no information on the matter. In December 1978, Minister of the Interior Sergio Fernández Fernández informed the Court that, after reviewing the corresponding Kardex files that the Ministry opened to maintain strict control over individuals subject to the provisions of the State Security Law or the State of Siege in force at that time, there was no record whatsoever regarding Reinaldo Catriel Catrileo.

Finally, the Minister stated that there was no record that he had been detained by the Security Services and that no order or resolution had been issued by the Interior Ministry against him. That same month and year, the Legal Medical Service of Temuco indicated that the victim was not registered in the files of that Service.

Furthermore, the FACH (Chilean Air Force) Helicopter Group No. 3 and the Tucapel Regiment of Temuco informed the Court that they had no information regarding the detention of the affected individual. On December 21, the investigating judge temporarily dismissed the case on the grounds that the existence of a crime in the reported event had not been justified.

In September 1979, the proceedings were reopened, and the records were sent to the Visiting Minister (Ministro en Visita) Alfredo Meynet González to be consolidated with case 2 79, which investigated the cases of forcibly disappeared persons in the Department of Temuco.

In turn, the Minister declared himself incompetent to continue hearing the facts and sent the records to the IV Military Court of Valdivia, on the basis that all the persons whose disappearance was being investigated had been detained, on different occasions and in different places, by personnel of the Carabineros, the Army, or the Air Force, in various patrols acting unequivocally in the line of duty.

He concluded that it was reasonable to presume some form of responsibility for the disappearance of these persons on the part of the uniformed personnel who proceeded with their confirmed detention.

In December 1979, the Military Court accepted jurisdiction and ordered the Military Prosecutor's Office of Cautín to investigate case 1192 79. Before said Prosecutor's Office, Juana Loncomil Ancalaf gave a statement, noting that under Indigenous Law, Reinaldo Catriel Catrileo was her husband, despite not being married by civil law.

Regarding her husband, she ratified the circumstances of his arrest.

On October 24, 1980, the Military Judge dismissed the case completely and definitively by virtue of the 1978 Amnesty Decree Law.

Source: Vicariate of Solidarity

Seven complaints regarding 10 victims of crimes against humanity were filed this Tuesday at the Temuco Court of Appeals by members of the Association of Relatives of the Forcibly Disappeared and Political Executions of La Araucanía.

Carlos Oliva, president of the organization, explained that they delivered this information to the Justice system so that it could be investigated by the special minister investigating human rights violations during the dictatorship, Álvaro Meza Latorre.

Lawyer Sebastián Saavedra, who is sponsoring the complaints, specified the reasons for filing the legal actions.

The complaints were filed for the cases of José Beltrán Curiche, for qualified kidnapping on December 2, 1974, at the Perquenco Carabinero station; Ricardo Segundo Bustos Martínez, for the application of torture and qualified kidnapping on October 25, 1973, at the Los Laureles estate by FACH officials; and Alejo Barriga Nahuelhual, who disappeared on October 17, 1973, after being detained by Carabineros from Freire at the El Roble settlement.

Additionally, the complaints correspond to the cases of Samuel Huchaillán Levián, and the brothers Miguel Eduardo, Oscar Romualdo, and Ceferino Antonio Yaufulem Mañil, who disappeared on June 11, 1974, in the Quiñaco Manzanar and Curanilahue Mapuche communities, after being detained by Carabineros from Lautaro and Perquenco.

The investigation also requests information regarding the disappearance of Reinaldo Catriel Catrileo and Patricio Fernando Rivas Sepúlveda, from the Ancalaf Mapuche community on November 9, 1973, and from Angol on August 31, 1975, respectively.

The case of José Ignacio Beltrán Meliqueo is also included; he was detained in Lautaro, and his body was found in 1993 in Patio 23 of the cemetery in that commune.

Source: biobio.cl 27/11/2012

Date: 11-27-2012