24 years old, married, photographer, forcibly disappeared on October 4, 1973, in Antofagasta. René Daniel Vallejos Parra, a member of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), was detained that day in Antofagasta by Carabineros officers, who transported him to a facility belonging to that institution.

He has been missing since that date. According to statements from his family members and witnesses, on October 4, at approximately 2:00 a.m., Carabineros officials raided the home of René Vallejos, located in the Villa Alemania neighborhood of Antofagasta, and transported him to the Third Carabineros Precinct of that city.

His spouse went to the aforementioned police facility, where she was informed that René Vallejos was being held there, that they were taking his statement, and that he would soon be released. Later, when she returned to the facility, they told her that he had already been released.

However, despite numerous efforts made by his family, it was never possible to obtain news regarding his fate or whereabouts. Considering the evidence gathered and the investigations carried out by this Corporation, the Superior Council reached the conviction that René Daniel Vallejos Parra was made to disappear while he was being held by State agents.

For this reason, it declared him a victim of human rights violations.

Source: Corporation report

René Daniel Vallejos Parra, a member of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR), was detained on October 4, 1973, in a joint operation between uniformed Carabineros officers and members of the nascent SICAR, which operated initially out of the Third Carabineros Precinct of Antofagasta, the place to which he was transported.

His spouse went to the police facility, where she was informed that René Vallejos was there, that they were taking his statement, and that he would soon be released. To this day, René is a forcibly disappeared person.

After a long judicial process, a sentence will be handed down this year against members of the SICAR who kidnapped René. His son, Giorgio, tells us: "At 17 years old, a neighbor from the Villa Alemana neighborhood told me about the operation.

I felt rage and a certain despair, because it was the first time I had news of him (...) I began to search for the truth. With personal efforts, we searched for him in the desert. Today, I connect my search with other searches that were being carried out almost simultaneously at that time. I studied film; I want to bring my dad into the present so that people can know him."

Source: laprovidenciaantofagasta

The minister on special assignment for human rights violation cases, Sergio Troncoso Espinoza, sentenced two retired Carabineros officers as perpetrators of the crime of illicit association. The crime was committed between September and October 1973 in the city of Antofagasta.

The minister on special assignment for human rights violation cases for the jurisdictions of La Serena, Copiapó, Antofagasta, Iquique, and Arica, Sergio Troncoso Espinoza, sentenced two retired Carabineros officers as perpetrators of the crime of illicit association.

The crime was committed between September and October 1973 in the city of Antofagasta. In the ruling (case file 22.703), Minister Troncoso Espinoza sentenced the former colonel Ricardo Lillo Morandé to 7 years of effective imprisonment, plus the legal accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualification from public office and political rights, and absolute disqualification for professional practice during the term of the sentence.

Meanwhile, retired lieutenant colonel Orlando Jaime del Río Contreras was sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment, with the benefit of conditional remission of the sentence, plus the accessory penalties of suspension from public office during the term of the sentence and payment of court costs, as a perpetrator of the crime.

In the case, the visiting minister decreed the acquittal of Lillo Morandé, Del Río Contreras, and the retired colonel of the police institution Francisco Rafael Núñez Venegas, due to a lack of evidence, regarding the accusation filed against them as perpetrators of the consummated crime of qualified kidnapping of René Daniel Vallejos Parra, committed in October 1973.

In the resolution, Minister Troncoso Espinoza established that Ricardo Lillo Morandé and Orlando del Río Contreras were part of the Carabineros Intelligence Service (SICAR) in the area, a repressive organization that planned and executed the detention of people opposed to the regime of the time, or left-wing sympathizers, which began its activities in Antofagasta a few days after the military coup of September 11, 1973. "This organization far exceeded the mere conspiracy to commit crimes regulated in Article 8 of the Penal Code, as the plaintiffs point out, constituting a true illicit association, as provided for in Articles 292 and following of the Penal Code, classifiable in current nomenclature as a criminal association under the terms of Article 293 of the punitive code. So much so that the three accused in this case, plus Eduardo Aguilar Valdés himself, head of said service, denied at the time the existence of the SICAR and having been part of its ranks, as did several of its other members who testified in this process. Only Aguilar and Lillo acknowledged, after repeated denials, having been members of said organization, a situation that accounts for the awareness of the illegality that these officials were committing by belonging to that Intelligence Service," the ruling states. The resolution adds: "It has been demonstrated in this process that the requirements established in Articles 292 and following of the Penal Code, in their wording at the time, are met, and the facts established in this process also constitute the crime of illicit association to commit crimes, which occurred in the commune of Antofagasta, at least since September 17, 1973, which also served as the context for perpetrating, during its commission, the qualified kidnapping of René Daniel Vallejos Parra." Regarding the acquittal for the crime of qualified kidnapping, the ruling maintains: "(...) despite the fact that the membership of the accused Lillo Morandé and Del Río Contreras in the Antofagasta SICAR is abundantly established, there are no elements of conviction that allow for establishing in a reliable manner that they had direct and immediate participation in the detention or subsequent custody of René Vallejos Parra during his captivity in the Third Carabineros Precinct of Antofagasta, which was the charge leveled against them in the prosecutor's accusation, as it is not possible to rule out that the operation in question was carried out by other members of the same organization. Presuming the direct participation of the accused, solely for being part of the SICAR, not only infringes the logical principle of sufficient reason but also violates the system of assessed evidence of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as it implies establishing an inference from a fact previously established through a judicial presumption, which is the case of the commission of the kidnapping by SICAR personnel (presumption upon presumption), which contravenes the provisions of Article 488 of the cited code." "Therefore, there being no concrete evidence demonstrating the participation of Ricardo Lillo Morandé and Orlando Jaime del Río Contreras as perpetrators of qualified kidnapping in the facts investigated in this case, an acquittal will be issued in their favor in that regard," it concludes.

Source: pjud.cl 1/28/2025

Antofagasta Court declares death of person forcibly disappeared in 1973

The Second Civil Court of Antofagasta declared the presumed death of René Daniel Vallejos Parra, who has been missing since 1973, and set the date of his death as October 4 of that year. In the ruling (case file 473-2015), Judge Elizabeth Araya Julio granted the request presented by Percy Gabriel Vallejos Parra, the victim's brother. "(...) The declaration of presumed death has the purpose of safeguarding the interests not only of the missing person but also of third parties, in particular the heirs or successors of the missing person and, evidently, of society in general," the ruling maintains. René Vallejos was detained in Antofagasta on October 4, 1973, the date from which his trail was lost.

Source: elnortero.cl 2/28/2017