Sebastián Hernaldo Campos Díaz, single, an electrician, with no known political affiliation, presented himself voluntarily at the Santa Bárbara police station in the province of Los Angeles on September 16, 1973.

He went to the location after being informed by his relatives that two Carabineros, Corporals Héctor Echeverría and Heraldo Pulgar, had appeared at his home and threatened that they needed him "dead or alive."

Surprised, he went to the police unit, convinced that nothing could happen to him since he had no political involvement whatsoever. Upon arriving at the station, accompanied by his mother, Mrs. Herminia Díaz Godoy, she was unable to enter the unit after being threatened by Corporal Héctor Echeverría, who told her he would shoot her if she tried to do so.

She withdrew, leaving the affected party at the premises.

Later, his sister, Gretel Campos, arrived with food and clothing, but her desire to enter and see her relative was frustrated as she received the same threats as her mother from the aforementioned Corporal.

She was able to verify that inside the station were Carabineros Heraldo Pulgar and Hernaldo Sáez, along with civilians—all neighbors of the town—Bernardo Larenas, Ricardo Barrueto, Manuel Barrueto, Jorge Valdivia, Mario Delgado, and an individual nicknamed "pelao" Domínguez.

In the afternoon, Gretel returned to the police station to inquire about her brother's situation and was informed by Corporal Echeverría that he would give her an answer regarding the affected party at 07:00 the following morning.

On Monday, at the appointed time, Gretel Campos appeared at the location, and the same official told her that Sebastián Campos had been transferred to the Los Angeles Regiment at 06:00.

Both mother and daughter traveled that same day to the Los Angeles Regiment, where the presence of the affected party at said facility was denied. Subsequently, they made inquiries at various detention centers for political prisoners without obtaining information about the affected party.

According to information provided by his relatives and the Rettig Report, the motive for his detention and disappearance was a personal vendetta by one of the Carabineros and for reasons unrelated to politics.

Furthermore, the aforementioned sources mention that, according to witnesses, Sebastián Campos was killed at the police station and his body was subsequently thrown into the waters of the Bío Bío River.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

On March 6, 1975, his sister, Gretel, filed a Writ of Amparo (Habeas Corpus) with the Court of Appeals of Concepción, registered under case number 3364. Mr. Eleodoro Ortiz Sepúlveda, President of the Court at the time, issued official requests to the Minister of the Interior, the Commander-in-Chief of the 3rd Army Division, and the Carabineros of Santa Bárbara, requesting information on the case.

On March 27 of the same year, the Minister of the Interior, Division General Raúl Benavides Escobar, informed the court that Sebastián Campos was not being held by order of his department. A similar response was provided by Brigadier General Nilo Floody Buxton, Commander-in-Chief of the 3rd Army Division, and Carabineros Sub-Officer Major Evaristo Garcés Rubilar, acting head of the Santa Bárbara police station, when the Court's inquiry was reiterated.

On April 11, 1974, the Court ministers dismissed the writ of amparo and issued an order to the Criminal Judge of Los Angeles to initiate a summary investigation. The resolution was appealed, and on April 22, the Supreme Court confirmed the ruling of the Court of Appeals.

In July 1975, his mother sent a letter to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, explaining her son's situation and noting that his arrest and forced disappearance were due to a personal vendetta by Corporal Héctor Echeverría, and that she took it for granted that it was due to the circumstances experienced in Chile following the 1973 coup d'état.

Subsequently, in September 1978, the name of the affected party was included in a letter sent by Monsignor Orozimbo Fuenzalida, Bishop of Los Angeles, to the Minister of the Interior, Sergio Fernández Fernández.

There is no information regarding the judicial process for "Presumed Misfortune" (Presunta Desgracia) in the Criminal Court of Los Angeles. His mother and sister have still not managed to clarify what happened to Sebastián Campos, who remains to this day in the status of forcibly disappeared.

Source: Corporation report

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

The individual is Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán, a civilian convicted for his participation in the disappearance of 28 peasants in Santa Bárbara and Quilaco, in the foothills of the Bío Bío, 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 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.

Burgos Belauzarán was sentenced to four years of major imprisonment in its minimum degree, with the accessory penalties of absolute perpetual disqualification for public offices and political rights, and absolute disqualification for professional practice for the duration of the sentence; however, 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 contact was made with both the DAEM (Municipal Education Administration Department) of Curacautín and the Regional Ministerial Secretariat (Seremi) of Education in La Araucanía, from 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 stated that "the Supreme Court has not yet informed us, and during 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 have earned a salary of more than $2 million in March 2023. In this regard, Aguilera replied that "he is on medical leave, and the leave is paid by the Isapre (health insurance provider).

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 of La Araucanía, María Isabel Mariñanco, about why a human rights violator remains in charge of a school, she limited herself to blaming the sponsor (the municipality), avoiding referring to 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 backgrounds of those who 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 a perpetrator, 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 officers 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 day.

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 day.

On September 16, 1973, Juan de Dios Rubio Llancao and Julio Alberto Rubio Llancao were detained and transferred to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros station, under the command of the Unit Chief, then-Lieutenant Planté Aravena Sáez.

That 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 curfew was about to begin, 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, all news regarding the four peasants has been unknown.

On September 16, 1973, Sebastián Hernaldo Campos Díaz presented himself voluntarily to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros station, as he had been summoned previously, and remained detained; to this day, there is no news of his whereabouts.

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 was taken to an unknown destination; since that date, all news of her whereabouts or existence has been unknown.

On 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 Carabineros of the aforementioned police unit had made to them through a third party, and were entered into said facility as detainees; since that date, all news regarding their whereabouts or fate has been unknown.

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 out of his house and carrying him away to an unknown destination in vehicles, from which moment there was never any news of his fate, his trail disappearing to this day.

In the morning hours 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, transferring them to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros station, from where they were taken out at night to an unknown destination, and to this day they have not been seen again, nor is there any news of their whereabouts.

Around noon that day, the same group went to the village of Loncopangue 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 put into a truck belonging to the Municipality of Quilaco 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 on foot to the banks of the indicated watercourses, at which moment their captors allegedly fired at them with firearms, their bodies falling into the channel of the mentioned rivers, their real whereabouts remaining unknown to this day. 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, a date from which they made him disappear.

In the commune of Santa Bárbara, at approximately 14:00 on the same day, September 20, the criminal group detained José Nazario Godoy Acuña in the Los Junquillos sector, who was subsequently transferred to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros station.

Around 22:30 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 No. 343 in the commune of Santa Bárbara, where they detained José Mariano Godoy Acuña, who was transferred to the station where they were last seen, without them having been seen again or any news of their whereabouts to this day.

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 No. 371 in Santa Bárbara and detained him, in the presence of his relatives, spouse, and children, taking him out of his house and transferring him to an unknown location, without him having been seen again or any news of his whereabouts to this day.

On September 23, 1973, in the early hours of the morning, the group of executioners broke into the La Palma smallholding, 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 transferred 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 at him with firearms, thus falling into the riverbed.

However, the current dragged his body to one of the banks where, hours later the next day, his body was found by relatives and acquaintances. 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, the group of Carabineros and civilians arrived at Plot No. 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 out of his house and taking him away to an unknown destination.

Around 16:00 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

Supreme Court convicts 4 former Carabineros and 10 civilians for the crimes against 28 people in Santa Bárbara and Quilaco in 1973

The highest court confirmed the sentence issued by the Court of Appeals of Concepción that convicted former Carabineros and civilians for their participation in the disappearance of 28 peasants in Santa Bárbara and Quilaco, in the foothills of the Bío Bío, between September and December 1973.

The Supreme Court issued a final judgment in the investigation into the qualified kidnappings of José Domingo Godoy Acuña, Julio César 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, 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 crimes were perpetrated in the communes of Santa Bárbara and Quilaco between the months of September and December 1973.

In a split decision (case roll 24.143-2019), the Second Chamber of the highest court—composed of ministers Haroldo Brito, Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Jorge Dahm, Leopoldo Llanos, and minister María Teresa Letelier—accepted the appeals in substance filed and overturned the appealed sentence, issued by the Court of Appeals of Concepción in June 2019, in the part that considered the 10 accused civilians as accomplices to the crimes, and in a replacement sentence, convicted them as perpetrators for having had direct participation in the detentions and kidnappings, as had been ruled by the first-instance judgment of minister Raquel Lermanda. The split decision is explained by the fact that minister Letelier was in favor of maintaining the reductions adopted by the Concepción court.

In the final sentence, the following were convicted as perpetrators of the crimes: former Carabineros officer Planté Euclide Aravena Sáez to a sentence of 14 years in prison; former Carabineros Héctor Isaías Echeverría Beltrán and José Heraldo Pulgar Riquelme must serve 11 years in prison; Carlos Santiago Sepúlveda Rivera and the civilian Exequiel del Carmen Celedón Barrera, 10 years and one day; the civilians Sergio Amado Fuentes Valenzuela, Luis Enrique Ricardo Antonio Barrueto Bartning, and Manuel Darío Barrueto Bartning to 6 years of imprisonment; while the civilians 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 civilians 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.

Acquitted due to death are those convicted in the first instance José Burgos Sandoval, José Godoy Godoy, Pedro Segundo Ruiz Pardo, and the implicated and accused Sergio Salazar San Martín and Sergio Alejandro Pino Cabezas.

Executions and disappearances

The judicial investigation establishes in detail the various criminal episodes carried out by the uniformed officers 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 day.

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 day.

On September 16, 1973, Juan de Dios Rubio Llancao and Julio Alberto Rubio Llancao were detained and transferred to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros station, under the command of the Unit Chief, then-Lieutenant Planté Aravena Sáez.

That 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 curfew was about to begin, 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, all news regarding the four peasants has been unknown.

On September 16, 1973, Sebastián Hernaldo Campos Díaz presented himself voluntarily to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros station, as he had been summoned previously, and remained detained; to this day, there is no news of his whereabouts.

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 was taken to an unknown destination; since that date, all news of her whereabouts or existence has been unknown.

On 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 Carabineros of the aforementioned police unit had made to them through a third party, and were entered into said facility as detainees; since that date, all news regarding their whereabouts or fate has been unknown.

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 out of his house and carrying him away to an unknown destination in vehicles, from which moment there was never any news of his fate, his trail disappearing to this day.

In the morning hours 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, transferring them to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros station, from where they were taken out at night to an unknown destination, and to this day they have not been seen again, nor is there any news of their whereabouts.

Around noon that day, the same group went to the village of Loncopangue 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 put into a truck belonging to the Municipality of Quilaco 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 on foot to the banks of the indicated watercourses, at which moment their captors allegedly fired at them with firearms, their bodies falling into the channel of the mentioned rivers, their real whereabouts remaining unknown to this day. 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, a date from which they made him disappear.

In the commune of Santa Bárbara, at approximately 14:00 on the same day, September 20, the criminal group detained José Nazario Godoy Acuña in the Los Junquillos sector, who was subsequently transferred to the Santa Bárbara Carabineros station.

Around 22:30 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 No. 343 in the commune of Santa Bárbara, where they detained José Mariano Godoy Acuña, who was transferred to the station where they were last seen, without them having been seen again or any news of their whereabouts to this day.

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 No. 371 in Santa Bárbara and detained him, in the presence of his relatives, spouse, and children, taking him out of his house and transferring him to an unknown location, without him having been seen again or any news of his whereabouts to this day.

On September 23, 1973, in the early hours of the morning, the group of executioners broke into the La Palma smallholding, 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 transferred 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 at him with firearms, thus falling into the riverbed.

However, the current dragged his body to one of the banks where, hours later the next day, his body was found by relatives and acquaintances. 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, the group of Carabineros and civilians arrived at Plot No. 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 out of his house and taking him away to an unknown destination.

Around 16:00 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.

Source: resumen.cl, 10/21/2022

Date: 10-21-2022

Massive conviction for the qualified kidnapping of 28 people in Santa Bárbara and Quilaco in 1973

Almost eleven years after the investigation began into the detention and disappearance of at least 28 people in the communes of Santa Bárbara and Quilaco, Bío Bío region, the special minister for human rights cases, Carlos Aldana, issued a first-instance sentence convicting a total of 17 people, including former uniformed officers and civilians.

The prison sentences established by Minister Aldana range from 10 years as the highest to 541 days as the lowest. Only in the latter case was the benefit of conditional remission of the sentence granted.

Santa Bárbara and Quilaco correspond to cases of human rights violations where there was close collaboration between Carabineros, the military, and civilians. Thus, in the case of Santa Bárbara, it was established that around September 19, 1973, the head of the local police station, Planté 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, 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.

But these cases have a long history. On December 14, 2000, a complaint was filed with the Criminal Court of Santa Bárbara, which was then in charge of Judge Waldemar Koch, who was appointed with preferential dedication as a result of the Dialogue Table that took place during the government of Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle.

During his tenure, there were substantial advances in the cases, as Koch also took on the judicial actions filed for cases of forcibly disappeared persons in Quilaco. He already had the facts clear and the responsible parties identified, but he did not manage to issue indictments because on December 11, 2001, he left the position after having been appointed Judge of the Oral Court of Angol.

Miguel Salgado then assumed the position of judge, who, by resolution of the Supreme Court on June 20, 2002, dedicated himself exclusively to the processing of human rights cases existing in his court.

This allowed him to advance with greater speed, and thus on October 28, 2002, he ordered the detention and indictment of nine people, four former Carabineros officials and five civilians, as responsible for the disappearance of 24 people in the commune of Santa Bárbara.

Subsequently, and after the appointment of the minister of the Court of Appeals of Concepción, Carlos Aldana Fuentes, as special minister for human rights cases, these processes—as well as others—passed into his hands.

In that framework, at the beginning of September 2005, Minister Aldana decreed a series of proceedings in the field, including new statements and confrontations.

The sentence Thus, finally, this Wednesday, June 15, Aldana issued a first-instance sentence against 17 people, including former uniformed officers and civilians, as responsible for the qualified kidnapping of 28 people, which occurred in the communes of Santa Bárbara and Quilaco after the military coup of September 11, 1973.

The magistrate issued a conviction against those who participated in the qualified kidnappings of José Rafael Zúñiga Aceldini, José Secundino Zúñiga Aceldini, José Gilberto Araneda, Juan de Dios Rubio Llancao, Julio Rubio Llancao, José María Tranamil Pereira, José Guillermo Purrán Treca, José Domingo Godoy Acuña, Julio César Godoy Godoy, Desiderio Aguilera Solís, José Nazario Godoy Acuña, Manuel Salamanca Mella, José Mariano Godoy Acuña, Miguel Cuevas Pincheira, Juan de Dios Fuentes Lizama, Juan Francisco Fuentes Lizama, Elba Burgos Sáez, Sebastián Hernaldo Campos Díaz, Aliro Oporto Durán, Sergio D’Apollonio Petermann (all of them occurring in Santa Bárbara); and of Cristino Humberto Cid Fuentealba, José Felidor Pinto, Luis Alberto Cid, Luis Alberto Bastías Sandoval, Raimundo Salazar Muñoz, Gabriel José Viveros Flores, Segundo Marcial Soto Quijón, and José Roberto Molina Quezada (occurring in Quilaco).

Those sentenced for the kidnappings in Santa Bárbara are:

-Planté Euclides Aravena Sáez: 10 years and 1 day. No benefits. -Héctor Isaías Echeverría Beltrán: 7 and a half years. No benefits. -José Jaime Godoy Godoy: 7 years. No benefits. -José Heraldo Pulgar Riquelme: 7 years.

No benefits. -Jorge Denis Domínguez Larenas: 6 and a half years. No benefits. -Sergio Amado Fuentes Valenzuela: 6 and a half years. No benefits. -Jorge Eduardo Valdivia Dames: 6 and a half years. No benefits. -José Roberto Valdivia Dames: 6 and a half years.

No benefits. -Luis Enrique Ricardo Barrueto Bartning: 6 and a half years. No benefits. -Manuel Darío Barrueto Bartning: 6 and a half years. No benefits. -Pedro Segundo Ruiz Pardo: 541 days. The benefit of conditional remission was granted.

Meanwhile, those convicted for the kidnappings in Quilaco are: -Eugenio Villa Urrutia: 7 years. No benefits. -José Eleodoro Burgos Sandoval: 7 years. No benefits. -Juan Carlos Burgos Belauzarán: 7 years. No benefits. -Carlos Santiago Sepúlveda Rivera: 7 years. No benefits. -José Feliciano Gutiérrez Ortiz: 7 years. No benefits. -Exequiel del Carmen Celedón Barrera: 7 years. No benefits.

Likewise, the civil lawsuit filed against the state was accepted, determining that $60,000,000 (sixty million pesos) must be paid to Gretel del Carmen Godoy Acuña for the kidnapping of her brother Sebastián Campos Díaz; $80,000,000 (eighty million pesos) to Jacinta Godoy Acuña for the kidnapping of her spouse Manuel Salamanca Mella, and $15,000,000 (fifteen million pesos) for the kidnapping of her brothers José Domingo, José Nazario, and José Mariano Godoy Acuña; $70,000,000 (seventy million pesos) to Ana María D’Apollonio Zapata for the kidnapping of her father Sergio D’Apollonio Petermann; $70,000,000 (seventy million pesos) to Ana María Zúñiga Beroiza for the kidnapping of her father José Zúñiga Aceldini, and $10,000,000 (ten million pesos) for the kidnapping of her uncle José Secundino Zúñiga Aceldini.

In addition, the convicted parties must jointly pay $80,000,000 (eighty million pesos) to Norma Panes Panes (spouse of Miguel Cuevas Pincheira), and $40,000,000 (forty million pesos) to Maritza Pilar, Fabiola del Carmen, Víctor Hugo, Dorian Inés, and Miguel Ángel Cuevas Panes (children of Miguel Cuevas Pincheira), since this family group did not file an action against the state.

Source: biobiochile.cl, 6/16/2011

Date: 06-16-2011