Date of Birth: 24-08-46, 27 years of age at the time of his detention. Address: Maile Chifca, X Region Marital Status: Single, 3 children Occupation: Agricultural laborer Political Affiliation: Militant of the Partido Socialista. Secretary of the Maile Peasant Union Date of Detention: September 17, 1973

REPRESSIVE SITUATION

René Nolberto Salgado Salgado, 27 years of age at the time the events occurred, father of three children, agricultural laborer, residing in Maile Chifca, X Region, leader of the Maile Peasant Union and a militant of the Partido Socialista, was detained on September 17, 1973, at approximately 11:00 in the morning.

The detention was carried out at his home by a group of 6 carabineros from the San Pablo Tenencia, among whom Lieutenant Nelson Eugenio Rodríguez Alba was identified. His detention was carried out outside of any legal framework.

When inquiries were made at the San Pablo Tenencia, the carabineros informed Salgado Salgado's relatives that he had already been released. Upon making inquiries in Osorno regarding his whereabouts, Carabineros from the 1st Precinct informed them that, according to information provided by the San Pablo Tenencia, the detainee had been transferred to the 3rd Precinct of Rahue.

Subsequently, still in September 1973, the family was informed that René Salgado had been handed over to the Military Prosecutor's Office of Osorno. All inquiries proved fruitless. His whereabouts could not be located in any detention center in the X Region.

It should be noted that on the day of the events, carabineros from the Tenencia proceeded to detain Arturo Chacón Salgado and Carlos Zapata Aguila, who, like Salgado Salgado, were militants of the Partido Socialista and union leaders.

Santiago Segundo Cárcamo Aguilar, brother of Salgado's spouse, was also detained that day, September 17, and was released at 8:00 PM that same day from the Tenencia. The witness informed his relatives and later testified before the Court that he had witnessed the presence of these 3 individuals at the police facility.

He added that he remained in the same cell as Salgado—his brother-in-law—while Zapata and Chacón remained in cells adjacent to his.

In 1990, information gathered by the relatives of these three victims was brought to the attention of the Osorno Court of Letters in order to request the exhumation of three graves located in an area near the town of San Pablo, where these 3 individuals might have been illegally buried.

The court agreed to carry out the exhumation proceedings without obtaining the expected results; René Nolberto Salgado Salgado, Carlos Zapata Aguila, and Arturo Chacón Salgado remain forcibly disappeared to this day.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

There is no information regarding judicial actions taken on his behalf in the period immediately following his arrest. However, his case was mentioned in the "Presunta Desgracia" (Presumed Misfortune) proceedings, case files 22746 and 22751, corresponding to Arturo Chacón Salgado and Carlos Zapata Aguila respectively.

In these cases, despite the lack of official recognition of the arrest of these three individuals by the responsible authorities, the Criminal Court declared its incompetence, referring the file in July 1980 to the Military Court, given that the evidence in the proceedings indicated the participation of members of the carabineros in the events.

His case was presented to the Rettig Report in 1990, which, after gathering further information regarding the case, established that his detention—carried out by Carabineros—had been proven, as well as his presence in a police facility.

It added that, given that there had been no news of him following his arrest, that Commission formed the conviction that he had been made to disappear by State agents who violated his human rights.

Also in 1990, a complaint was filed with the Osorno Court of Letters for illegal burial of bodies and possible homicide, for which criminal responsibility lay with the San Pablo Carabineros Lieutenant Nelson Eugenio Rodríguez Guerrero and all the officials who acted in the detention and subsequent death of René Nolberto Salgado Salgado, Carlos Zapata Aguila, and Arturo Chacón Salgado.

The Court was requested to exhume 3 graves located in an area near San Pablo, a request that was granted by the Court. The excavation of the graves did not yield the expected results. No human remains were located in them.

René Nolberto Salgado Salgado remains in the status of forcibly disappeared.

Source: Corporation report

By two votes to one, the Valdivia Court of Appeals granted release today to six (r) Carabineros prosecuted for the qualified kidnapping of a communist militant and three PS leaders. With its decision, the appellate court confirmed the resolution of the judge with exclusive dedication to Human Rights cases, Raúl Ramírez López.

Those who benefited are General (r) Nelson Rodríguez Guerrero, and (r) non-commissioned officers Amado Hernández Rivas, Nelson Soto Rubilar, Pablo Mancilla, Renato Lizana, and Dagoberto Gajardo. All of them were charged last Monday with the qualified kidnapping of communist militant Mario Opazo Guarda, and socialist leaders Nolberto Salgado, Arturo Chacón, and Carlos Zapata Águila.

According to the investigation, the accused were serving in 1973 at the San Pablo Carabineros Tenencia, where the four disappeared persons were taken after being apprehended. It was in that place that they were last seen alive.

Source: November 28, 2004 El Mercurio

Date: 28-11-2004

Retired police officers prosecuted for qualified kidnapping

A Carabineros General (R) and five other former non-commissioned officers of the institution were prosecuted as authors of the crime of qualified kidnapping in the Tenth Region. The events date back to 1973, when Partido Socialista (PS) militants Nolberto Salgado, Arturo Chacón, and Carlos Zapata, and one from the Partido Comunista (PC), identified as Mario Opazo Guarda, disappeared from the San Pablo Tenencia in Osorno.

The resolution of the judge dedicated to human rights cases in the provinces of Valdivia and Osorno, Raúl Ramírez, affected General (R) Nelson Rodríguez Guerrero, and non-commissioned officers Armando Hernández Rivas, Nelson Soto Rubilar, Pablo Mancilla Bórquez, Renato Lizana, and Dagoberto Gajardo Cerón.

The Radio Cooperativa report highlighted that the investigations by the multidisciplinary team of the Investigative Police in charge of the case were complicated by the fact that the former officers currently reside in Antofagasta, Santiago, Temuco, Osorno, and Coyhaique.

At the time of this report, the prosecuted General (R) Rodríguez was being held at the Osorno prefecture facilities, while his remaining five subordinates were transferred to the first precinct of carabineros in the same city.

Source: November 23, 2004 El Mostrador

Date: 23-11-2004