The minister on extraordinary assignment for human rights violation cases of the Temuco Court of Appeals, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, issued a final sentence against retired Carabineros officers René Segundo Illesca González and Máximo Arturo Venegas Véjar as perpetrators of the qualified homicide of Segundo Cayul Tranamil, a crime committed in the commune of Carahue on June 3, 1974.

In the ruling, the presiding judge sentenced the former police officers to serve 10 years and one day in prison for their responsibility in the crime. According to the evidence gathered during the proceedings, Minister Álvaro Mesa determined the following facts: "Segundo Cayul Tranamil, 35 years old, a farmer with no political affiliation, residing in the town of Quechocahuín in the commune of Puerto Saavedra, was detained on June 1, 1974, by Carabineros from the Puerto Domínguez station, who transported him from his home to the aforementioned police unit, where he was held.

On the morning of June 3, 1974, Segundo Cayul Tranamil was taken from the Puerto Domínguez station by Corporal René Segundo Illesca González and Carabinero Máximo Arturo Venegas Véjar, both assigned to the indicated police unit, who boarded the detainee onto a public transport minibus heading toward the city of Carahue." "Upon reaching the bus stop known as 'Tres Esquinas'—the conviction continues—the Carabineros guarding the detainee signaled the bus to stop, and both descended along with Cayul Tranamil, with whom they proceeded to enter a field located on the side of the road.

In that location, the aforementioned Carabineros proceeded to execute Segundo Cayul Tranamil by firing at least one shot into his head, which caused the explosion of his brain matter, as noted in the death certificate." In the civil aspect, Minister Mesa ordered the state to pay a total sum of $150,000,000 (one hundred and fifty million pesos) to the victim's family as compensation for moral damages, a sum divided as follows: $50,000,000 (fifty million pesos) each to María Gladys, Nelson Segundo, and Eliana del Pilar Cayul Llancafil, the victim's children.

Source: resumen.cl, January 2, 2015

Supreme Court issues final ruling on the Quebrada Honda homicides

The Supreme Court ratified the sentences handed down for the qualified homicides of Tránsito Cabrera Ortiz, Miguel Catalán Febrero, and Héctor Lepe Moraga, crimes committed on October 9, 1973, in the Quebrada Honda sector, located on the road connecting Tomé and Concepción in the Eighth Region.

In a split decision (case file 24887-2014), the Second Chamber of the high court—composed of ministers Milton Juica, Hugo Dolmestch, Carlos Künsemüller, Haroldo Brito, and acting lawyer Luis Bates—rejected the cassation appeals filed against the sentence that convicted three uniformed officers in the case.

The Criminal Chamber's resolution upheld the sentences for former officers Bernardo Daza Navarro and Juan Maldonado Sanhueza, who must serve 10 years and one day without benefits; meanwhile, Patricio Salamanca Marín must serve a 5-year prison sentence, but with the benefit of supervised release.

In the same case, Eliecer Victoriano Caamaño was acquitted. The decision was adopted with a dissenting vote from Minister Dolmestch, who favored applying the statute of partial limitations. According to the investigation conducted by the minister on assignment for the Concepción Court of Appeals, Carlos Aldana, the following facts were established: "Around 6:00 PM on October 9, 1973, a naval patrol commanded by an officer and composed of 4 to 6 Marine Infantry corporals from the DIM Aldea of Talcahuano arrived in a Navy truck at the Tomé Prison.

Without a competent legal order, they proceeded to remove Tránsito del Carmen Cabrera Ortiz, Miguel Ángel Catalán Febrero, and Héctor Manuel Lepe Moraga from said detention center. The victims had been sentenced days earlier to prison terms of 45 years, 23 years, and 10 years, respectively, in a summary trial by the War Council in case A 1 of the Naval Court of Talcahuano, and had been sent to that prison that day to serve their sentences.

They were transported along the road from Tomé to Concepción with the intent to eliminate them. To do so, they stopped on the right side of the road in the sector known as 'Quebrada Honda,' proceeded to remove the prisoners, and forced them to run toward the hill.

The Patrol Chief ordered them to run toward the hill and immediately ordered the guards to fire at their backs with their HK submachine guns, causing wounds that resulted in their deaths. Afterward, the same patrol chief took a shotgun he was carrying in the truck's cabin and fired against the truck's canvas cover to make it appear as though they had been attacked by extremists, reporting as such to the press at the time.

The perpetrators acted with treachery and ensured their success in the execution of their victims, who were unarmed and at the complete mercy of their guards, during curfew hours and in an unpopulated area."

Source: reddigital.cl, October 22, 2015