30 years old, single, paramedic assistant, forcibly disappeared in September 1973 in Santa Bárbara, Bío-Bío province. Elba Burgos Sáez was detained during the third week of September 1973 by Carabineros officers from Santa Bárbara, and her whereabouts have been unknown since that date.

According to statements by her relatives and witnesses, Elba Burgos was a well-known social leader and communal secretary of the Partido Socialista in Santa Bárbara. During approximately the third week of September 1973, she was detained on a public street by Carabineros and taken to the local police station; she has remained disappeared ever since.

After her detention, several of her relatives were harassed and detained due to their political affiliations. By virtue of the information gathered and the investigation conducted by this Corporation, the Superior Council reached the conviction that Elba Burgos Sáez was detained by State agents and disappeared while being held in that status.

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

Source: (Corporacion)

The Concepción Court of Appeals issued a second-instance sentence against 14 retired Carabineros and civilians for their responsibility in the crime of aggravated kidnapping of 28 peasants from Santa Bárbara and Quilaco.

These crimes were perpetrated starting on September 11, 1973, in the Andean foothills of the Biobío Region. In a unanimous ruling, the Third Chamber of the appellate court—composed of ministers Carola Rivas Vargas, Viviana Iza Miranda, and acting lawyer Jean Pierre Latsague Lightwood—also confirmed the total compensation of $1,215,000,000 (one billion two hundred fifteen million pesos) that the State and the convicted individuals must pay to the victims' families.

In the ruling, the court sentenced Plante Euclide Aravena Sáez to 14 years in prison , as the author of 19 crimes of aggravated kidnapping; meanwhile, Héctor Isaías Echeverría Beltrán and José Heraldo Pulgar Riquelme must serve 11 years and 10 years and one day in prison, respectively , as authors of 10 and 7 aggravated kidnappings.

In the case of Carlos Santiago Sepúlveda Rivera, the court sentenced him to 10 years and one day in prison , as the author of four crimes of aggravated kidnapping, and Pedro Segundo Ruiz Pardo must serve 5 years and one day in prison , as the author of one crime of aggravated kidnapping.

Additionally, in the case, Sergio Amado Fuentes Valenzuela, Luis Enrique Ricardo Antonio Barrueto Bartning, and Manuel Darío Barrueto Bartning were sentenced as accomplices to 6 years in prison , for their role as accomplices in seven crimes of aggravated kidnapping.

Meanwhile, Exequiel del Carmen Celedón Barrera received 5 years and one day of effective prison time , as an accomplice to two crimes of aggravated kidnapping. In the case of Jorge Denis Domínguez Larenas, Jorge Eduardo Valdivia Dames, and José Roberto Valdivia Dames, they were sentenced to 4 years in prison as accomplices to one crime of aggravated kidnapping.

They were granted the benefit of supervised release. The same benefit was granted to Eugenio Villa Urrutia, José Feliciano Gutiérrez Ortiz, and Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán , sentenced to 4 years in prison as accomplices to seven, seven, and five aggravated kidnappings, respectively.

In the case, the dismissal of charges was decreed for retired Carabineros officers José Eleodoro Burgos Sandoval and José Jaime Godoy Godoy, and civilians Sergio Alejandro Pino Cabezas and Sergio Humberto Salazar San Martín, due to their deaths.

During the investigation stage, Minister Raquel Lermanda Spichiger managed to establish that, between September 11 and December 20, 1973, Carabineros officers—supported by groups of civilians—illegally detained 28 victims, mainly peasants, in the communes of Santa Bárbara and Quilaco, whose whereabouts remain unknown to this day.

In Santa Bárbara, the group illegally detained: José Domingo Godoy Acuña Julio Godoy Godoy Desiderio Aguilera Solís José Nazario Godoy Acuña Manuel Salamanca Mella José Mariano Godoy Acuña Miguel Cuevas Pincheira Sebastián Hernaldo Campos Díaz José Rafael Zúñiga Aceldine José Secundino Zúñiga Aceldine José Gilberto Araneda Riquelme Juan de Dios Rubio Llancao Julio Rubio Llancao José María Tranamil Pereira José Guillermo Purrán Treca Elba Burgos Sáez Juan de Dios Fuentes Lizama Juan Francisco Fuentes Lizama Sergio D´Apollonio Petermann Aliro Oporto Durán.

In the commune of Quilaco, the victims were identified as: Cristino Humberto Cid Fuentealba José Felidor Pinto Pinto Luis Alberto Cid Cid Luis Alberto Bastías Sandoval Raimundo Salazar Muñoz Gabriel José Viveros Flores Segundo Marcial Soto Quijón José Roberto Molina Quezada.

Regarding civil matters, the chamber confirmed the compensation for moral damages, with the State of Chile and the convicted individuals being jointly and severally liable to pay a total of $1,215,000,000 (one billion two hundred fifteen million pesos) to the victims' families.

Source: elcontraste.cl, 06/14/2019

Date: 06-14-2019

Curacautín Municipality continues to employ individual convicted of crimes against humanity as school director

A completely irregular situation is occurring in the commune of Curacautín, in La Araucanía, specifically at the Collico school, where the municipality maintains a criminal convicted of crimes against humanity as director.

This concerns Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán, a civilian convicted for his participation in the disappearance of 28 peasants in Santa Bárbara and Quilaco, in the Biobío foothills, between September and December 1973.

Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán is the name of the criminal convicted of crimes against humanity who works as the teacher in charge of the Collico rural school in Curacautín. The offender was convicted, along with four Carabineros and nine civilians, as an author of the kidnapping and disappearance of 28 peasants in Quilaco and Santa Bárbara, in what constitutes one of the most brutal crimes of the dictatorship.

Burgos Belauzarán was sentenced to four years of major imprisonment in its minimum degree, accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualification for public offices and political rights, and absolute disqualification for professional practice for the duration of the sentence, but he currently appears as the teacher in charge of the Collico rural school, with a salary of more than $2 million.

He has held the position since at least 2016. Due to the gravity of this situation, not only because of its illegality but because of what a conviction for crimes against humanity entails, SUMMARY contacted both the DAEM (Municipal Education Administration Department) of Curacautín and the Regional Ministerial Secretariat (Seremi) of Education in La Araucanía, where they avoided assuming responsibility and announced that the situation is in the hands of a legal team "to reach a resolution." From the municipal education department, they indicated that "the Supreme Court has not yet informed us, and in the current collection of background information, the disqualification appeared, and that is why the information was sent to the lawyers. I had no idea; I have been in the position for almost a year and I am not from Curacautín either." Patricio Aguilera, director of the DAEM, noted that this rural school is currently in recess, but Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán appears to be earning a salary, as of March 2023, of more than $2 million. In this regard, Aguilera replied that "he is on medical leave, and the leave is paid by the Isapre (health insurance). We have now sent the background information to the legal advisors when we received the certificate of disqualification; we immediately referred it to our lawyers." When asked, the Seremi of Education for La Araucanía, María Isabel Mariñanco, about why a human rights violator remains in charge of a school, she limited herself to blaming the sponsor, avoiding any mention of possible measures. "In the administrative sphere of the management of educational establishments, the hiring of personnel is the responsibility of the sponsor, which in this case corresponds to the municipality. As the Ministry of Education, we call on municipalities and the local public education service, in their capacity as sponsors, to provide greater rigor to the processes of reviewing the background of those who perform work in educational establishments." For now, the criminal convicted of crimes against humanity, Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán, is on medical leave, and according to the DAEM, they are "waiting" for the legal team's review to finalize his dismissal; for the time being, he continues to appear as the teacher in charge of the Collico school. Below, we describe the events in which Burgos Belauzarán participated directly as an author, committed in Santa Bárbara and Quilaco between September and December 1973: The judicial investigation establishes in detail the various criminal episodes carried out by the uniformed and civilian perpetrators of true extermination raids. Thus, on September 13, 1973, a group of civilians and Carabineros, all armed with firearms and traveling in motorized vehicles, arrived at the home of Cristino Humberto Cid Fuentealba, located on the El Rodal plot on the outskirts of Quilaco, proceeding to detain him in the presence of his relatives, and then taking him away on foot to an unknown destination, making him disappear to this date. On September 14, 1973, Juan de Dios Fuentes Lizama and Juan Francisco Fuentes Lizama were kidnapped from their home located in a hut on the Corcovado estate, on the road to Villacura, in the commune of Santa Bárbara, by Carabineros and civilians, and their fate remains unknown to this date. On September 16, 1973, Juan de Dios Rubio Llancao and Julio Alberto Rubio Llancao were detained and taken to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros Station, under the command of the Unit Chief, then-Lieutenant Planté Aravena Sáez. On the same day, Guillermo Purrán Treca went to the indicated police unit seeking protection because he could not return home, as he had missed the bus and the start of the curfew was approaching, but they kept him there as a detainee. At night, these three peasants, plus José María Tranamil Pereira, who had also been detained, were taken out of the police station and transported to the Quilaco bridge, where the Carabineros riddled them with bullets; since that date, there has been no news regarding the four peasants. On September 16, 1973, Sebastián Hernaldo Campos Díaz voluntarily presented himself at the Santa Bárbara Carabineros Station, as he had been previously summoned, and was detained; his whereabouts remain unknown to this date. At noon on September 17, 1973, Elba Burgos Sáez was detained by Carabineros on a public street in the city of Santa Bárbara, was put into a pickup truck, and taken to an unknown destination; since that date, there has been no news of her whereabouts or her existence. On the afternoon of September 17, 1973, José Rafael Zúñiga Aceldine, José Secundino Zúñiga Aceldine, and José Gilberto Araneda Riquelme voluntarily went to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros Station, complying with a summons that Carabineros of the aforementioned police unit had made through a third party, and were entered into said facility as detainees; since that date, there has been no news regarding their whereabouts or fate. In the commune of Quilaco, in the early hours of September 20, 1973, a group of Carabineros and civilians arrived at the home of José Felidor Pinto Pinto, a leader of the Campo Lindo peasant settlement, located on the old Huinquén estate, whom they detained, taking him from his house to an unknown destination in vehicles, from which moment there was never any news of his fate, his trail disappearing to this date. On the morning of September 20, 1973, in the commune of Santa Bárbara, the group of executioners arrived at the 'El Huachi' estate, located 8 kilometers from that commune, and detained José Domingo Godoy Acuña, Julio César Godoy Godoy, and Desiderio Aguilera Solís, transporting them to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros Station, from where they were taken out at night to an unknown destination, and they have not been seen again or had their whereabouts known to this date. Around noon that day, the same group headed to the Loncopangue village and also to the vicinity of the Rañiguel estate in the same sector, proceeding to detain Luis Alberto Cid Cid, Luis Bastías Sandoval, and Raimundo Salazar Muñoz, who were loaded onto a Quilaco Municipality truck driven by José Feliciano Gutiérrez Ortiz, known as 'El Chamo', to then be taken along the public road leading to Quilaco to a path that leads to the confluence of the Bío Bío and Quilmes rivers, where they were taken off the vehicle and, guarded by their captors, were led on foot to the banks of the indicated watercourses, at which moment their captors allegedly fired firearms at them, their bodies falling into the channel of the mentioned rivers, their actual whereabouts remaining unknown to this date. Also that same day, in the afternoon, the local resident Segundo Marcial Soto Quijón was detained in Quilaco by a group made up of Carabineros and civilians, the date from which they made him disappear. In the commune of Santa Bárbara, at approximately 14:00 hours on the same day, September 20, the criminal group detained José Nazario Godoy Acuña in the Los Junquillos sector, who was subsequently taken to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros Station. Around 22:30 hours on September 20, 1973, in the commune of Santa Bárbara, they arrived at the home of Manuel Salamanca Mella, located on Avenida La Feria without number in Santa Bárbara, where they detained him in the presence of his relatives, to then take him to the Carabineros Station. On the same date, the same group went to the boarding house located at Calle Rosas N° 343 in the commune of Santa Bárbara, where they detained José Mariano Godoy Acuña, who was taken to the Station where they were last seen, and they have not been seen again or had their whereabouts known to this date. On the night of September 20, 1973, the same armed group of Carabineros and civilians arrived at the home of Miguel Cuevas Pincheira, located at Calle Rosas N° 371 in Santa Bárbara, and detained him in the presence of his relatives, spouse, and children, taking him from his house and transporting him to an unknown location, and he has not been seen again or had his whereabouts known to this date. On September 23, 1973, in the early hours of the morning, the group of executioners broke into the La Palma plot, in the commune of Santa Bárbara, to kidnap the peasants Sergio D’Apollonio Petermann, 48 years old, and his son Carlos Jacinto D’Apollonio Zapata, 22 years old, from their home. They took Carlos Jacinto to the bridge that connects the communes of Santa Bárbara and Quilaco, over the Bío Bío river, where they placed him on one of the railings and fired firearms at him, causing him to fall into the riverbed. However, the current dragged his body to one of the banks, where his body was found by relatives and acquaintances on the morning of the following day. They took the corpse to their home and proceeded to hold a wake to then bury him, but in the afternoon of that day, the same individuals who had kidnapped him the night before broke in to steal the young man's body and took it away to make it disappear to the present. On the morning of November 3, 1973, at approximately 11:00 hrs., the group of Carabineros and civilians arrived at Plot N° 112 in the Piñiquihue sector of the commune of Quilaco, where they detained José Roberto Molina Quezada, took him out of his house, and took him away in a vehicle to an unknown destination, from which moment there was never any news or knowledge of his whereabouts. On the night of Saturday, November 3, they arrived at the home of Gabriel José Viveros Flores, located on the outskirts of Loncopangue, proceeding to detain him in the presence of his relatives, taking him from his house and taking him away to an unknown destination. Around 16:00 hours on November 7, 1973, while Aliro Segundo Oporto Durán, 17 years old, was in a house located in the Raleo sector of the town of Alto Bío Bío, Carabineros personnel arrived to detain him, but the young man ran in the direction of the Bío Bío river, being pursued by the police, one of whom shot him, managing to apprehend him, from which moment all news of his whereabouts or existence is unknown. by Juan Contreras Jara

Source: resumen.cl, May 10, 2023

Date: 05-10-2023

Forcibly disappeared persons of the Biobío region remembered with a Concert for Memory

“Through music, we bring to the present the memory of the victims of the civil-military dictatorship…” The words of Hilda Espinoza, a member of the Association of Relatives of the Forcibly Disappeared of Concepción, began the 2022 Vigil Concert for Memory, with the Camerata Vocal Concepción and the Orchestra for Memory directed by Jaime Cofré, in tribute to the forcibly disappeared.

Antonio Salieri’s Requiem in C Minor was heard with emotion and reflection at the La Merced Parish on the night of Saturday, September 10, on the eve of a new anniversary of the military coup of September 11, 1973.

Music for memory and peace that, as Hilda well said, allowed for the easing of the pain lived in this journey of almost 50 years in the search for fathers, husbands, children, and brothers who were one day snatched from their homes and whose whereabouts were never known again.

Throughout this Concert for Memory, the accounts of men and women read by Elizabeth, Hilda, and Ester came to life. Life stories Elizabeth Velásquez told something of the life of Rachel Venegas Illanes, a young teacher from Chiguayante, forcibly disappeared on September 24, 1976, in Argentina, the country to which she had gone after suffering persecution during the dictatorship.

Her family did not know her whereabouts until March 2008, when her identity was confirmed among the remains of more than 300 people who were exhumed from a cemetery in Argentina. Her mother, Ester Illanes, never thought she would find her.

Finally, and after a long search, she was able to bury her daughter in the Chiguayante cemetery on October 18, 2008. The music allowed for the easing of the impact of a story that never ceases to move.

Then, Ester Araneda recounted part of the ordeal she had to live through when, on September 9, 1976, her husband, Alfonso Araya, was detained in Santiago, and she never heard from him again. “I started by looking for you at the Vicaría de la Solidaridad, regiments in Santiago, the Sendet (National Service for Detainees), the Legal Medical Institute, hospitals, various police stations… I never had an answer.” “We will continue demanding to know what happened to our relatives, we will continue demanding truth and justice, which is all we have left…” Hilda Espinoza brought the account of Eglantina Alegría, who passed away on April 23, 2019, and who tirelessly searched for her husband, Luis Acevedo, mayor of Coelemu, detained on April 30, 1974. “For 40 years I have searched for him by heaven, sea, and land, without ever having received news of what happened to my husband. I looked for him in the morgue, in police stations, at the Talcahuano Naval Base, in many places, without ever having an answer.” Part of the story of César Negrete Peña, forcibly disappeared since December 9, 1974, and of ELBA BURGOS SAEZ, a paramedic from Santa Bárbara, was also remembered: “She was ambushed by Carabineros and did not reach her destination. Her steps were abruptly cut short…,” on October 10, 1973. Once the music ended, images of the forcibly disappeared men and women of the Biobío region were projected on the altar. In silence, those who attended the La Merced Parish observed those black-and-white photographs that testified to the existence of those whom they sought to erase forever. A long and prolonged applause followed that chilling gesture for memory. Hilda Espinoza thanked those who accompanied the Association of Relatives: “They are here in our memory. We have shared these accounts to raise awareness with our living memory… Let us continue walking together in the defense of human rights…”

Source: tbiobio.cl 09/11/2022

Date: 09-11-2022

Court sentences 14 retired Carabineros for mass murders of peasants during the dictatorship

The Concepción Court of Appeals issued a second-instance sentence against 14 retired Carabineros and civilians for their responsibility in the crime of aggravated kidnapping of 28 peasants from Santa Bárbara and Quilaco, crimes perpetrated starting on September 11, 1973, in the Andean foothills of the Biobío Region.

In the ruling, the court sentenced Plante Euclide Aravena Sáez to 14 years in prison, as the author of 19 crimes of aggravated kidnapping, while Héctor Isaías Echeverría Beltrán and José Heraldo Pulgar Riquelme must serve 11 years and 10 years and one day in prison, respectively, as authors of 10 and 7 aggravated kidnappings.

Santa Bárbara and Quilaco correspond to cases of human rights violations where there was close collaboration between Carabineros, military personnel, and civilians, the portal Medio a Medio published in 2011.

Thus, in the case of Santa Bárbara, it was established that around September 19, 1973, the head of the local station, Plante Euclides Aravena, formed the so-called “Voluntary Collaboration Force with the Carabineros of Chile,” with the objective of “searching for extremists.” Its first operation occurred on September 20, the website relates, when the group of Carabineros and civilians proceeded to detain at least seven people at the “El Huache” estate, located 8 kilometers from the town and in the Los Junquillos sector.

In the case of Carlos Santiago Sepúlveda Rivera, the court sentenced him to 10 years and one day in prison, as the author of four crimes of aggravated kidnapping, and Pedro Segundo Ruiz Pardo must serve 5 years and one day in prison, as the author of one crime of aggravated kidnapping.

The rest of those prosecuted received lesser sentences. During the investigation stage, Minister Raquel Lermanda Spichiger managed to establish that, between September 11 and December 20, 1973, Carabineros officers—supported by groups of civilians—illegally detained 28 victims, mainly peasants, in the communes of Santa Bárbara and Quilaco, whose whereabouts remain unknown to this day.

In Santa Bárbara, the group illegally detained José Domingo Godoy Acuña, Julio Godoy Godoy, Desiderio Aguilera Solís, José Nazario Godoy Acuña, Manuel Salamanca Mella, José Mariano Godoy Acuña, Miguel Cuevas Pincheira, Sebastián Hernaldo Campos Díaz, José Rafael Zúñiga Aceldine, José Secundino Zúñiga Aceldine, José Gilberto Araneda Riquelme, Juan de Dios Rubio Llancao, Julio Rubio Llancao, José María Tranamil Pereira, José Guillermo Purrán Treca, Elba Burgos Sáez, Juan de Dios Fuentes Lizama, Juan Francisco Fuentes Lizama, Sergio D´Apollonio Petermann, and Aliro Oporto Durán.

In the commune of Quilaco, the victims were identified as Cristino Humberto Cid Fuentealba, José Felidor Pinto Pinto, Luis Alberto Cid Cid, Luis Alberto Bastías Sandoval, Raimundo Salazar Muñoz, Gabriel José Viveros Flores, Segundo Marcial Soto Quijón, and José Roberto Molina Quezada.

Source: elclarin.cl 06/14/2019

Date: 06-14-2019

17 repressors sentenced in Chile for the disappearance of 29 people in 1973

A Chilean judge today sentenced a total of 17 former Carabineros and civilians to up to ten years and one day in prison for the disappearance, in 1973, of 29 opponents of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship, judicial sources reported.

The sentence, issued by Judge Carlos Aldana of the Concepción Court of Appeals, also determined the payment of millionaire indemnities to the victims' families, the sources specified. The events occurred between the months of September and November 1973 in the rural localities of Santa Bárbara and Quilaco, in the southern Bío Bío region, about 500 kilometers south of Santiago, where the victims resided.

A dozen Carabineros from both localities participated in the kidnappings, supported by five civilians who were supporters of the dictatorship, who were also prosecuted and convicted by the Justice system.

Among the 29 victims was one woman: Elba Burgos Sáez, a 30-year-old nursing assistant, communal secretary of the Partido Socialista in Santa Bárbara, detained by Carabineros days after the military coup of September 11, 1973.

Like the other victims, Elba Burgos was last seen when she was taken to the town's Carabineros barracks. The judge ordered the payment of a total of 425 million pesos (about 637,000 euros) in indemnities to the victims' families, both by the State and by the convicted individuals themselves.

Source: especiales.publico.es, 06/16/2011

Date: 06-16-2011

Convicted perpetrator of crimes against humanity dismissed from rural school in Curacautín

Two months ago, it was revealed that Burgos had been an acting teacher since 2016 and was receiving a salary of two million pesos. The Regional Ministerial Secretariat (Seremi) of Education confirmed that Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán has been dismissed from the Department of Municipal Education Administration (DAEM) of Curacautín, in La Araucanía.

Burgos Belauzarán was convicted, along with four Carabineros and nine civilians, as the perpetrator of the kidnapping and disappearance of 28 peasants in Quilaco and Santa Bárbara, in what constitutes one of the most brutal crimes of the dictatorship.

The crimes were committed between September and December 1973. According to information provided to Resumen by the Seremi, Burgos’s seven-month tenure on the payroll was due to the fact that they were waiting "for the measure adopted to be in compliance with the foundations of municipal administration and for the benefit of the educational community." When the DAEM of the Curacautín municipality and the Seremi of Education in La Araucanía were asked to address the issue, both indicated that the situation was under evaluation by a legal team.

However, the municipal education department stated that "the Supreme Court has not yet informed us, and upon collecting current records, the disqualification appeared, which is why the information was raised to the lawyers.

I had no idea; I have been in the position for almost a year and I am not from Curacautín either." According to the school, the individual is on leave but continues to receive his salary.

Source: eldesconcierto.cl 21/7/2023

The Second Chamber overturned the appealed sentence ex officio regarding the part that considered the civilians as accomplices to the crimes and, in a replacement sentence, convicted them as perpetrators for having had direct participation in the arrests and kidnappings.

The Supreme Court accepted the filed appeals for annulment and issued a final judgment in the investigation into the aggravated kidnappings of José Domingo Godoy Acuña, Julio Godoy Godoy, Desiderio Aguilera Solís, José Nazario Godoy Acuña, Manuel Salamanca Mella, José Mariano Godoy Acuña, Miguel Cuevas Pincheira, Sebastián Hernaldo Campos Díaz, José Rafael Zúñiga Aceldine, José Secundino Zúñiga Aceldine, José Gilberto Araneda Riquelme, Juan de Dios Rubio Llancao, Julio Rubio Llancao, José María Tranamil Pereira, José Guillermo Purrán Treca, ELBA BURGOS SAEZ, Juan de Dios Fuentes Lizama, Juan Francisco Fuentes Lizama, Sergio D´Apollonio Petermann, and Aliro Oporto Durán; as well as Cristino Humberto Cid Fuentealba, José Felidor Pinto Pinto, Luis Alberto Cid Cid, Luis Alberto Bastías Sandoval, Raimundo Salazar Muñoz, Gabriel José Viveros Flores, Segundo Marcial Soto Quijón, and José Roberto Molina Quezada. These illicit acts were perpetrated in the communes of Santa Bárbara and Quilaco, respectively, between September and December 1973. In a split decision (case file 24.143-2019), the Second Chamber of the high court—composed of ministers Haroldo Brito, Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Jorge Dahm, Leopoldo Llanos, and minister María Teresa Letelier—overturned ex officio the appealed sentence, issued by the Court of Appeals of Concepción, regarding the part that considered the civilians as accomplices to the crimes and, in a replacement sentence, convicted them as perpetrators for having had direct participation in the arrests and kidnappings. In the final judgment, the following were convicted as perpetrators of the crimes: Planté Euclide Aravena Sáez to a sentence of 14 years in prison; Héctor Isaías Echeverría Beltrán and José Heraldo Pulgar Riquelme must serve 11 years in prison; Carlos Santiago Sepúlveda Rivera and Exequiel del Carmen Celedón Barrera, 10 years and one day; Sergio Amado Fuentes Valenzuela, Luis Enrique Ricardo Antonio Barrueto Bartning, and Manuel Darío Barrueto Bartning to 6 years of imprisonment; while Jorge Denis Domínguez Larenas, Jorge Eduardo Valdivia Dames, and José Roberto Valdivia Dames must serve 5 years and one day in prison. Finally, the convicted individuals Eugenio Villa Urrutia, Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán, and José Feliciano Gutiérrez Ortiz were sentenced to 4 years in prison, with the benefit of supervised release for the same period. "Regarding the denounced defect, it should be kept in mind that to analyze the degree of participation that—among others—corresponded to the accused Luis Barrueto Bartning, Manuel Barrueto Bartning, and Sergio Fuentes Valenzuela in the crimes of aggravated kidnapping of Manuel Salamanca, José Domingo Godoy Acuña, José Nazario Godoy Acuña, and José Mariano Godoy Acuña; and to the defendant Jorge Domínguez Larenas in the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Sergio D’Apollonio Petermann, the second-instance sentence, in its 57th finding, referred to the functional theory of the act and analyzed the requirements of co-perpetration, after which it concluded in reasoning 59° that the conduct of all the civilians who intervened in the events could only be considered as complicity," the ruling states. The resolution adds: "To reach such a conclusion, the trial judges considered that although the defendants collaborated with the arrest of each of the victims, 'the control of the act of kidnapping always remained with the police officers, since the collaborative action of these subjects lasted only until the detainees were in the hands of the public official, police authority, or at the police station or outpost to which the detainees were taken, so that what was acted and decided by said Carabineros officers, in terms of causing their disappearance to this day of each of the detained victims, is not an action over which these accused could have had control. Such factual circumstance is even recognized in the thirty-sixth consideration of the first-instance sentence when, analyzing the participation of Planté Euclide Aravena Sáez, it mentions that 'he organized a group of civilians to provide collaboration with the officials of his unit and that he had the most complete and absolute authority over them and the civilians under his command...'" For the Criminal Chamber, in this case: "However, from a careful reading of the sixty-sixth, sixty-seventh, sixty-eighth, sixty-ninth, seventy-first, seventy-second, fifty-fourth, fifty-fifth, fifty-sixth, forty-sixth, and forty-seventh findings of the first-instance sentence, it is inferred that the accused Luis Barrueto Bartning, Manuel Barrueto Bartning, Sergio Fuentes Valenzuela, and Jorge Domínguez Larenas carried out a series of behaviors that constitute the immediate and direct execution of the criminal offense at hand." "Indeed," it elaborates, "as stated in the sixty-sixth finding, the accused Luis Barrueto Bartning stated that after September 11, 1973, he was called by the Chief of the Military Garrison of Los Ángeles to collaborate with the Army in transport and patrol tasks, since on that date a report was received at the garrison that there were extremist elements in the sector, so he placed himself at the disposal of the Chief of the Santa Bárbara Police Station to help identify those people. He added that upon presenting himself, they left for the El Huachi estate in two vehicles, one of which was a pickup truck he owned, which he was driving. He added that together with his brother Manuel, they collaborated in the identification of several people, who were arrested by Carabineros, loaded into the vehicles, and transported. He stated that on the way they stopped other people—whom he lists—and that subsequently, upon realizing one was missing, they went with his brother and Carabineros to look for him in his pickup truck. Such admissions of responsibility are also corroborated—among others—by the testimonies of Julio Erices Cid on page 412, Jacinta Godoy Acuña on page 388 vta, and Juan Salamanca Godoy on page 414." "For his part, Manuel Barrueto Bartning, as appears from reasoning 70°, acknowledged having been part of a voluntary collaboration force of the Carabineros de Chile and that he was authorized to carry weapons," it highlights. "He added that he took officials to his estate called 'El Huachi,' although he attributes it to a different purpose, acknowledging that 8 to 9 people were arrested at the place and that on the way back, after stopping a bus, others were apprehended. Likewise, he accepted that in the particular case of Salamanca Mella, as he resisted arrest, he struggled with him and hit him on the head with a weapon. All these background facts are also complemented by the assertions of Julio Erices Cid on page 412, who pointed out that Manuel Barrueto was driving the pickup truck where several detainees were lying face down in the cargo area, also corroborated by the statements of witnesses Sylvia Cerda Rodríguez, Jacinta Godoy Acuña, and Juan Salamanca Godoy," the ruling records. Likewise, the high court reproduces "(...) the fifty-fourth finding, which states that the accused Sergio Fuentes Valenzuela acknowledged having served as an assistant at the Santa Bárbara Carabineros Station, at the request of Planté Aravena, although he limited his actions to domestic tasks at the place. However, the above was refuted by the testimony of José Aguilera Godoy, who identified him as the person who arrested his uncle Nazario Godoy and hit him on the forehead; by the statements of Jacinta Godoy, who incriminates him as one of the subjects who arrested her husband Manuel Salamanca; by the assertions of Julio Erices on page 412, who mentions him as one of the subjects who went armed with the Barrueto brothers during the arrests; by the testimony of José Aguilera on page 440, who points him out as one of the civilians who intervened in the arrest of Desiderio Aguilera; and by the testimony of Maritza Cuevas on page 2078 and Dorian Cuevas on page 1031, who identify him as the subject who was at their house on the day of their father's arrest." "Finally," it continues, "regarding Jorge Domínguez Larenas, the forty-fifth finding states that he acknowledged having provided collaboration to the Carabineros of the Santa Bárbara Station, being recruited by Lieutenant Planté Aravena, from whom he obeyed direct orders; however, he limits his actions to domestic tasks inside the station. Notwithstanding the above, said exculpation was refuted by the statements of Juana D’Apollonio, who in the scene reconstruction proceeding identified him as one of the subjects who entered her house, arresting her relatives, corroborated also by the testimony of Juana D’Apollonio on page 1215, who points him out as one of the individuals who entered her home, taking out her father, whom they loaded into a red pickup truck owned by the defendant Domínguez, and the statement of Catalina Zapata on page 2755, who points him out as one of the subjects who participated in the arrest of her husband." For the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court: "All of the above constitute factual circumstances that account for the performance of actions that it is not possible to consider as mere cooperation—in the terms of Article 16 of the Penal Code—but must be classified as executive, since they demonstrate the performance of acts that constitute the confinement and detention of another, without legal right, depriving them of liberty; that is, of the facts that the law describes to typify the crime of kidnapping, so their participation corresponds to that of direct perpetrators for having taken part in the execution of the act." "Consequently, the second-instance court errs in stating that their conduct could only be considered as complicity, since their actions were not limited to performing acts of assistance or collaboration but of execution in the punishable act, an error of law that has had a substantial influence on the operative part of the challenged ruling, since it is entirely evident that if the cited provisions had been applied correctly, Luis Barrueto Bartning, Manuel Barrueto Bartning, Sergio Fuentes Valenzuela, and Jorge Domínguez Larenas would have been convicted as perpetrators of the crimes of aggravated kidnapping referred to in the preceding findings," the ruling concludes. The high court also addressed: "That, on the other hand, and notwithstanding the rejection of the appeal for annulment filed by the Law 19.123 Continuation Program, on page 9807, due to defects in its formalization, during the deliberation stage, it was noted that the second-instance sentence also revoked that of the lower court, by estimating that the actions performed by the accused Luis Barrueto Bartning and Manuel Barrueto Bartning in the crimes of aggravated kidnapping of Julio Godoy Godoy, Desiderio Aguilera Aguilera, and Miguel Cuevas Pincheira; the accused Jorge Valdivia Dames and José Valdivia Dames in the crime of aggravated kidnapping of Miguel Cuevas Pincheira; the accused Sergio Fuentes Valenzuela in the crimes of aggravated kidnapping of Julio Godoy Godoy, Desiderio Aguilera Aguilera, and Miguel Cuevas Pincheira; the accused Eugenio Villa Urrutia and José Gutiérrez Ortiz in the crimes of aggravated kidnapping of Cristino Cid Fuentealba, José Pinto Pinto, Luis Cid Cid, Luis Bastías Sandoval, Raimundo Salazar Muñoz, Gabriel Viveros Flores, and José Molina Quezada; the accused Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzaran in the crimes of aggravated kidnapping of Cristino Cid Fuentealba, José Pinto Pinto, Luis Cid Cid, Luis Bastías Sandoval, and Raimundo Salazar Muñoz; and the defendant Exequiel Celedón Barrera in the crimes of aggravated kidnapping of Cristino Cid Fuentealba and José Pinto Pinto, could only be considered as complicity, notwithstanding that as seen from findings 65°, 66°, 67°, 70°, 71°, 58°, 59°, 62°, 63°, 54°, 55°, 80°, 84°, 82°, 85°, and 86° of the first-instance ruling, all of them intervened together with the police officials in the unlawful arrest of the aforementioned victims, to then take them to the Santa Bárbara Station, with their whereabouts remaining unknown to this date." "Under these conditions, each of the mentioned accused executed part of the conduct described by the criminal type; that is, they intervene in their own action and are not limited to cooperating in that of another, thereby incurring the trial judges in the cause for annulment contemplated in Article 546 N°1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure—by attributing participation to them as accomplices, an error of law that has had a substantial influence on the operative part of the challenged ruling, since the correct application of Article 15 of the Penal Code would have led to convicting them as perpetrators in the crimes indicated regarding each of them, which is important for the purposes of making use of the power to act ex officio, since it is permitted only when the appeal has been rejected due to defects of formalization, as provided by Article 785 of the Code of Civil Procedure," it concludes.

Executions and disappearances

In the first-instance ruling, visiting judge Raquel Lermanda established the following facts: "1.- That on September 23, 1973, around 3:10 AM, while Sergio D'Apollonio Petermann was at his house located in the 'La Palma' plot, commune of Santa Bárbara, a group mobilized with 4 to 5 Carabineros and civilians arrived, proceeding to arrest him without a competent judicial or administrative order, subsequently being taken to an unknown location, from which moment all news of his whereabouts or existence is unknown to this date. 2.- That on September 23, 1973, while Carlos Jacinto D'Apollonio Zapata was at his house located in the La Palma plot in the commune of Santa Bárbara, a mobilized group of approximately 4 or 5 people arrived, among whom were Carabineros and civilians, proceeding to arrest him without a competent legal order, taking him out of his home and transporting him to the bridge that connects the communes of Santa Bárbara and Quilaco over the Bío Bío River, where he was placed on one of the railings and shot with a firearm, his body falling into the river and being dragged to one of its banks, where the next day he was found by relatives and acquaintances, wounded by gunfire, being taken to his home to be waked. Around 3:30 PM that same day, the same people who apprehended him, against the authorization of the family and without a legal administrative order, removed said body, apparently lifeless, and took it to an unknown destination. 3.- That around 2:30 PM on September 17, 1973, Elba Burgos Sáez was arrested on Camilo Henríquez Street between Rosas and Manuel Rodríguez streets in Santa Bárbara by Carabineros officials, without a legal arrest warrant existing against her, and they were moving in a pickup truck into which they loaded her, with all news of her whereabouts or existence being unknown from that date to this date. 4.- That, around 4:00 PM on November 7, 1973, while Aliro Segundo Oporto Durán, 17 years of age, was in a house located in the Raleo sector of the town of Alto Bío Bío, Carabineros personnel arrived to arrest him without a competent legal order, with him running toward the bank of the Bío Bío River, being pursued by the police, one of whom shot him, managing to apprehend him, from which moment all news of his whereabouts or existence is unknown. 5.- That, in the afternoon of September 17, 1973, José Rafael Zúñiga Aceldine, José Secundino Zúñiga Aceldine, and José Gilberto Araneda Riquelme went voluntarily to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros Station, complying with a summons that had been made to them by Carabineros of the aforementioned Police Unit through Juan Albornoz Lagos, being entered into said Station as detainees, without a competent legal order, with all news regarding their whereabouts or destination being unknown from that date. 6.- That, on September 14, 1973, Juan de Dios Fuentes Lizama and Juan Francisco Fuentes Lizama were arrested at their home located in a shack on the Corcovado estate, on the way to Villacura, in the commune of Santa Bárbara, by Carabineros personnel and civilians, without a legal arrest warrant existing and without there being any knowledge of their destination or whereabouts to this date. 7.- That, on September 16, 1973, Juan de Dios and Julio Alberto Rubio Llancao were arrested and taken to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros Station in charge of the Unit Chief, Lieutenant Planté Aravena Sáez. On the same day, Guillermo Purrán Treca went to the indicated police unit in search of protection because he could not return to his home, as the bus had left him and the start time of the curfew was approaching, remaining detained. At night, the three, plus José María Tranamil Pereira, who was also detained without a competent order, were taken out of the Station and transported to the Quilaco bridge where the Carabineros shot them, with all news regarding the destination or whereabouts of Juan de Dios Rubio Llancao, Julio Rubio Llancao, José María Tranamil Pereira, and José Guillermo Purrán Treca being unknown from that date. 8.- a) That, in the morning of September 20, 1973, in the commune of Santa Bárbara, a group of Carabineros and civilians, armed with firearms, who were moving in motorized vehicles and without having a legitimate order, arrived at the 'El Huachi' estate, located 8 kilometers from that commune, and arrested José Domingo Godoy Acuña, Julio César Godoy Godoy, and Desiderio Aguilera Solís, transporting them to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros Station, from where they were taken out at night to an unknown destination and have not been seen again or had news of their whereabouts to this date; b) That, after the above occurred and at approximately 2:00 PM on the same day, September 20, 1973, the same group, without a legitimate order, arrested José Nazario Godoy Acuña in the Los Junquillos sector of the commune of Santa Bárbara, in the presence of José Gilberto Aguilera Godoy, who was subsequently taken to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros Station, and from there, all trace of him was lost, without there being any news of his whereabouts to this date; c) That around 10:30 PM on September 20, 1973, in the commune of Santa Bárbara, a group of Carabineros and civilians, armed with firearms who were moving in motorized vehicles and without having a legitimate order, arrived at the home of Manuel Salamanca Mella, located on Avenida La Feria without number in Santa Bárbara, where they proceeded to arrest him in the presence of his relatives, to then take him to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros Station, where he was seen for the last time, without him having been seen again or having news of his whereabouts to this date; and d) That, after that, on the same date, the same group went to the boarding house located at 343 Rosas Street in the commune of Santa Bárbara, where, without a legitimate order, they proceeded to arrest José Mariano Godoy Acuña, being taken to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros Station, where he was seen for the last time without him having been seen again or having news of his whereabouts to this date. 9.- That on the night of September 20, 1973, an armed group of Carabineros and civilians arrived at the home of Miguel Cuevas Pincheira located at 371 Rosas Street in Santa Bárbara and, without a legitimate order, proceeded to arrest him in the presence of his relatives, spouse, and children, taking him out of his house and transporting him to an unknown location without him having been seen again or having news of his whereabouts to this date. 10.- That, around 4:30 PM on September 16, 1973, Sebastián Hernaldo Campos Díaz presented himself voluntarily to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros Station, as he had been summoned previously, remaining detained without being shown a legitimate order and without there being any news of his whereabouts to this date. 11.- a) That in the commune of Quilaco, in the days following September 11, 1973, a group of civilians and Carabineros, all armed with firearms and moving in motorized vehicles, without having a legitimate order, arrived at the home of Cristino Humberto Cid Fuentealba, located on the El Rodal plot, on the outskirts of Quilaco, proceeding to arrest him in the presence of his relatives, to then take him away walking from that place to an unknown destination, without him having been seen again or having news of his whereabouts to this date; b) That, in the early morning of September 20, 1973, a group of Carabineros and civilians arrived at the home of José Felidor Pinto Pinto, leader of the Campo Lindo peasant settlement, located on the old Huinquén estate, whom they arrested, taking him out of his house and taking him in vehicles from that place, with the same group moving with him to an unknown destination, from which moment there was never any news or knowledge again, his trace disappearing to this date; c) That after the above occurred, and being more or less noon on September 20, 1973, the same group went to the Loncopangue village and also to the vicinity of the Rañiguel estate in the same sector, proceeding to arrest Luis Alberto Cid Cid, Luis Bastías Sandoval, and Raimundo Salazar Muñoz, being loaded into a truck of the Quilaco Municipality driven by José Feliciano Gutiérrez Ortiz, known as 'El Chamo,' to then be taken along the public road that leads to Quilaco to a path that leads to the confluence of the Bío Bío and Quilmes rivers, where they were taken off the vehicle and watched by their captors, they were taken walking to the banks of the indicated watercourses, at which moment their apprehenders allegedly shot them with firearms, their bodies falling into the channel of the mentioned rivers, with their whereabouts being reliably unknown to this date; d) That, that same day, in the afternoon, Segundo Marcial Soto Quijón was arrested in Quilaco without a legitimate order by a group made up of Carabineros and civilians, a date from which there has been no news of his whereabouts; e) That, in the morning of November 3, 1973, at approximately 11:00 AM, a group of Carabineros and civilians arrived at Plot N° 112 of the Piñiquihue sector of the commune of Quilaco, the home of José Roberto Molina Quezada, whom they arrested without a legitimate order, took him out of his house, and took him away in a vehicle to an unknown destination, from which moment there was never any news or knowledge of his whereabouts again; f) That on the night of Saturday, November 3, 1973, an armed group of Carabineros and civilians arrived at the home of Gabriel José Viveros Flores located on the outskirts of Loncopangue, proceeding to arrest him in the presence of his relatives, taking him out of his house and transporting him to an unknown location without him having returned or having news of his whereabouts to this date." Decision to overturn the sentence ex officio with the dissenting vote of minister Letelier, who considered it inappropriate regarding the brothers Jorge Eduardo and José Roberto Valdivia Dames.

Source: pjud.cl 20/10/22