Pitrufquén

In the months of September and October 1973, under different circumstances, nine people were detained by Carabineros officers from Pitrufquén and subsequently forcibly disappeared:

On September 15, 1973, Osvaldo BURGOS LAVOZ, 43, an agent for the Banco del Estado in Pitrufquén and a member of the Partido Socialista, and Walter Raúl STEPKE MUÑOZ, 24, a farmer with no political affiliation, were apprehended.

Both were detained in front of witnesses while traveling in a pickup truck from Catrico toward Pitrufquén. Once subdued and tied up in the back of the vehicle, they were taken to an unknown destination and remain disappeared to this day.

On the same day, Pedro CURIHUAL PAILLAN, 24, a union leader, was apprehended in the Plaza of Pitrufquén. His family members state that his detention was denied at the local police station, even though there were witnesses to the event. His whereabouts remain unknown to this day.

Also on September 15, Einar Enrique TENORIO FUENTES, 42, a teacher at the Liceo de Pitrufquén, councilman, and General Secretary of the Partido Socialista in the Cautín Province, was detained at his home.

After searching the house and interrogating his spouse and daughter, they took him blindfolded to the police station. He was seen by witnesses at that facility. Since that date, and despite the efforts of his family, he remains disappeared.

On September 19, 1973, Luis Caupolicán CARFURQUIR VILLALON, 49, administrator of the Pitrufquén Hospital, a member of the Partido Radical, former councilman of that municipality, and a leader of the Central Unica de Trabajadores, also disappeared in Pitrufquén.

He had been detained on September 18 by Carabineros officers at his home in the early morning hours. At that location, he was beaten and placed into a vehicle owned by a civilian from the city, and taken to an unknown destination. Carabineros subsequently denied his detention, and he has been disappeared since that date.

On September 21, 1973, Juan Héctor ÑANCUFIL REUQUE, 21, a laborer and member of the Juventud Socialista, was detained when he went to report to the police station after police officers raided his home.

His family states that his detention was later acknowledged at that facility, and they were reportedly informed of his transfer to the Temuco Jail, where he never arrived. His whereabouts have been unknown since that date.

On October 18, 1973, Ismael Rolando BOCAZ MUÑOZ, 31, a communist militant and official at the Pitrufquén Municipality, was detained in front of witnesses. Carabineros reportedly denied the detention to his family members later on. He remains disappeared to this day.

On October 25, 1973, Luis Anselmo FERNANDEZ BARRERA, 32, an artisan, was detained in front of witnesses. An independent leftist, he had participated in the land occupations that gave rise to peasant settlements in the area.

His detention was also reportedly denied to his family at the police station. Celso AVENDAÑO ALARCON, 47, president of the Los Boldos settlement and a furniture maker by trade, was also detained and taken to the Pitrufquén police station. His family was reportedly informed later that he had been transferred to the Temuco Jail, where he was never found.

In the nine cases referred to, the detentions have been verified, and no information has been received by the families or through State agencies regarding any of them. Therefore, this Commission has reached the conviction that they were forcibly disappeared by State agents. These acts constitute a grave violation of the human rights of these victims.

Walter Raúl Stepke Muñoz, a farmer, single, with no political affiliation, was detained on September 15, 1973, by Carabineros officers while traveling from Catrico to Pitrufquén in a pickup truck accompanied by Osvaldo Burgos Lavoz, who was also arrested and remains forcibly disappeared.

In said vehicle, he was seen at the Pitrufquén checkpoint, tied to the cargo bed, by people living at the entrance to the town. The victim had left his home located in Catrico, on the road to Villarrica, that morning, accompanied by his friend Burgos, who was a socialist militant and, fearing arrest, had asked to spend the night at his home.

On the night of that day, Carabineros from Villarrica proceeded to raid his home, explaining to his mother that they were looking for weapons. Mrs. Cristina Muñoz Ceballos proceeded to hand over a German pistol that was a memento of her late husband.

The following day, due to her son's absence, Mrs. Crispina went to the Pitrufquén Carabineros Station, where the officers gave her no explanation. That day, there were also several Army uniformed personnel in the barracks courtyard, and a conscript whose identity is unknown informed her confidentially that a Mr.

Burgos had indeed been detained in a pickup truck driven by a young man who matched her son's description. She insisted again based on this information, but they again refused to provide her with any details about the victim.

She also made inquiries at the Pitrufquén Prison, where his detention was denied. The pickup truck in question, owned by Osvaldo Burgos, was returned to his spouse by Carabineros officers, who claimed to have found it on a public road. All subsequent efforts made to determine the fate of Stepke Muñoz yielded no results.

JUDICIAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDINGS

On April 2, 1979, the case of Walter Stepke was included among those that led to the appointment of a Visiting Judge (Ministro en Visita) to conduct a summary investigation into the forcibly disappeared persons from the Department of Temuco.

This appointment fell to Judge Alfredo Meynet González. During said proceedings, the victim's mother testified, reporting the facts already stated. For his part, the Investigating Judge requested information from the 5th Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén, receiving a response that there were no records in that unit regarding the detention of the victim, "from which it is inferred that such detentions did not occur." On October 25, he declared himself incompetent to continue hearing the case and referred the records to the IV Military Court of Valdivia, on the grounds that all persons whose disappearance was being investigated had been detained by personnel from the Carabineros, Army, or Air Force, in various patrols acting unequivocally in the line of duty. The Military Justice system, on December 19 of that year, accepted jurisdiction and ordered the Cautín Military Prosecutor's Office to open case 1192 bis-79. This latter court, on March 31, 1980, took a statement, via a letter rogatory, from Carabineros Major Reinaldo Alberto Lokowiak Luppy (also listed in the case file as Lucoviac Lupi), who indicated that he did not know the disappeared persons named by the Court, including Walter Raúl Stepke Muñoz. He added that he was under the command of superiors and it was only his duty to follow orders and accompany them on operations or to carry out detentions, which were numerous in those days, but he had no direct contact with the detainees, as his role was to accompany his superiors and control the detainees from the moment of their capture until they were handed over to the Station. He recalls that the detained persons, after being taken to the Station, were transferred to the Tucapel Regiment in Temuco and to the FACH Helicopter Group 3, in accordance with superior instructions. On April 2, 1980, Carabineros Captain Carlos Hernán Moreno Mena appeared before the Military Prosecutor's Office and stated that on September 11, 1973, he was serving as Deputy Commissioner at the 5th Carabineros Station of Pitrufquén, a position he held until the beginning of 1974, when he was sent as secretary to that Military Prosecutor's Office in Temuco. His superior at the Station was Captain Sergio Callis Soto (now deceased). He added that it was his duty to follow superior orders related to the detention of various people involved with extremist elements and political problems. Regarding them, he stated that he was under the orders of the Commissioner and always acted in faithful compliance with his superior's instructions, never on his own initiative. The detainees were handed over to the Station Guard, from where only the Commissioner ordered their subsequent transfer to Temuco or another location, which he also cannot confirm because he did not intervene in anything; in fact, on many occasions, his superior acted alone and without indicating on what order he was doing so, having subordinate personnel accompany him, carrying out detentions, and ordering the transfer of detainees to Temuco. He noted that on many occasions, Armed Forces personnel from Temuco arrived in search of detainees, and the handover was not done by him, but by the Commissioner. On October 24, 1980, by virtue of the 1978 Amnesty Decree Law, the Military Judge issued a total and definitive dismissal of the case.

Source: Corporation report