Roberto de Jesús Rojas
Victim of the military dictatorship — 52 years old.
Background
Roberto de Jesús Rojas
Victim of the military dictatorship — 52 years old.
Case summary
Roberto de Jesús Rojas, a 52-year-old inmate with no political affiliation, died from gunshot wounds on October 18, 1985, at the former Penitenciaría de Santiago. His death occurred during a widespread shootout between rioting inmates and security forces, in the context of an escape attempt that affected inmates who were not involved.
Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos[1]
GALVEZ FUENTES, LUIS AURELIO: died on October 18, 1985, in Santiago.
JELVEZ MORALES, DIDE JENNING: 25 years old, single, died on October 18, 1985, in Santiago.
MUÑOZ ULLOA, MAURICIO ANDRES: 27 years old, married, died on October 18, 1985, in Santiago.
PARRA GUTIERREZ, ARNOLDO ANTONIO: 30 years old, married, prison guard, died on October 18, 1985, in Santiago.
ROJAS, ROBERTO DE JESUS: 52 years old, married, died on October 18, 1985, in Santiago.
YAÑEZ MARTINEZ, JUAN CARLOS: 24 years old, married, died on October 18, 1985, in Santiago.
Luis Aurelio Gálvez Fuentes, Dide Jenning Jelvez Morales, Mauricio Andrés Muñoz Ulloa, Arnoldo Antonio Parra Gutiérrez, Roberto de Jesús Rojas, and Juan Carlos Yáñez Martínez died that day, between 17:00 and 23:30 hours, due to gunshot wounds, as recorded in the respective Medical Death Certificates from the Legal Medical Institute. All of them died inside the former Santiago Penitentiary.
According to records from the respective judicial proceeding, their deaths occurred as a result of an attempted escape by a group of common prisoners and prisoners held for political reasons; two other people were killed in the events, and 25 suffered gunshot and pellet wounds of varying severity.
One of the prisoners who planned the escape declared that they used homemade firearms that day, which they had allegedly constructed themselves. The escape attempt began when they took the prison guard Arnoldo Parra hostage in order to pass through the various access doors of the penal facility.
During the attempt, they were discovered by other guards, leading to a shootout. The gunfire subsequently spread to other streets and galleries of the penal facility, where there were inmates who were not involved in the escape attempt.
These shots were fired by some of the mutineers, by officials of the Gendarmerie, Carabineros, the National Intelligence Center (CNI), and by military personnel guarding the Army (FAMAE) munitions factory facility, which is adjacent to the prison.
Dide Jelvez, who participated in the escape attempt, according to witness statements, took refuge in a pit after the shootout began with other prisoners who, like him, were unarmed and avoiding being wounded. When they were leaving the hiding place a short time later with their hands up, he was struck by shots fired by Gendarmerie officials.
Arnoldo Parra died as a result of the same shootout in which Dide Jelvez was killed. According to witnesses, after having taken cover from the gunfire, he had also emerged from the hiding place with his hands up, shouting his name and identifying himself as a prison guard.
Luis Gálvez, Roberto Rojas, and Juan Carlos Yáñez died in different sectors of the prison facility that, according to multiple witness statements, were distant from the place where the escape attempt occurred.
The official version from the Gendarmerie asserted that the three "were active and direct protagonists in the disturbances and disorder occurring inside the establishment, resulting in a generalized mutiny." This version was refuted by witnesses who asserted that they were not participating in the escape and that their deaths were the consequence of an uncontrolled and indiscriminate reaction by Gendarmerie personnel.
Consistent with this, the judicial file states that all three were unarmed at the time they were shot.
Mauricio Muñoz, according to the version of several eyewitnesses, died from a shot fired by a Gendarmerie official, who approached him and fired at close range from the front, striking him in the upper part of his right eye.
Witnesses asserted that he was not participating in the escape, limiting himself to observing the events from a sector far from where they were occurring. The Autopsy Report stated that the cause of his death is consistent with a homicidal action.
At the time these cases were examined, the judicial investigation was still in progress.
Considering the evidence gathered and the investigation carried out by this Corporation, the Superior Council, given the political nature of the events in which their deaths occurred, declared Luis Aurelio Gálvez Fuentes, Dide Jenning Jélvez Morales, Arnoldo Antonio Parra Gutiérrez, Roberto de Jesús Rojas, and Juan Carlos Yáñez Martínez to be victims of the prevailing political violence.
Furthermore, the Superior Council, bearing in mind that the death of Mauricio Andrés Muñoz Ulloa occurred as a consequence of the irrational use of force by an agent of the State, declared him a victim of human rights violations.
References
- 1Museum of Memoryhttps://interactivos.museodelamemoria.cl/victims/?p=1941