In a ruling that will have significant repercussions for human rights cases, the Seventh Chamber of the Santiago Court of Appeals ordered the release of thirteen uniformed officers and revoked their indictments, deeming that the principle of res judicata and the Amnesty Law applied.

The ruling finds no merit to maintain the indictments against thirteen personnel who belonged to the Comando Conjunto and who were prosecuted by the head of the 25th Criminal Court, Carlos Hazbún, who serves as a judge with preferential dedication.

This follows the May 2 decision by the head of the First Civil Court of San Bernardo, Cecilia Flores, to declare herself incompetent to hear the case regarding the kidnapping of David Urrutia Galaz, who was captured by Comando Conjunto agents in 1975, and referred the case files to the judge of the 25th Criminal Court of Santiago, Carlos Hazbún.

The defense for the former officers, led by lawyer Carlos Portales, stated that the resolution opens the door to follow the same path for the remaining fifty or so military personnel currently being prosecuted by judges with exclusive dedication to these cases.

According to El Mercurio, the Human Rights Program of the Ministry of the Interior ordered a special meeting for tomorrow with all its lawyers to analyze the new scenario. The director of the agency, Luciano Fouillioux, indicated that the final word regarding the application of the principle of res judicata and the Amnesty Law lies with the Supreme Court.

This is because it is the first time that an appellate court has applied a ruling of this nature in cases of human rights violations investigated by special judges appointed as a result of the "Dialogue Table." The head of the 25th Criminal Court of Santiago, Carlos Hazbún, had indicted the following uniformed officers on January 7, 2002, as authors of "illicit criminal association": César Palma Ramírez, Otto Trujillo Miranda, Raúl González Fernández, and Manuel Muñoz Gamboa.

Likewise, the indictment included retired FACh (Chilean Air Force) non-commissioned officer Pedro Caamaño Medina; retired commander of the FACh Colina regiment Carlos Madrid Hayden; active FACh non-commissioned officer Robinson Suazo Jaque; retired FACh non-commissioned officer Fernando Zúñiga Canales; retired FACh non-commissioned officer Eduardo Cartagena Maldonado; retired Navy lieutenant Daniel Guimper Corvalán; retired FACh non-commissioned officer Guillermo Urra Carrasco; retired FACh non-commissioned officer Pedro Zambrano Uribe; and retired FACh non-commissioned officer Juan Chávez Sandoval, all of whom have now benefited from this provision.

Source: elmostrador.cl, June 16, 2002

29 former Comando Conjunto agents convicted for kidnappings and homicides during the dictatorship

In the context of the repression against the Communist Youth

The minister visiting human rights cases of the Santiago Court of Appeals, Miguel Vázquez Plaza, convicted 29 former agents of the Comando Conjunto for their responsibility in the kidnappings and qualified homicides of Ricardo Weibel Navarrete, Juan Orellana Catalán, Luis Moraga Cruz, Ignacio González Espinoza, and Luis Maturana González , crimes that occurred between October 1975 and June 1976 in Santiago.

The magistrate sentenced Juan Saavedra Loyola (18 years in prison, 13 years in prison, and 3 years in prison), Manuel Muñoz Gamboa (18 years in prison, 13 years in prison, and 3 years in prison), Daniel Guimpert Corvalán (18 years in prison, 12 years in prison, and 3 years in prison), Antonio Quiros Reyes (18 years in prison, 6 years in prison, and 540 days in prison), Raúl González Fernández (10 years and one day in prison, 10 years and one day in prison, and 400 days in prison), Roberto Flores Cisterna (10 years and one day in prison, 5 years and one day in prison, and 400 days in prison), Carlos Rodrigo Villarreal (10 years and one day in prison, 5 years and one day in prison, and 400 days in prison), Alejandro Sáez Mardones (10 years and one day in prison, 10 years and one day in prison, and 400 days in prison), Jorge Osses Novoa (12 years in prison, 10 years and one day in prison, and 400 days in prison), Sergio Díaz López (12 years in prison, 10 years and one day in prison, and 400 days in prison), Álvaro Corbalán Castilla (12 years in prison, 10 years and one day in prison, and 400 days in prison), Lenin Figueroa Sánchez (5 years and one day in prison, 5 years and one day in prison, and 400 days in prison), Miguel Estay Reyno (5 years in prison, 5 years and one day in prison, and 400 days in prison), Sergio Valenzuela Morales (5 years in prison, 5 years and one day in prison, and 400 days in prison), Juan Aravena Hurtuvia (5 years in prison, 5 years and one day in prison, and 400 days in prison), Ernesto Lobos Gálvez (5 years and one day in prison and 60 days in prison), Alejandro Forero Álvarez (5 years and one day in prison and 60 days in prison), Viviana Ugarte Sandoval (5 years and one day in prison and 400 days in prison), Andrés Potin Laihacar (5 years and one day in prison and 400 days in prison), Emilio Mahias del Río (5 years and one day in prison and 400 days in prison), Juan López López (5 years and one day in prison and 400 days in prison), Evaristo Rojas Alruiz (5 years and one day in prison and 400 days in prison), Francisco Illanes Saavedra (5 years and one day in prison and 400 days in prison), Roberto Serón Contreras (5 years and one day), Otto Trujillo Miranda (10 years and one day in prison), Robinson Suazo Jaque (4 years in prison and 60 days in prison), Pedro Caamaño Medina (4 years in prison and 60 days in prison), Pedro Zambrano Uribe (4 years in prison and 60 days in prison), and José Alvarado Alvarado (4 years in prison and 60 days in prison). Meanwhile, agents Eduardo Cartagena Maldonado, Alex Carrasco Olivos, José Vera Reyes, Juan Huaiquimilla Coñuepan, and Víctor Zuñiga Zuñiga were acquitted.

Source: elciudadano.cl, September 10, 2019

Santiago Court convicts 27 former Comando Conjunto agents for crimes against communist militants in 1975 and 1976

In a unanimous ruling (case file 1.237-2020), the Fifth Chamber of the appellate court—composed of ministers Fernando Carreño Ortega, Ricardo Soto Muñoz, and minister Lidia Poza Matus—confirmed the sentence handed down by the minister for extraordinary visits, Miguel Vásquez Plaza, in October 2019, which sentenced former FACH officer Juan Francisco Saavedra Loyola and former Carabineros officer Manuel Agustín Muñoz Gamboa to 18 years in prison as co-authors of the qualified homicide of González Espinoza and Orellana Catalán; plus 13 years in prison as co-authors of the qualified kidnapping of Moraga Cruz, Weibel Navarrete, and Maturana González; and an additional 3 years in prison each as co-authors of the simple kidnapping of González Espinoza and Orellana Catalán. Meanwhile, former Navy officer Daniel Luis Enrique Guimpert Corvalán was sentenced to 18 years in prison as a co-author of the qualified homicide of González Espinoza and Orellana Catalán; plus 12 years in prison as a co-author of the qualified kidnapping of Moraga Cruz and Maturana González; and 3 years in prison as a co-author of the simple kidnapping of González Espinoza and Orellana Catalán. Likewise, the Fifth Chamber ratified the sentences to be served by: former Navy officer Jorge Aníbal Osses Novoa, and former Army officers Sergio Antonio Díaz López and Álvaro Julio Federico Corbalán Castilla, to 12 years in prison as co-authors of the qualified homicide of González Espinoza; plus 10 years and one day in prison as co-authors of the qualified kidnapping of Moraga Cruz and Weibel Navarrete, and 400 days in prison as co-authors of the kidnapping of González Espinoza. Meanwhile, former agents Roberto Alfonso Flores Cisterna and Carlos Hernán Rodrigo Villarreal must serve 10 years and one day in prison as co-authors of the qualified homicide of Orellana Catalán; plus 5 years and one day in prison as co-authors of the qualified kidnapping of Maturana González, and 400 days in prison as co-authors of the kidnapping of Orellana Catalán. Former agent Raúl Horacio González Fernández must serve two sentences of 10 years and one day in prison as a co-author of the qualified homicide of Orellana Catalán and the qualified kidnapping of Moraga Cruz and Maturana González; plus 400 days in prison as a co-author of the simple kidnapping of Orellana Catalán. Former agent Alejandro Segundo Sáez Mardones must serve two sentences of 10 years and one day in prison as a co-author of the qualified homicide of Orellana Catalán and co-author of the qualified kidnapping of Maturana González, plus 400 days in prison as a co-author of the kidnapping of Orellana Catalán. For his part, former SIFA civilian agent Otto Silvio Trujillo Miranda was sentenced to 10 years and one day in prison as a co-author of the qualified kidnapping of Weibel Navarrete and as an accomplice to the qualified kidnapping of Moraga Cruz. Former agent Lenin Figueroa Sánchez was sentenced to 5 years and one day in prison as an accomplice to the qualified homicide of Orellana Catalán; plus 5 years and one day in prison as a co-author of the qualified kidnapping of Maturana González and 400 days as a co-author of the kidnapping of Orellana Catalán. Former agents Sergio Daniel Valenzuela Morales and Juan Atilio Aravena Hurtuvia must serve 5 years in prison as accessories to the qualified homicide of Orellana Catalán; plus 5 years and one day as co-authors of the qualified kidnapping of Maturana González and 400 days in prison as co-authors of the kidnapping of Orellana Catalán. Former agent Ernesto Arturo Lobos Gálvez must serve 5 years and one day in prison as an accomplice to the kidnappings of Weibel Navarrete and Maturana González, and 60 days in prison as an accomplice to the simple kidnapping of Orellana Catalán. Former agent Alejandro Jorge Forero Álvarez must serve 5 years and one day in prison as an accomplice to the qualified kidnappings of Moraga Cruz and Weibel Navarrete; 60 days in prison as an accomplice to the simple kidnapping of González Espinoza. In addition, former civilian agents Viviana Lucinda Ugarte Sandoval, Andrés Pablo Potin Lailhacar, and Emilio Mahias del Río, along with former agents Juan Luis Fernando López López, José Evaristo Rojas Alruiz, and Francisco Segundo Illanes Miranda, must serve 5 years and one day in prison as co-authors of the qualified kidnapping of Maturana González; 400 days in prison as co-authors of the simple kidnapping of Orellana Catalán. Former agent Roberto Francisco Serón Cárdenas was sentenced to 5 years and one day in prison as a co-author of the qualified kidnapping of Moraga Cruz. Finally, former agents Robinson Alfonso Suazo Jaque, Pedro Ernesto Caamaño Medina, Pedro Juan Zambrano Uribe, and José Hernando Alvarado Alvarado were sentenced to 4 years in prison as accomplices to the qualified kidnapping of Maturana González; and 60 days in prison as accomplices to the simple kidnapping of Orellana Catalán. Those also convicted in the first-instance ruling by the investigating minister Miguel Vásquez Plaza, former FACH officer Antonio Benedicto Quiroz Reyes and the converted civilian agent Miguel Arturo Estay Reyno, passed away during the time elapsed between that ruling and this one. Regarding the substance of the Court's resolution, the Fifth Chamber states: "This Court therefore agrees with the assessment of the sentencing judge and the Judicial Prosecutor, for the reasons expressed in the ruling and those previously stated, that the facts, held as certain in the appealed sentence, are punishable by virtue of the predominance of International Human Rights Law over the provisions of domestic or national law. This recognition is of vital importance because it grants crimes against humanity the relevance they deserve, since their perpetration affects humanity as a whole, and the legal interests concerning international peace, security, and well-being, which International Criminal Law seeks to protect," the confirming ruling states. In the judicial investigation, Minister Vásquez Plaza established that: a) That there existed a de facto group that operated clandestinely between the years 1975 and 1976, composed mainly of agents who belonged to the Air Force Intelligence Directorate, in addition to the Carabineros of Chile, the Navy, and the Army, with the collaboration of civilians, whose main objective was the repression of the Communist Party Youth, for which they proceeded to detain several of them. b) That the aforementioned group used the following for detentions and torture: Hangar de Cerrillos; Nido 20, a secret detention and torture center located at Calle Santa Teresa No. 037, stop 20 of Gran Avenida; Nido 18, a secret center located at Calle Perú No. 9053, La Florida, Santiago, which was used exclusively for torture; La Prevención or Remo Cero, which were dungeons located inside the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment in Colina, all during the year 1975; La Firma, at the beginning of 1976, when said group moved its operations to the rear of the property under the charge of the Carabineros of Chile, located on Calle Dieciocho, opposite No. 229, which belonged to the former newspaper Clarín, naming it La Firma. c) That the operational action of the group, regarding persons illegally deprived of their liberty and kept in secret centers, was to obtain information from them under psychological and physical torture, achieving the collaboration of some of them, to the point that some were assimilated as operational agents of the group, which provided greater effectiveness in the chain detention of communist militants, who were forcibly disappeared, with parts of the remains of some of them being found over the years. d) That on November 7, 1975, at approximately 10:00 PM, Ricardo Manuel Weibel Navarrete was detained at his home at Río Maule No. 1893, Recoleta Commune, by subjects wearing civilian clothes; he was kept deprived of liberty in the center called La Prevención or Remo Cero, located inside the Anti-Aircraft Regiment in Colina, the last place he was seen alive, and subsequently, his remains were found on the grounds of Fuerte Arteaga, Peldehue. e) On June 8, 1976, in the Estación Central sector, Juan René Orellana Catalán met with Luis Emilio Gerardo Maturana González, both militants of the Communist Youth in hiding due to the political persecution they were subject to, with the purpose of receiving money from the party from Maturana González, the latter being in charge of distributing it; at which moment he was detained by agents of the group referred to in letter a), kept in the center called La Firma, and was subsequently executed at Cuesta Barriga, where remains of his person were found, consisting of dental pieces and a removable prosthesis. f) That on October 20, 1975, in the early morning hours, Luis Desiderio Moraga Cruz was detained at his home at Pasaje Tokio No. 5862, Juanita Aguirre Housing Project, Conchalí commune, Santiago, by subjects wearing civilian clothes; he was kept in the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment in Colina, inside which was the center called La Prevención or Remo Cero, where he gave the statement found on page 5532, this being the last place he was seen alive. g) That on December 4, 1975, in the early morning hours, Ignacio Orlando González Espinoza was detained at his home at Calle Soberanía No. 1220, Santiago, by subjects wearing civilian clothes; he was kept deprived of liberty in the center called La Prevención or Remo Cero, located inside the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment in Colina, the last place he was seen alive, and subsequently, he was executed on the grounds of Fuerte Arteaga, Peldehue, where his remains were found. h) On June 8, 1976, in the Estación Central sector, Luis Emilio Gerardo Maturana González met with Juan René Orellana Catalán, both militants of the Communist Youth in hiding due to the political persecution they were subject to, with the purpose of giving party money to Orellana Catalán for himself and for him to in turn give it to other party militants, since Maturana González was in charge of distributing it; at which moment he was detained by operational agents of the group described in letter a), and kept in the center called La Firma, from where his trail is lost.

Source: resumen.cl, April 12, 2022

Supreme Court confirms convictions of 27 former Comando Conjunto agents for crimes against five communist militants committed between 1975 and 1976

The Supreme Court rejected the appeals in cassation filed by the defenses of the former agents of the so-called Comando Conjunto against the sentence that convicted 27 of them for their responsibility in the crimes of simple kidnapping and qualified homicide of Ignacio Orlando González Espinoza and Juan René Orellana Catalán; and in the qualified kidnappings of Ricardo Manuel Weibel Navarrete, Luis Desiderio Moraga Cruz, and Luis Emilio Gerardo Maturana González, all militants of the Communist Party.

The crimes were perpetrated between October 1975 and June 1976 in the city of Santiago. The so-called Comando Conjunto was a repressive apparatus created by the dictatorship under the tutelage of the Air Force (FACh) and the participation of agents from the Army, the Navy, the Carabineros, and civilian collaborators, which operated mainly between the years 1975 and 1977, and whose reason for being was to compete in repressive and criminal tasks with the absolute power held by the DINA under the tutelage of the Army and the direction of Pinochet and Contreras.

In a unanimous ruling (case file 32.012-2022), the Second Chamber of the highest court—composed of ministers Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Jorge Dahm, Leopoldo Llanos, minister María Teresa Letelier, and minister Jean Pierre Matus—confirmed the challenged sentence, issued by the Santiago Court of Appeals, which sentenced former FACh officer Juan Francisco Saavedra Loyola and former Carabineros officer Manuel Agustín Muñoz Gamboa to 18 years in prison, plus 13 years, and plus 3 years in prison each.

Former Navy officer Daniel Luis Enrique Guimpert Corvalán was sentenced to 18 years, plus 12, and plus 3 years in prison. Former Army officers Álvaro Julio Federico Corbalán Castilla and Sergio Antonio Díaz López, and former Navy officer Jorge Aníbal Osses Novoa, were sentenced to 12 years in prison, plus 10 years and one day, plus 400 days in prison each.

Agents Raúl Horacio González Fernández and Alejandro Julio Segundo Sáez Mardones were sentenced to two terms of 10 years and one day in prison, plus 400 days in prison each. Agents Roberto Alfonso Flores Cisterna and Juan Carlos Hernán Rodrigo Villarreal were sentenced to 10 years and one day, plus 5 years and one day, plus 400 days in prison each.

Civilian collaborator Otto Silvio Trujillo Miranda was sentenced to 10 years and one day in prison. Agent Lenin Figueroa Sánchez was sentenced to two terms of 5 years and one day, plus 400 days in prison.

Agents Sergio Daniel Valenzuela Morales and Juan Atilio Aravena Hurtuvia were sentenced to 5 years and one day in prison, plus 5 years, plus 400 days in prison. Civilian collaborators Andrés Pablo Potín Lailhacar, Viviana Lucinda Ugarte Sandoval, and Emilio Mahias del Río, and agents Juan Luis Fernando López López, José Evaristo Rojas Alruiz, and Francisco Segundo Illanes Miranda, were sentenced to 5 years and one day in prison, plus 400 days in prison.

Ernesto Arturo Lobos Gálvez and Alejandro Jorge Forero Álvarez were sentenced to 5 years and one day in prison, plus 60 days in prison. Roberto Francisco Serón Cárdenas was sentenced to 5 years and one day in prison.

Robinson Alfonso Suazo Jaque, Pedro Ernesto Caamaño Medina, Pedro Juan Zambrano Uribe, and José Hernando Alvarado Alvarado were sentenced to 4 years, plus 60 days in prison each. Those also convicted, Antonio Benedicto Quiros Reyes and Miguel Arturo Estay Reyno, passed away during the course of the trial.

In the judicial investigation and first-instance ruling, Minister Miguel Vásquez Plaza established that there existed a de facto group that operated clandestinely between the years 1975 and 1976, composed mainly of agents who belonged to the Air Force Intelligence Directorate, in addition to the Carabineros of Chile, the Navy, and the Army, with the collaboration of civilians, whose main objective was the repression of the Communist Party Youth, for which they proceeded to detain several of them.

This group, called Comando Conjunto, used various facilities for detentions and torture: Hangar de Cerrillos; Nido 20, a secret detention and torture center located at Calle Santa Teresa No. 037, stop 20 of Gran Avenida; Nido 18, a secret center located at Calle Perú No. 9053, La Florida, Santiago, which was used exclusively for torture; La Prevención or Remo Cero, which were dungeons located inside the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment in Colina, all during the year 1975; La Firma, at the beginning of 1976, when said group moved its operations to the rear of the property under the charge of the Carabineros of Chile, located on Calle Dieciocho, opposite No. 229, which belonged to the former newspaper Clarín, naming it La Firma. The operational action of the group consisted of detaining people through kidnapping, keeping them captive in secret centers, and subjecting them to physical and psychological interrogation and torture to obtain information and break their will, achieving the collaboration of some of them, to the point that some were assimilated as operational agents of the group, which provided greater effectiveness in the chain detention of communist militants, who were forcibly disappeared; parts of the remains of some of them were found over the years. On November 7, 1975, at approximately 10:00 PM, Ricardo Manuel Weibel Navarrete was detained at his home on Calle Río Maule in the Recoleta Commune by subjects wearing civilian clothes; he was kept deprived of liberty in the center called La Prevención or Remo Cero, located inside the Anti-Aircraft Regiment in Colina, the last place he was seen alive, and subsequently, his remains were found on the grounds of Fuerte Arteaga, Peldehue. On October 20, 1975, in the early morning hours, Luis Desiderio Moraga Cruz was detained at his home on Pasaje Tokio in the Juanita Aguirre Housing Project, Conchalí commune, Santiago, by subjects wearing civilian clothes; he was kept in the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment in Colina, inside which was the center called La Prevención or Remo Cero, this being the last place he was seen alive. On December 4, 1975, in the early morning hours, Ignacio Orlando González Espinoza was detained at his home on Calle Soberanía in the Santiago commune by subjects wearing civilian clothes; he was kept deprived of liberty in the center called La Prevención or Remo Cero, located inside the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment in Colina, the last place he was seen alive, and subsequently, he was executed on the grounds of Fuerte Arteaga, Peldehue, where his remains were found. On June 8, 1976, in the Estación Central sector, Luis Emilio Gerardo Maturana González met with Juan René Orellana Catalán, both militants of the Communist Youth in hiding due to the political persecution they were subject to, with the purpose of giving party money to Orellana Catalán for himself and for him to in turn give it to other party militants, since Maturana González was in charge of distributing it; at which moment they were detained by operational agents of the aforementioned Comando Conjunto, and kept in the center called La Firma, from where their trail is lost. Subsequently, Orellana Catalán was executed at Cuesta Barriga, where remains of his person were found.

Source: resumen.cl, April 26, 2024