Tomás Rogelio Domínguez Jara, single, peasant leader, and member of the Christian Democratic Party, was detained on October 11, 1973, along with his brother Gustavo Efraín and agricultural worker Wilson Alfredo Becerra Cifuentes, both of whom were also peasant leaders.

They were detained by Carabineros officers who violently broke into the Ranquil settlement, raiding their homes and illegally seizing documents and the cash box of the peasant enterprise. The three men were forced into the jeeps used by their captors and taken to an unknown destination.

Following his detention, his family went to the San Nicolás Carabineros Station—the unit to which some of the officers involved in the operation belonged—but the station refused to provide any information regarding the whereabouts of the detainees. Likewise, inquiries and efforts made at other detention centers yielded no results.

The Rettig Report stated that the three disappeared leaders had been taken to the "El Ala" bridge, where they were allegedly killed. At the end of December 1973, the father of one of the many people detained by Carabineros in the city of Chillán found 9 bodies tied with wire on the banks of the Ñuble River near the aforementioned bridge; only 2 or 3 of them were identified.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS

Amparo appeal (habeas corpus) file 94.326 filed with the Court of Appeals on January 6, 1975. Amparo appeal file 104.889 filed with the Court of Appeals in November 1978.

A complaint for alleged disappearance was filed with the San Carlos Court, file 41.579, initiated on November 27, 1978. The case was dismissed on January 31, 1979. At the request of the Bishops of the Catholic Church, it was reopened on March 29, 1979. On August 3, 1979, it was dismissed again.

In this case, Carabineros First Corporal Demetrio Méndez Lagos testified, acknowledging that in 1973 he was part of the San Nicolás Station staff and that, that year, there was an operation led by a Carabineros Lieutenant from the Chillán Commissariat—whose name he does not recall—which also included Carabineros from other units, to raid a house in Fundo Ranquil.

He stated that under those circumstances, the Domínguez Jara brothers were detained, but after being interrogated by the Lieutenant, they were released. Curiously, he added that the Domínguez brothers were seen after the date of their detention riding bicycles across the El Ala Bridge.

In this same process, it was established that the officer in charge of the San Nicolás Station at the time of the events was retired Carabineros Sergeant Major Manuel Castillo Oliva, who denies any participation in the detention and subsequent disappearance of Gustavo and Tomás Domínguez Jara.

Details of the judicial actions taken on his behalf can be found in the case of his brother, Gustavo Efraín Domínguez Jara.

Source: Corporation report

In La Fontana, we republish an interview that appeared in Cambio21.cl. On Friday, September 10, at the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, the second edition of the book "La Placa, mucho más que un trozo de metal" (The Plaque, much more than a piece of metal) was launched.

The presentation of the manuscript was conducted by the president of the Chilean Commission for Human Rights, lawyer Carlos Margotta Trincado.

The work by journalist and designer José Valencia Castañeda recounts the details of the recognition made by a group of Christian Democratic Youth militants in 1998, who installed a bronze plaque with the names of the Christian Democratic martyrs murdered during the dictatorship.

Cambio21 spoke with the author of the book, José Valencia, who appears in the photo.

-How did the idea of installing a plaque with the victims of the Christian Democratic Party (DC) at the party headquarters arise? -The answer is limited to a series of very specific contextual situations: in 1998, with Pinochet assuming the role of senator-for-life, there was a need to avoid forgetting, an urgency to vindicate our martyrs and publish their names by casting them in bronze.

It is a plaque that originally contained inaccuracies and omissions, which went missing for a decade and was replaced in 2017. This manuscript is the history of that memorial plaque; it is not the history of the victims because I believe that each of them deserves their own book to learn about their lives, their dreams, and their ideas.

-What is the purpose of this publication? -This book is the story of a vindication, that of the memory of sixteen people, men and women, who embraced the cause of Christian humanism and who, because of their militancy or adherence to the values that inspired their work, were victims of the most brutal dictatorial repression. It is an action to rescue memory.

-Who were the victims? -They are 16 people murdered by State agents: 11 political executions and 5 forcibly disappeared. A group of ordinary Chilean men and women—secretaries, peasants, professionals, public servants, retirees, merchants, high school students, and university students—who, at a vibrant moment in their lives, were militants in the political expression of Christian humanism.

Among them, there was also a former President of the Republic.

-What did you find in your research? -I found some clarifications, relevant data that differ from the official history, and, mainly, heartbreaking testimonies. It was not easy to gather information from direct sources to build the biographical sketches contained in this publication.

From that perspective, this book is perhaps—still in its second edition—a provisional text, whose final draft is still pending. This is not accidental, as after so many decades of oblivion, the testimonies of relatives, friends, and fellow travelers have been lost to time.

But I managed to find some family members, and in them, I also found the victims. I must admit that I was moved on more than one occasion by the stories and the small passages of life that they told me, which they treasure as the most precious of memories. I am grateful for the sincerity, trust, and contribution of those testimonies.

-Why write this book so many years later? -Because I am part of a generation that refuses to forget and continues to think that accessing the full truth and full justice constitutes the necessary and essential condition to heal the wounds of 17 years of systematic human rights violations, which remain without justice and without truth to this day.

Because in this Government, I saw the actions of State terrorism again, torturing, mutilating, and blinding protesters during the social revolt. Because now, there are political prisoners in Chile again, and for that same reason, I am convinced that this book constitutes a small contribution for future generations, so that the grave human rights violations like those that occurred here—and which are appearing again today as crowds fill the city streets and repression proceeds, emulating the brutality of the civil-military dictatorship—never happen again in Chile.

*These are the Christian Democrats who were murdered by the Dictatorship: 1. Eduardo Frei Montalva, Political Assassination. 2. Guillermo Amador Álvarez Cañas, Political Execution. 3. José Emiliano Balboa Benítez, Forcibly Disappeared. 4.

Sonia De Las Mercedes Bustos Reyes, Forcibly Disappeared. 5. Hernán Horacio Castillo Calcagni, Political Execution. 6. Gustavo Efraín Domínguez Jara, Forcibly Disappeared. 7. Tomás Rogelio Domínguez Jara, Forcibly Disappeared. 8.

Mario Gilberto Fernández López, Political Assassination. 9. Mario Daniel Martínez Rodríguez, Political Assassination. 10. Juan Guillermo Navarrete Solar, Political Execution. 11. Juan Segundo Palma Arévalo, Political Execution. 12.

Roberto Romualdo Romero Reyes, Political Execution. 13. Sergio Orlando Verdugo Herrera, Political Execution. 14. Juan Antonio Villaseñor Jara, Political Execution. 15. Sergio Gervasio Rodríguez Villanueva, Forcibly Disappeared. 16. Fernando David Becerra Julio, Political Execution.

Source: 9/15/2021

Date: 09-15-2021

The visiting judge for human rights violation cases of the Concepción Court of Appeals, Carlos Aldana, has indicted retired Carabineros General Patricio Jeldres Rodríguez as the perpetrator of the consummated aggravated kidnapping of brothers Gustavo Efraín and Tomás Rogelio Domínguez Jara and Wilson Alfredo Becerra Cifuentes, a crime committed on October 11, 1973.

According to the gathered evidence, it was determined that around 4:00 PM that day, a Carabineros patrol from the Second Commissariat of Chillán, under the command of then-Lieutenant Patricio Jeldres—all armed with submachine guns and in combat gear—headed to the commune of San Nicolás.

They were met by local Carabineros and, under the orders of Lieutenant Jeldres, proceeded to the "Ránquil" Peasant Settlement—now Fundo Victoria—which was working on the property explored by the CORA (Agrarian Reform Corporation).

The file indicates that "(...) at that location, they proceeded to detain several of its leaders, who were tortured for several hours—submerged in a pool of water, subjected to electric shocks, and beaten on their bodies—all in the presence of their families, including minors.

Then, as dusk fell, they took Gustavo Efraín and Tomás Rogelio Domínguez Jara and Wilson Alfredo Becerra Cifuentes to the entrance of the 'El Ala Bridge' over the Ñuble River, where they were last seen alive, a date from which all news of their whereabouts or fate remains unknown," the resolution stated.

This Monday, a key crime scene reconstruction of the "Ránquil"-San Nicolás peasant settlement episode, in which the disappearance of the three peasant leaders occurred, was carried out. The accused was present, having been transported by the Gendarmerie from the Punta Peuco prison, where he is serving a 5-year sentence for 12 other similar crimes. "It has been important, since the witnesses have recreated what they stated in their declarations, which have been contrasted with the properties and other evidence from the scene of the event, so what has been done on this occasion has significant relevance for the process," he indicated. Patricio Jeldres Rodríguez, a retired general of the Carabineros of Chile, was known as "the most ferocious torturer of Ñuble" at the beginning of the dictatorship and is credited with crimes such as the assassination of Ricardo Lagos, the former mayor of Chillán, whom he gunned down in his home along with his entire family. He is also held responsible for the disappearance, to this day, of one of the former mayor's sons. He faces the possibility of his sentence increasing by up to 20 more years. As in all previous cases, he denies any participation.

Source: sabes.cl 5/16/2017

Date: 05-16-2017

Retired non-commissioned officer indicted for the disappearance of agricultural workers

The First Court of Letters of San Carlos has indicted a retired Carabineros non-commissioned officer for his alleged participation as a perpetrator in the disappearance of three agricultural workers from Ránquil, which occurred on October 11, 1973.

The former Carabineros officer, Manuel Castillo Oliva, allegedly led the patrol that detained brothers Gustavo and Tomás Domínguez Jara, as well as Wilson Becerra Cifuentes, leaders of the Ránquil settlement (formerly Fundo La Victoria), who were detained and tortured before their trail was lost, indicated Ignacio Marín Correa, a lawyer for the Ministry of the Interior's Human Rights Program.

The retired non-commissioned officer was arrested by the Investigative Police in the city of Temuco, Ninth Region, where he resided, and remains detained at the San Carlos Penitentiary Compliance Center.

His lawyer, Ingrid Landero, appealed the resolution of Judge Angel Coria Ricotti to the Chillán Court of Appeals.

Source: August 20, 2005, La Discusión

Date: 08-20-2005