The minister on extraordinary assignment for human rights violation cases of the Valparaíso Court of Appeals, Max Cancino Cancino, issued an indictment against retired Navy officer José Elías Villalón Palomino for his responsibility in the crime of kidnapping with serious injury of Raúl Tapia Torres. The illicit act was committed in September 1973.

In the resolution (case file 163-2016), Minister Max Cancino indicted José Elías Villalón Palomino as the perpetrator of the crime committed in Quilpué, the Playa Ancha stadium, and on a Navy vessel.

In the case, the visiting minister gathered sufficient evidence to establish that: "(...) on the morning of September 11, 1973, Raúl Tapia Torres was detained upon entering his workplace, the KPD company, located in El Belloto, Quilpué, by a group of military officials organized to detain the workers of that company, an operation planned by the military command without any judicial or administrative order to justify it.

He was forced to lie on the ground, face down, with his hands behind his neck, at which point the military personnel walked on the bodies of the detainees. The victim was subsequently transported in a truck, along with other detainees, to the Playa Ancha stadium and then to one of the ships located at the breakwater of the Port of Valparaíso used as a detention center, finally being released on September 29 of that year."

"Taking into account the country's health situation due to COVID-19, and given that the accused is an elderly person, he shall remain detained at his home, under the custody of the local Carabineros, while the resolution granting him provisional release is approved, which will be issued subsequently in the consultation process before the Valparaíso Court of Appeals," he added.

Source: pjud.cl, July 9, 2021

Minister Max Cancino indicts retired Navy officials for kidnapping with serious injury and the application of torture

The minister on extraordinary assignment for human rights violation cases of the Valparaíso Court of Appeals, Max Cancino Cancino, indicted eight retired Navy officials for their responsibility in the crimes of kidnapping with serious injury and the application of torture against Andrés Ibacache Encinas.

The illicit acts were committed in the commune of Quilpué, Marga Marga province, between September 1973 and February 1974.

In the resolution (case file 1-2014), Minister Cancino Cancino issued an indictment against Ernesto Leonardo Huber von Appen, Patricio Maximiliano Horacio Valentín Villalobos Lobos, Sergio Iván Mendoza Rojas, René Maldonado Bouchón, José Elías Villalón Palomino, Wilfredo Hernán Zepeda Iturriaga, and Víctor Orlando Rey Ringele as perpetrators of the crimes of kidnapping with serious injury and the application of torture or unnecessary rigor; meanwhile, Guillermo Retamal Ruz faces charges as an accomplice to the crimes perpetrated at the El Belloto Naval Air Base and at the Quilpué Investigative Police barracks.

In the case, the visiting minister gathered sufficient evidence and established that on September 14, 1973, the victim, "Andrés Ibacache Encinas, was ordered to be detained by the authorities of the CAJSI of El Belloto (Command of the Jurisdictional Area of Internal Security), after he appeared—accompanied by his two-year-old son—to work at the KPD company, located in Quilpué, a company that had been raided and controlled by order of the military command starting on the 11th of the same month.

The victim was taken by military officials to a detention center located inside the El Belloto Naval Air Base, situated in Quilpué, where he encountered a group of interrogators organized and coordinated by the military commands, with the objective of having him provide information regarding alleged weaponry that had been stored at the company where he worked, a military facility where they proceeded to keep him locked up without any judicial order to justify it.

Likewise, during his confinement, he was transferred on several occasions to a barracks of the Chilean Investigative Police, also in Quilpué, specifically to an office occupied by another group of interrogators also planned and organized by the military commands, for the purpose of interrogating and torturing him through punches and kicks, the application of electric shocks to various parts of his body, and sleep deprivation, being released approximately in February 1974."

"Taking into account the country's health situation due to COVID-19, and given that the accused are elderly persons, they shall remain detained in their respective homes, under the custody of the local Carabineros, while the resolution granting them provisional release is approved, which will be issued subsequently in the consultation process before the Valparaíso Court of Appeals," the ruling adds.

Source: pjud.cl, August 30, 2021

Minister Max Cancino indicts retired Navy officer for kidnapping with serious injury

In the resolution, Minister Cancino indicted José Elías Villalón Palomino as the perpetrator of the crime committed in the city of Quilpué, at the Playa Ancha stadium, and on a Navy vessel.

The minister on extraordinary assignment for human rights violation cases of the Valparaíso Court of Appeals, Max Cancino Cancino, issued an indictment against a retired Navy officer for his responsibility in the consummated crime of kidnapping with serious injury of Juan Domingo Jiménez Rojas. The illicit act was perpetrated on September 11, 1973.

In the resolution (case file 265-2017), Minister Cancino indicted José Elías Villalón Palomino as the perpetrator of the crime committed in the city of Quilpué, at the Playa Ancha stadium, and on a Navy vessel.

During the investigation stage of the case, the visiting minister gathered sufficient evidence to establish that: "(...) on September 11, 1973, Juan Domingo Jiménez Rojas was detained in the morning hours, upon entering his workplace, the KPD company, located in El Belloto, Quilpué, by a group of military officials organized to detain the workers of that company, an operation that was planned by the military command, without any judicial or administrative order to justify it, being forced to lie on the ground, face down, with his hands behind his neck, at which point the military personnel walked on the bodies of the detainees. The victim was subsequently transported in a truck, along with other detainees, to the Playa Ancha stadium and then to one of the ships that were at the breakwater of the Port of Valparaíso, used as a detention center, finally being released on September 18 of that year."

"Taking into account the country's health situation due to COVID-19, and given that the accused is an elderly person, he shall remain detained at his home, under the custody of the local Carabineros, while the resolution granting him provisional release is approved, which will be issued subsequently in the consultation process before the Valparaíso Court of Appeals," he added.

Source: pdju.cl, May 5, 2022

Supreme Court convicts retired Navy members for kidnapping and torture of prisoners during the dictatorship

In all cases, the visiting minister, Max Cancino, established that "there existed a hierarchical and disciplined military intelligence group called SICAJSI (...) whose main objective was the repression of persons opposed to the military regime."

This Monday, the Supreme Court convicted retired Navy members for kidnapping with serious injury of eight political prisoners subjected to torture at the institution's Silva Palma Barracks during the dictatorship.

Details of the ruling

The Second Chamber of the highest court analyzed eight appeals for cassation filed against rulings that convicted the various retired Navy members and issued the following sentences:

• Juan de Dios Reyes Basaur and Héctor Santibáñez Obreque were sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment under house arrest for the kidnapping with serious injury of Eduardo Nelson Cabrera Vásquez.
• Sergio Hevia Febres was sentenced to 5 years and 1 day of imprisonment under house arrest for the kidnapping with serious injury of Amador Amable Canelo Sánchez.
• A sentence of 5 years and 1 day of imprisonment under house arrest was issued for the kidnapping with serious injury of Erwin Hugo Conn Tesche.
• Juan de Dios Reyes Basaur and Héctor Santibáñez Obreque were sentenced to 5 years and 1 day of imprisonment under house arrest for the kidnapping with serious injury of Gilberto Alfonso Hernández Vera.
• Laureano Hernández Araya was sentenced to 5 years and 1 day of imprisonment for the kidnapping with serious injury of Eduardo Enrique Ulloa Navarro.
• Juan de Dios Reyes Basaur and Héctor Santibáñez Obreque were sentenced to 5 years and 1 day of imprisonment under house arrest for the kidnapping of Luis Alberto Álvarez Noziglia.
• José Elías Villalón Palominos was sentenced to 61 days of imprisonment, with conditional remission, for the simple kidnapping of Arturo Madrid López.
• Juan de Dios Reyes Basaur and Héctor Santibáñez Obreque were sentenced to 5 years and 1 day of imprisonment under house arrest for the kidnapping of Patricio Héctor Valdés Torres.

In all cases, the visiting minister, Max Cancino Cancino, established that "there existed a hierarchical and disciplined military intelligence group called the Intelligence Service of the Command of the Jurisdictional Area of Internal Security, known as SICAJSI."

Detailing that this group "operated actively starting on September 11, 1973, formed by agents belonging to the various branches of national defense, particularly by officials of the Chilean Navy, (...) whose main objective was the repression of persons opposed to the military regime, for which they proceeded to search for and detain them, who were then deprived of their liberty to obtain information through physical and psychological torture."

Source: cnnchile.com, September 16, 2025