The Minister for extraordinary visits for human rights cases of the San Miguel Court of Appeals, Marianela Cifuentes, sentenced 4 former Army officers to life imprisonment for events that occurred between September and October 1973, following the military coup.

In a ruling of more than 800 pages, Judge Marianela Cifuentes established life sentences for former Army officers Jorge Eduardo Romero Campos, Osvaldo Andrés Alonso Magaña Bau, Carlos Walter Kyling Schmidt, and Arturo Guillermo Fernández Rodríguez, as perpetrators of 38 crimes of aggravated kidnapping, which occurred between the months of September and October 1973, following the military coup of September 11 of that same year.

Meanwhile, former members of the military branch José Hugo Vásquez Silva, Carlos del Tránsito Lazo Santibáñez, Juan Dionisio Opazo Vera, Roberto Mauricio Pinto Laborderie, Jorge Segundo Saavedra Meza, Víctor Reinaldo Sandoval Muñoz, and the civilian Juan Guillermo Quintanilla Jerez must serve 20 years in prison.

In the case of the conscript soldier at the time of the events, Raúl Francisco Areyte Valdenegro, the magistrate sentenced him to 15 years in prison as the perpetrator of 14 crimes of aggravated kidnapping; and conscript soldier Carlos Enrique Durán Rodríguez to 15 years and one day in prison as the perpetrator of 38 crimes of aggravated kidnapping.

Finally, the minister sentenced former Carabineros captain Nelson Iván Bravo Espinoza to 10 years and one day in prison as the perpetrator of 2 crimes of aggravated kidnapping.

In civil matters, the state was ordered to pay a total sum of $15,928,000,000 (fifteen billion nine hundred twenty-eight million pesos) to the victims' families.

Among those convicted are also a non-commissioned officer of the institution, a Carabinero, and a civilian, with sentences ranging from 10 to 20 years in prison.

As this is a first-instance ruling, the plaintiffs and the defense may appeal to the San Miguel Court of Appeals, and the case could even reach the Supreme Court.

The events During the investigation phase, the visiting minister established the following facts:

"Regarding the victims José Cabezas Bueno, Francisco Calderón Nilo, Héctor Castro Sáez, Domingo Galaz Salas, José González Espinoza, Juan González Pérez, Aurelio Hidalgo Mella, Bernabé López López, Juan Núñez Vargas, Héctor Pinto Caroca, Hernán Pinto Caroca, Aliro Valdivia Valdivia, Hugo Alfredo Arenas, and Víctor Zamorano González:

1° That on September 24, 1973, in the afternoon, soldiers of the Second Rifle Company of the San Bernardo Infantry School appeared at the ‘El Escorial’ settlement in the commune of Paine and illegally detained Héctor Guillermo Castro Sáez and Juan Bautista Núñez Vargas, among others.

2° That, after their detention, Héctor Castro Sáez and Juan Núñez Vargas were transferred to the Cerro Chena prisoner camp of the San Bernardo Infantry School, a place where they were kept illegally imprisoned.

3° That, on October 2, 1973, soldiers of the San Bernardo Infantry School appeared at the ‘El Escorial’ settlement in the commune of Paine and illegally detained José Ángel Cabezas Bueno, who was immediately transferred to the Cerro Chena prisoner camp.

4° That, on October 3, 1973, in the early morning, soldiers of the Second Rifle Company of the San Bernardo Infantry School, commanded by Captain Jorge Eduardo Romero Campos, left the Cerro Chena prisoner camp, under the charge of Lieutenant Osvaldo Andrés Alonso Magaña Bau and Second Lieutenants Carlos Walter Kyling Schmidt and Arturo Guillermo Fernández Rodríguez, with the detainees José Ángel Cabezas Bueno, Héctor Guillermo Castro Sáez, and Juan Bautista Núñez Vargas, in a red Dodge truck driven by Juan Guillermo Quintanilla Jerez, headed to the ‘El Escorial’ settlement in the commune of Paine and illegally detained Francisco Javier Calderón Nilo, Domingo Octavio Galaz Salas, José Emilio González Espinoza, Juan Rosendo González Pérez, Aurelio Enrique Hidalgo Mella, Bernabé del Carmen López López, Héctor Santiago Pinto Caroca, Hernán Pinto Caroca, Aliro del Carmen Valdivia Valdivia, Hugo Alfredo Vidal Arenas, and Víctor Manuel Zamorano González.

5° That, subsequently, they transported all the detainees in the same truck to a ravine in the Cuesta de Chada and executed them, shooting them with the firearms they were carrying, their bodies being found abandoned in the aforementioned place some time later."

Settlements Meanwhile, regarding the victims José Adasme Núñez, Pedro Cabezas Villegas, Ramón Capetillo Mora, José Castro Maldonado, Patricio Duque Orellana, José Fredes García, Luis Gaete Balmaceda, Carlos Gaete López, Luis Lazo Maldonado, Samuel Lazo Maldonado, Carlos Lazo Quinteros, Samuel Lazo Quinteros, René Maureira Gajardo, Rosalindo Herrera Muñoz, Jorge Muñoz Peñaloza, Mario Muñoz Peñaloza, Ramiro Muñoz Peñaloza, Silvestre Muñoz Peñaloza, Carlos Nieto Duarte, Andrés Pereira Salsberg, Laureano Quiroz Pezoa, Roberto Serrano Galaz, Luis Silva Carreño, and Basilio Valenzuela Álvarez, the investigation established the following sequence:

"1° That, on October 8, 1973, officials of the Paine Carabineros Sub-station appeared at the ‘Campo Lindo’ settlement in the same commune and illegally detained Ramón Alfredo Capetillo Mora, who was immediately locked up in the aforementioned police unit.

2° That, in the following days, Ramón Capetillo Mora was transferred to the Cerro Chena prisoner camp of the San Bernardo Infantry School.

3° That, on October 10, 1973, officials of the Paine Carabineros Sub-station appeared at the ‘24 de Abril’ settlement in the same commune and illegally detained Mario Enrique Muñoz Peñaloza, who was immediately locked up in the aforementioned police unit.

4° That, in the following days, Mario Muñoz Peñaloza was transferred to the Cerro Chena prisoner camp of the San Bernardo Infantry School.

5° That, at the time of the events, the Paine Carabineros Sub-station was under the charge of Captain Nelson Iván Bravo Espinoza.

6° That, on October 16, 1973, in the early morning, soldiers of the Second Rifle Company of the San Bernardo Infantry School, commanded by Captain Jorge Eduardo Romero Campos, left the Cerro Chena prisoner camp, under the charge of Lieutenant Osvaldo Andrés Alonso Magaña Bau and Second Lieutenants Carlos Walter Kyling Schmidt and Arturo Guillermo Fernández Rodríguez, with the detainees Ramón Alfredo Capetillo Mora and Mario Enrique Muñoz Peñaloza, in a red Dodge truck driven by Juan Guillermo Quintanilla Jerez, with the purpose of detaining twenty-two people in the town of Paine.

Thus, in their respective homes, located in the urban area of the commune of Paine, they illegally detained René del Rosario Maureira Gajardo and Andrés Pereira Salsberg. In the ‘24 de Abril’ settlement, they detained Patricio Loreto Duque Orellana, José Germán Fredes García, Carlos Enrique Gaete López, Rosalindo Delfín Herrera Muñoz, Jorge Hernán Muñoz Peñaloza, Ramiro Antonio Muñoz Peñaloza, Silvestre René Muñoz Peñaloza, Carlos Alberto Nieto Duarte, Laureano Quiroz Pezoa, Luis Ramón Silva Carreño, and Basilio Antonio Valenzuela Álvarez.

In the ‘Nuevo Sendero’ settlement, they detained José Domingo Adasme Núñez, José Ignacio Castro Maldonado, Luis Alberto Gaete Balmaceda, Luis Rodolfo Lazo Maldonado, Samuel del Tránsito Lazo Maldonado, Carlos Enrique Lazo Quinteros, and Samuel Altamiro Lazo Quinteros and, finally, in the ‘El Tránsito’ settlement, they detained Pedro Antonio Cabezas Villegas and Roberto Esteban Serrano Galaz.

7° That, subsequently, the aforementioned detainees were transported to the Los Arrayanes ravine, in the Los Quillayes sector, in the vicinity of Lake Rapel, where they were executed by firing squad by the aforementioned soldiers and the civilian who accompanied them, who immediately buried their bodies in the same place, with only bone and dental fragments of eleven of the twenty-four victims being found years later, because their bodies were removed and moved to an unknown location to this date."

Source: paislobo.cl, November 6, 2019

The town of Paine holds the sad record of having the highest number of political executions and forcibly disappeared persons in proportion to its inhabitants. After the military coup, gangs of civilians, police, and military personnel operated there, leaving a trail of blood and pain, murdering peasants from "settlements" created by the Agrarian Reform.

In Paine, victims and perpetrators still live together under the cloak of impunity and oblivion. In 1979, the Military Justice system took charge of dismissing the cases opened for the events in Paine by virtue of the 1978 Amnesty Law, approved by General Pinochet himself to cover up his crimes.

After 29 years, Judge María Estela Elgarrista is approaching the truth.

The Agrarian Reform initiated in the 1960s and accentuated under the government of Salvador Allende and the Unidad Popular allowed many peasant families to benefit from the allocation of land that, until then, belonged to a handful of large landowners.

Thus, the peasants gave life to the "settlements," but in Paine, as in the rest of the Chilean countryside, September 11, 1973, turned everything back. Gangs of far-right civilians, police, and military personnel exacted "revenge," murdering union leaders and "settled" peasants.

The crimes, impunity, and fear spread through the small towns of Paine, Hospital, Huelquén, Culitrín, Chada, Rangue, El Vínculo, Pintué, and Laguna de Aculeo. Many peasants and their families witnessed how local civilians guided the uniformed men through the "settlements," providing names and, most of the time, participating directly in the repression and crimes.

Two weeks ago, and after 29 years, the judge of the San Miguel Court of Appeals, María Estela Elgarrista, summoned family members and perpetrators to various confrontations. Holanda Vidal, wife of the forcibly disappeared Cristian Cartagena Pérez, points out: "I was summoned for the purpose of the lawsuit for the kidnapping and murder of my husband, who disappeared on September 18, 1973.

Our goal is for the culprits to be prosecuted: Carabineros from the Paine sub-station and civilians, who acted together. I identified several of them: Sergeant Retamal, Corporal Ortiz, Albornoz, and Víctor Sagredo; and civilians: Darío González Carrasco, now a merchant, member of Patria y Libertad, who admitted that he detained my husband at the Casa Escuela de Chada where we lived, taking him to the sub-station at six in the morning."

The former Carabineros have denied their participation in the crimes during the confrontations, arguing that they "were on guard duty." "That caused me a shock with paralysis of my arms, a crying and anguish crisis.

It is terrible to relive everything that happened, to see them so close, their cynicism, their audacity to deny the truth. To see them so arrogant, without accepting that what they did was atrocious. These are the first confrontations after 29 years of complaints, searches, and knocking on doors.

This step was possible because of all our effort and work as an Association. We have not compromised on the trial and punishment of the culprits, and that they pay for their crimes with prison."

After the confrontations, the prosecutions should follow. The judge has a long list of civilians, Carabineros, and soldiers from the San Bernardo Infantry Regiment. "One of the murderers is Lieutenant Magaña Baum, and among the Carabineros, Sergeant Verdugo, a torturer who now presents himself as an old man who has done nothing," adds Holanda Vidal.

"Everyone saw them" Juan Maureira is the son of René Maureira Gajardo, who was forcibly disappeared on October 16, 1973, along with 22 other peasants from the Campo Lindo, 24 de Abril, and Nuevo Sendero settlements.

President of the AFDD of Paine, he recalls that military personnel from the San Bernardo Infantry School also participated in the repression and murders: "The judge is investigating nearly 40 complaints filed before Judge Guzmán.

In Paine, there are more than 70 victims, of whom about 40 are still disappeared. These are the cases compiled in the Rettig Report, but others were never reported. We presume that there are around 100 murdered in Paine, most of them peasants from settlements.

The minister will eventually have to prosecute the Carabineros, civilians, and military personnel involved. It is what we expect and what we have asked for, that true justice be done and that we can find our family members...

We know that Lieutenant Magaña has information about what happened to my father and 22 other peasants, among other cases. He killed our family members... The Carabineros have denied their participation, but they are the same ones who still live in the town. How can they deny it if everyone saw them? The same thing happens with the civilians who acted. Paine is a small town."

According to the family members, the judge has acted with rigor, caution, and intelligence. They trust the testimonies and statements she has managed to compile. For them, everything points to the fact that some of those involved will be prosecuted. "Many were even seen entering houses. There is a countless amount of information collected since that time."

So far, they are satisfied with the investigation and the proceedings carried out by the judge. For them, it is the first investigation after 29 years without achieving justice. Up to this minute, civilians and Carabineros have been summoned, and some confrontations have taken place: "Which gives us a bit of satisfaction because it had never been achieved before.

For the moment there are no prosecutions, but the minister continues to work. And we have been able to verify that," says Juan Maureira. Meanwhile, most of the civilians and Carabineros who murdered the peasants of Paine continue to live in the small rural town, in complete impunity. "As far as we have been able to see, for the first time there is an investigation as it should be.

The criminals will have to provide information about what happened. They are the same Carabineros, civilians, and military personnel who are mentioned in most of the cases," he concludes.

Murderers of Paine Carabineros Nelson Bravo Espinoza, captain; Raúl Ortiz Maluenda, 2nd sergeant; Carlos Aburto Jaramillo, 1st corporal; José Retamal Burgos, 1st corporal; Víctor Sagredo Aravena, 1st corporal; Reyes, sergeant; Luis Jara, lieutenant of Pintué; and the Carabineros Samuel Ahumada Cabello; Raúl Donoso Figueroa; Alamiro Garrido Ubal; Jorge González Quezada; Víctor Labarca Díaz; Eduardo Molina Armijo; José Piñaleo Pérez and Jorge Verdugo, among others.

Civilians Hugo Aguilera, Fernando Aguilera, Francisco Luzoro, Jorge Sepúlveda, Tito Carrasco, Claudio Oregón, Darío González Carrasco, Luis Guerrero, Mario Tagle, Ricardo Tagle, Yule Tagle, Jorge Aguirre.

Military - San Bernardo Infantry School

Leonel Köening Alternatt, Director; Samuel Rojas Pérez, lieutenant colonel; Mario Morales Durán, conscript; Andrés Magaña Baum, lieutenant; Pedro Montalvo Calvo, colonel; Iván de la Fuente Sáez, major; Hernán Pizarro Collarte, major; Ciro Ahumada Miranda, major; Juan Carlos Nielsen Stambuck, captain; Sergio Rodríguez Rautcher, captain; Luis Cortés Villa, captain; Víctor Pinto Pérez, captain; Marcial Cobos Farías, captain; Jorge Romero Campos, captain; Luis Villarroel Contreras, captain; Héctor Maturana Zúñiga, captain; Luis Garfias Cabrera, captain; Eduardo Silva Bravo, captain; Sergio Valdivia M., captain; and Julio Cerda Carrasco, captain, among others.

Source: elsiglo.cl, February 25, 2003

Paine Case: San Miguel Court sentences retired Army personnel for 38 counts of aggravated homicide

The San Miguel Court of Appeals reduced the sentences that 13 retired Army members must serve for their responsibility in the crime of aggravated homicide of 38 peasants from settlements in the commune of Paine, executed at the Cuesta Chada and the Los Quillayes ravine in 1973.

In the sentence (case roll 3.221-2019), the Fourth Chamber of the appellate court—composed of ministers Diego Simpértigue, Ana Cinfuegos, and Dora Mondaca—reclassified the aggravated kidnappings as aggravated homicides and reduced the criminal sanction that the convicted Jorge Romero Campos, Osvaldo Magaña Bau, and Juan Quintanilla Jerez must serve to 15 years in prison, as perpetrators of the crimes.

Meanwhile, Carlos Kyling Schmidt and Arturo Fernández Rodríguez were sentenced to 10 years in prison; and José Vásquez Silva, Carlos Lazo Santibáñez, Juan Opazo Vera, Rodrigo Pinto Labordarie, Jorge Saavedra Mesa, Víctor Sandoval Muñoz, Carlos Durán Rodríguez, and Raúl Areyte Valdenegro must serve 5 years and one day in prison.

In the case of former Carabinero officer Nelson Iván Bravo Espinoza, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison, with the benefit of intensive supervised release for the same period, as the perpetrator of two crimes of simple kidnapping.

"That regarding the legal classification, it should be noted that although the Court's accusation indicates that crimes of aggravated kidnapping were committed, at the date the events investigated in this case were committed, said typical figure, contained in article 141 of the Penal Code, could not be configured, since the victims, as established in the thirteenth and thirty-first considerations, were detained and subsequently executed by the perpetrators," the ruling states.

The resolution adds that: "Furthermore, in the ninth consideration, a list of the death certificates of José Ángel Cabezas Bueno (page 2,759), Francisco Javier Calderón Nilo (pages 2,721 and 30,258), Héctor Guillermo Castro Sáez (page 22,144), Domingo Octavio Galaz Salas (page 17,430), José Emilio González Espinoza (page 17,431), Juan Rosendo González Pérez (page 2,752), Aurelio Enrique Hidalgo Mella (page 17,432), Bernabé del Carmen López López (pages 2 and 981), Juan Bautista Núñez Vargas (page 2,755), Héctor Santiago Pinto Caroca (page 2,754), Hernán Pinto Caroca (page 2,720), Aliro del Carmen Valdivia Valdivia (page 30,259), Hugo Alfredo Vidal Arenas (page 17,433), Víctor Manuel Zamorano González (page 22,153) is provided. And regarding the victims who will be mentioned in the thirty-first motive, it was also established that they were executed, and in some cases, the respective death certificate is also attached: José Domingo Adasme Núñez, Pedro Antonio Cabezas Villegas, Ramón Alfredo Capetillo Mora (page 16,123), José Ignacio Castro Maldonado (page 30,261), Patricio Loreto Duque Orellana, José Germán Fredes García, Luis Alberto Gaete Balmaceda (page 30,262), Carlos Enrique Gaete López (page 15,322), Rosalindo Delfín Herrera Muñoz (page 15,330), Luis Rodolfo Lazo Maldonado, Samuel del Tránsito Lazo Maldonado (page 30,263), Carlos Enrique Lazo Quinteros (page 30,264), Samuel Altamiro Lazo Quinteros, René del Rosario Maureira Gajardo, Jorge Hernán Muñoz Peñaloza, Mario Enrique Muñoz Peñaloza (page 30,265), Ramiro Antonio Muñoz Peñaloza, Silvestre René Muñoz Peñaloza (page 15,334), Carlos Alberto Nieto Duarte, Andrés Pereira Salsberg (page 15,443), Laureano Quiroz Pezoa, Roberto Estevan Serrano Galaz, Luis Silva Carreño (page 30,266), and Basilio Antonio Valenzuela Álvarez."

"That—it continues—, in effect, article 141, final paragraph, of the Penal Code, in force at the time the events occurred, provided that 'If the confinement or detention lasts for more than ninety days, or if it results in serious damage to the person or interests of the confined or detained person, the penalty will be major imprisonment in any of its degrees,' so it did not contemplate the figure of kidnapping causing the death of the victim.

Therefore, the facts do not correspond to the figure of aggravated kidnapping, but, in this way, without altering the facts contained in the accusation, nor those established in the first-instance sentence, the illicit act that was committed was that of aggravated homicide, regarding which treachery mediated, contemplated in article 391 of the Penal Code, No. 1, first circumstance, in force on September 14, 1973.

Said norm provided that 'He who kills another and is not included in the previous article, will be punished: 1.- With major imprisonment in its medium degree to life imprisonment, if he executes the homicide with any of the following circumstances: First: Treachery'."

For the San Miguel Court: "(...) in any case, it is not superfluous to express that, in accordance with the established facts, although we could be in the presence of some figure of kidnapping and/or illegal coercion, according to the principle of consumption, the illicit conducts committed as antecedents, means, stages of development, or consequences, must be considered absorbed by the aggravated homicide, since it is a figure of greater harm due to affecting the legal good of the right to life.

For these reasons, aggravated homicide subsumes the other criminal figures that could concur in the present case."

"That, now, regarding the concurrence of the first circumstance of No. 1 of article 391 of the Penal Code, that is, treachery, the respective requirements concur in the present case, so it is concluded that the aggravated homicide was committed with this qualifying circumstance.

Indeed, the victims were detained by a group of soldiers, being led in absolute defenselessness to sectors where there were no other people and were executed by a group of riflemen, members of the Chilean Army, under the command of Lieutenant Osvaldo Andrés Alonso Magaña Bau.

In this way, the objective and subjective requirements that make the aforementioned circumstance applicable concur, since the agents acted on sure ground, pursuing impunity and the defenselessness of the victims, and, prior to the illegitimate act, there exists an intellectual pre-ordination of means with the purpose of ensuring the result and avoiding the risks of a defense."

"That, for its part, the prosecution evidence referred to in the appealed sentence allows for the participation of Jorge Eduardo Romero Campos, Osvaldo Andrés Alonso Magaña Bau, Carlos Walter Kyling Schmidt, Arturo Guillermo Fernández Rodríguez, José Hugo Vásquez Silva, Carlos Enrique Durán Rodríguez, Carlos del Tránsito Lazo Santibáñez, Juan Dionisio Opazo Vera, Roberto Mauricio Pinto Laborderie, Jorge Segundo Saavedra Meza, Víctor Reinaldo Sandoval Muñoz, Juan Guillermo Quintanilla Jerez, and Raúl Francisco Areyta Valdenegro to be considered proven, as perpetrators of the crimes of aggravated homicide of José Ángel Cabezas Bueno, Francisco Javier Calderón Nilo, Héctor Guillermo Castro Sáez, Domingo Octavio Galaz Salas, José Emilio González Espinoza, Juan Rosendo González Pérez, Aurelio Enrique Hidalgo Mella, Bernabé del Carmen López López, Juan Bautista Núñez Vargas, Héctor Santiago Pinto Caroca, Hernán Pinto Caroca, Aliro del Carmen Valdivia Valdivia, Hugo Alfredo Vidal Arenas, Víctor Manuel Zamorano González, Domingo Adasme Núñez, Pedro Antonio Cabezas Villegas, Ramón Alfredo Capetillo Mora, José Ignacio Castro Maldonado, Patricio Loreto Duque Orellana, José Germán Fredes García, Luis Alberto Gaete Balmaceda, Carlos Enrique Gaete López, Rosalindo Delfín Herrera Muñoz, Luis Rodolfo Lazo Maldonado, Samuel del Tránsito Lazo Maldonado, Carlos Enrique Lazo Quinteros, Samuel Altamiro Lazo Quinteros, René del Rosario Maureira Gajardo, Jorge Hernán Muñoz Peñaloza, Mario Enrique Muñoz Peñaloza, Ramiro Antonio Muñoz Peñaloza, Silvestre René Muñoz Peñaloza, Carlos Alberto Nieto Duarte, Andrés Pereira Salsberg, Laureano Quiroz Pezoa, Roberto Estevan Serrano Galaz, Luis Silva Carreño, and Basilio Antonio Valenzuela Álvarez."

Decision adopted with the dissenting vote of Minister Simpértigue, regarding the application of the partial prescription alleged in the case.

Source: adprensa.cl, November 11, 2020

Minister Marianela Cifuentes sentences military personnel for the aggravated kidnapping of three Paine peasants

The minister for extraordinary visits for human rights cases of the San Miguel Court of Appeals, Marianela Cifuentes, issued a first-instance sentence in the case investigating the aggravated kidnapping of agricultural workers Manuel Ortiz Ortiz (18) and Juan Guillermo Cuadra Espinoza (26), and the abduction of the minor Ignacio del Tránsito Santander Albornoz (17), events that occurred between September 24 and October 2, 1973, in the El Escorial sector, in Paine, commune of San Bernardo.

Thus, the magistrate sentenced Jorge Eduardo Romero Campos, Alfonso Faúndez Norambuena, Carlos Walter Kyling Schmidt, and José Hugo Vázquez Silva to 15 years and one day of major imprisonment in its maximum degree, as perpetrators of the aggravated kidnapping of Manuel Ortiz and the abduction of the minor.

Meanwhile, Escipón Pedro Cesar Escobar Norambuena was sentenced to 10 years of major imprisonment in its medium degree for said crimes. And she acquitted Roberto Rozas Aguilera.

For their part, Sergio Ávila Quiroga and Jorge Reyes Cortés were sentenced to 15 years and one day as perpetrators of the aggravated kidnapping of Ortiz and Guillermo Cuadra Espinoza; as well as for the abduction of the minor Tránsito Santander. And a sentence of 10 years and one day for Carlos Durán Rodríguez, Carlos del Tránsito Lazo Santibáñez, Jorge Saavedra Meza, and Víctor Sandoval Muñoz.

All those convicted were members of the Army, soldiers of the Second Rifle Company of the San Bernardo Infantry School. The second lieutenant of said military unit, retired Army Colonel Andrés Magaña Bau, passed away during the investigation, in July 2021.

Lawyer Nelson Caucoto, a plaintiff in the case, valued the resolution and indicated that "this case refers to the martyrdom of 3 young Chileans against whom the military acted with cruelty. They are symbols of the brutality unleashed in Paine by the Dictatorship."

Caucoto, along with valuing the resolution, highlighted the work carried out by the magistrate: "The task of the Minister for Visits Marianela Cifuentes is commendable and vindicates judicial activity.

The families of the peasants of Paine cry out to heaven for justice for all their victims, and with this ruling, a transcendent step is taken in that immense task, which has not yet concluded, but advances without faltering."

The facts

According to the information compiled by the minister, it has been possible to establish:

a) That, on September 24, 1973, in the El Escorial sector of Paine, soldiers of the Second Rifle Company of the San Bernardo Infantry School, commanded by Captain Jorge Romero Campos, under the charge of Second Lieutenant Osvaldo Andrés Magaña Bau, illegally detained Juan Guillermo Cuadra Espinoza and Ignacio del Tránsito Santander Albornoz, among others.

b) That, after their detention, Cuadra Espinoza and Santander Albornoz were transferred to the Prisoner Camp that the San Bernardo Infantry School maintained inside Cerro Chena, under the charge of Lieutenant Alfonso Faúndez Norambuena, a place where Second Lieutenant Carlos Walter Kyling Schmidt also worked, along with personnel from Investigations and Carabineros, among them, Mario Jesús Campos Ripley, Oscar Hernán Vergara Cruces, Roberto Arcángel Rozas Aguilera, and Sergio Heriberto Ávila Quiroga, where they were kept locked up.

c) That, subsequently, on October 2, 1973, in the El Escorial sector of Paine, soldiers of the Second Rifle Company of the San Bernardo Infantry School, commanded by Captain Jorge Romero Campos, under the charge of Second Lieutenant Osvaldo Andrés Magaña Bau, illegally detained Carlos Manuel Ortiz Ortiz.

d) That, likewise after his detention, Ortiz Ortiz was transferred to the aforementioned Prisoner Camp, under the charge of Lieutenant Alfonso Faúndez Norambuena, a place where he was kept locked up, illegally.

e) That, finally, and inside the aforementioned place, Juan Guillermo Cuadra Espinoza and Carlos Manuel Ortiz Ortiz were executed by firing squad on October 5 and 6, 1973, respectively, with the whereabouts of Ignacio del Tránsito Santander Albornoz remaining unknown to this date.

by Daniela Caucoto T.

Source: piensachile.com, February 8, 2022

San Miguel Court sentences nine military personnel for abduction of minors and kidnapping in Paine case

The victims were 17, 18, and 26 years old. They were kidnapped and then executed by firing squad, but the body of the youngest of all was never found. The former uniformed personnel received sentences ranging from 10 years and one day to 15 years and one day.

The Fourth Chamber of the San Miguel Court of Appeals issued a second-instance ruling in the so-called Paine case, Escorial Cerro Chena episode, which investigates the crimes committed against Juan Guillermo Cuadra Espinoza (26 years old, agricultural worker), Ignacio Santander Albornoz (17 years old, high school student), and Carlos Manuel Ortiz Ortiz (18 years old, agricultural worker), which occurred between September and October 1973 at the hands of military personnel assigned to the Second Rifle Company of the San Bernardo Infantry School.

Ministers María Soledad Espina Otero, María Alejandra Pizarro Soto, and Celia Catalán Romero confirmed the sentences against Jorge Eduardo Romero Campos, Alfonso Faúndez Norambuena, José Hugo Vásquez Silva, and Jorge Fernando Reyes Cortés, of 15 years and one day of major imprisonment in its maximum degree; and against Escipión Pedro Escobar Norambuena, Carlos Enrique Durán Rodríguez, Carlos del Tránsito Lazo Santibáñez, Jorge Segundo Saavedra Meza, and Víctor Reinaldo Sandoval Muñoz, of 10 years and one day of major imprisonment in its medium degree, all as perpetrators of aggravated abduction of a minor regarding Ignacio Santander Albornoz and of aggravated kidnapping in the case of Juan Guillermo Cuadra Espinoza and Carlos Manuel Ortiz.

According to the investigation of the case, the three victims were detained from their homes and transferred to the military unit, where they were executed by firing squad on October 5 and 6, 1973. The bodies of Cuadra Espinoza and Ortiz Ortiz were transferred to the Legal Medical Service and then buried in Patio 29 of the General Cemetery.

Meanwhile, to date, the whereabouts of the body of the minor Ignacio del Tránsito Santander Albornoz are unknown.

"That the sentences of these criminals have been confirmed is a relief for the families of the victims, who with so much effort and patience have waited for justice. The three victims were very young, they had their whole lives ahead of them, and it will never be understood why they were treated in this way.

We are satisfied with this good news of the last case of the Paine case, which was pending before the San Miguel Court of Appeals, and we hope that the criteria expressed in the ruling will be maintained if the case goes to the Supreme Court," points out lawyer Andrea Gattini, of the Caucoto Abogados Law Firm, a plaintiff in the case.

Last June, family members of forcibly disappeared and executed persons from Paine requested the president of the Supreme Court to speed up the processing of the cases still pending from the different episodes of the Paine case, on the verge of the 50th anniversary of the events that brought mourning to that town, this being the last case that remained in the second instance.

Currently, all pending episodes of said case are awaiting resolution by the Supreme Court.

Source: elmostrador.cl, October 6, 2023

San Miguel Court confirms sentence of former Army officer for the crime of three rural teachers from Linderos in October 1973

The San Miguel Court of Appeals confirmed the sentence that convicted a former Army officer for his responsibility in the consummated crimes of simple kidnapping and aggravated homicide of teachers Hugolino Humberto Arias Navarrete, Víctor Omar Gálvez Norambuena, and Nelson Joaquín Medina Letelier, perpetrated in October 1973, in the commune of San Bernardo.

In a unanimous ruling (case roll 440-2023), the Second Chamber of the appellate court—composed of ministers María Carolina Catepillán Lobos, Liliana Mera Muñoz, and minister Patricio Martínez Benavides—ratified the sentence issued by the minister for extraordinary visits Marianela Cifuentes Alarcón, which sentenced former Army Brigadier Jorge Eduardo Romero Campos to sentences of 15 years and one day of effective imprisonment, as perpetrator of the crimes of aggravated homicide of the victims, and 3 years and one day of effective imprisonment, as perpetrator of the crime of kidnapping the teachers.

Meanwhile, the criminal former officer Alfonso Faúndez Norambuena, who in the first instance was also sentenced to the same prison terms as Romero Campos, was dismissed for having fallen into dementia or mental alienation before the issuance of the Court's ruling.

In the judicial investigation by Minister Cifuentes, it was established that, after the restrictions imposed with the coup d'état, and in compliance with an order issued by the military who had seized power, on Monday, October 1, 1973, teachers Hugolino Humberto Arias Navarrete, 35 years old, Víctor Omar Gálvez Norambuena, 21 years old, and Nelson Joaquín Medina Letelier, 23 years old, left their respective homes for the rural technical school where they performed their duties, located in the town of Linderos, commune of Buin, with the purpose of resuming classes that had been suspended since September 11, 1973.

However, the three teachers were detained by officials assigned to the Buin Carabineros Police Station, who transferred them to the aforementioned police unit, directed at the time by Major Héctor Ubilla Castillo (currently deceased) and then handed them over to a military patrol from the San Bernardo Infantry School, under the charge of Captain Víctor Raúl Pinto Pérez, also deceased.

Subsequently, the detained teachers were led to the prisoner camp of the San Bernardo Infantry School, located on Cerro Chena, a military facility under the command of officers Jorge Eduardo Romero Campos (who rose to the rank of Army Brigadier), Alfonso Faúndez Norambuena (now "demented," who reached the rank of lieutenant colonel), and Osvaldo Andrés Magaña Bau (former colonel, now deceased), among others, all from the Second Rifle Company of the San Bernardo Infantry School.

On October 2, 1973, teachers Hugolino Humberto Arias Navarrete, Víctor Omar Gálvez Norambuena, and Nelson Joaquín Medina Letelier were executed inside the San Bernardo Infantry School, outside all legality, by means of multiple gunshots.

Regarding the sentence that falls on the criminal Jorge Romero Campos, the resolution of the San Miguel Court points out:

"That regarding the participation of the accused in the crimes of aggravated homicide for which he was convicted, the truth is that it is an established fact in the case, ......., that the victims, Hugolino Humberto Arias Navarrete, Víctor Omar Gálvez Norambuena, and Nelson Joaquín Medina Letelier were detained on October 1, 1973, and subsequently taken from the Buin Carabineros Police Station to the San Bernardo Infantry School, where they were executed the following day," the ruling maintains.

"The homicides for which Jorge Eduardo Romero Campos was convicted are framed within a generalized and systematic attack against a determined group of the civilian population, made up, in this case, of people whom State agents, a quality the accused had, categorized as 'extremists'."

by Darío Núñez

Source: resumen.cl, October 28, 2023