PART THREE
Chapter One (A.2)

September through December 1973 (continued)

1. HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS COMMITTED BY GOVERNMENT AGENTS OR PERSONS WORKING FOR THEM (continued)
   
   
   2. CASES (continued)
      
      
      6. Fifth Region-Valparaíso
         
         
         1. Overview
            
            In the Valparaíso Region, which includes the current provinces of Valparaíso, Quillota, Petorca, San Antonio, San Felipe de Aconcagua, Los Andes, and Isla de Pascua [Easter Island], the Commission examined forty-one cases of grave human rights violations ending in the death or disappearance of prisoners for which the government was responsible due to actions by its agents.
            
            To adequately understand what took place in the Fifth Region during the last months of 1973 it should be noted that the armed forces took control without any armed clashes or violent actions on the part of supporters of the deposed government. Thus there were no acts of violence perpetrated against military troops or police units in the regional capital of Valparaíso, in the port of San Antonio, in the rural areas of Quillota, La Calera, Petorca, Cabildo, San Felipe and Los Andes, nor did land or factory occupations or any other kinds of resistance take place in reaction to the declaration of military rule. The proof is found in the fact that no members of the armed forces were killed as a result of attacks by private citizens. High ranking officials of the military government assigned to Valparaíso on September 11, 1973 have declared that the only noteworthy incident in that city was some shooting near the customs office on September 14, but that was apparently the result of confusion on the part of official forces.
            
            The navy took charge of the area of Valparaíso and its environs, while the army took control of the remaining areas. The military authorities in each province were as follows: in Quillota, the Commander of Engineers Regiment No. 2-Aconcagua; in San Felipe, the Commander of Infantry Regiment No. 3-Yungay; in San Antonio, the commander of the Tejas Verdes Military Engineering School.
            
            The human rights violations that took place in the region were committed by members of these two branches of the armed forces. The police were involved in arresting some of the victims of these grave violations, and in the areas of Petorca and Catemu they were directly responsible for the death of some people. Violations of the right to life took a variety of forms: sometimes deaths were officially explained as "applications of the law of escape"; others resulted from the implementation of a death sentence issued by war tribunals which did not respect the rules of a reasonable and just procedure; some resulted from torture; some were executions carried out in total disregard for the law; others resulted from the unnecessary use of force; and some people disappeared after being arrested by government agents.
            
            A common characteristic in this region is the selectivity in choosing victims, most of whom were local political and social leaders. Some were important public officials and representatives of the Popular Unity; others were labor leaders. It should also be noted that there was an organized persecution of grass roots activists of the political organizations that supported the previous government. Hence among those who were killed or disappeared as a result of actions by government agents were the following: in Valparaíso, the head of the customs office investigations department; an alderman in Limache and the government representative in the United Breweries Company; the government representative in the Parma Brewery; and the president of the student center of the University of Chile architecture department. In the territory under army control, the victims included the mayor of Cabildo; the member of the Communist party in Cabildo who was responsible for elections and propaganda; the government representative in the La Patagua mine; the area director for the Ministry of Health in San Felipe; the sectional secretary of the Socialist party and head of the Department of Social Development in San Felipe; the mayor of Quillota; the chief attorney for the Agrarian Reform Corporation in Quillota; the head of the technical department of the Agrarian Reform Corporation of Quillota and provincial secretary of the Communist party; the local secretary of the Socialist party in Quillota; the president of the Union of Textile Workers at the Said Rayon plant in Quillota; a neighborhood MIR leader in Quillota; four leaders of the longshoremens' union in San Antonio; the regional secretary of the Socialist party in that city; an alderman and regional secretary for the CUT in San Antonio; and the administrator of the sanitation department of Cartagena. An alderman from Petorca and one from Catemu, both active in the Communist party, were killed by police.
            
            For the sake of a better description of what happened in the Fifth Region, the account will proceed chronologically, beginning with Valparaíso and its environs, followed by San Antonio, San Felipe, Quillota, and other places.
            
            
         2. Cases of grave human rights violations in the Valparaíso Region
            
            Valparaíso
            

            For purposes of imprisonment, interrogation, and/or torture in this province, the navy used the ships "Lebu," "Maipo," and the training ship "Esmeralda," (which were all anchored in the port of Valparaíso), the El Belloto naval air base, and the Naval War Academy - in particular one of its facilities, the Silva Palma garrison.
            
            The two ships "Lebu" and "Maipo," which belonged to the Sudamericana de Vapores Company, were used as the navy's detention sites. The company told this Commission that the "Maipo" was transferred into the hands of the Chilean Navy at 10:00 a.m. September 11, 1973, when navy personnel took it over, and then headed toward Pisagua at 11:00 p.m. September 15. It was then replaced by the "Lebu," which had been requisitioned as a prison ship that same date. In November the International Red Cross Committee noted that the "Lebu" held 324 political prisoners.
            
            Both the "Maipo" and the "Lebu" were used as prison sites. Some prisoners in these ships were in cabins but most were kept in the holds in very crowded and unhygienic conditions with minimal services. After its visit on October 1, 1973, the International Red Cross confirmed that such was the case on the "Lebu." It also noted that the prisoners were completely cut off from the outside since their families were unaware that they were there, that the food was barely satisfactory in quality and quantity, and that the conditions in which they were being held prisoners were generally poor. On that ship prisoners were tortured and mistreated.
            
            In its inquiries the Commission was able to determine that a specialized navy unit was installed on the "Esmeralda" in order to interrogate prisoners and those brought from other navy prison sites. As a general rule, these interrogations included torture and mistreatment. Mistreatment and torture were also part of interrogation that took place at the El Belloto naval air base, and at the War Academy and installations connected to it, particularly the Silva Palma garrison.
            
            On September 12, 1973, Jaime ALDONEY VARGAS, 30, an alderman for Limache who was active in the Socialist party, was arrested by local police and handed over to navy officers at the El Belloto naval air base. An official report said he was released September 13, 1973, but this Commission has been able to establish that on September 14, he was being held a prisoner on the cargo ship "Maipo." Hence the official account is false. This Commission has come to the conviction that he is dead, since on September 26, 1973, witnesses who knew him saw his body at the morgue of the Deformes Hospital in Valparaíso next to that of Oscar Farías Urzúa, and that his death was the work of government agents, since it took place at a time when he was under arrest, even though his arrest was not acknowledged.
            
            Also on September 12, Yanctong Orlando JUANTOK GUZMAN, 26, a MIR activist who was the president of the student center of the University of Chile architecture department of the Valparaíso campus, was arrested by a navy patrol in the upper part of Cerro La Cruz. It has been attested before this Commission that after his arrest he was held in the "Maipo," and was seen there on September 14. That day a group of sailors took him to an unknown destination. In the missing person report (record No. 91896) presented and heard at the Third Criminal Court in Valparaíso an official navy representative stated on July 4, 1974, that Juantok was in the hands of the intelligence service of the First Navy Zone. He later retracted that statement. There has been no word on Juantok since the moment he was taken from the "Maipo." A check of the relevant government agencies indicates that he has conducted no official business since the time he disappeared nor is there any other evidence that might suggest he is still alive. The Commission has come to the conviction that while he was under arrest Yanctong Juantok disappeared at the hands of government agents who violated his human rights.
            
            Also on September 12, 1973, Oscar Armando FARIAS URZUA, 33, who was active in the Socialist party and was a government representative in the Parma brewery, was arrested by navy personnel. He was taken to the El Belloto naval air base and later taken to make an official statement at the navy prosecutor's office. He died September 20, 1973, while in custody. The Commission came to the conviction that Oscar Farías was executed by government agents, for the following particular reasons: navy authorities arrested him and took him to the El Belloto naval air base; while he was arrested navy authorities told his family he was dead and turned over his body to them; the death certificate states that the cause of death was three bullet wounds and says that the place was the Medical Legal Institute. This last point is unlikely since the purpose of the institute is to receive people only after they are already dead.
            
            Two days later on September 14, 1973, Luis Enrique SANGUINETTI FUENZALIDA, 38, the head of the customs office investigation department and a university professor who was active in the Socialist party, died on board the "Maipo." This Commission has verified that on September 12 when Luis Sanguinetti voluntarily reported to navy authorities on property of the customs office, he was arrested on the spot and taken to the "Maipo," where he was kept in one of its holds. He was taken out for interrogation several times, and by one account, was subjected to torture on the training ship "Esmeralda." Another account is that the torture took place on the "Maipo" and at navy headquarters. The evidence the Commission gathered confirms the fact that he was mistreated and was left in pitiable physical and psychological condition. Eyewitnesses to his death say that he was tortured that day on board the "Maipo," taken to naval headquarters to be tortured again, and returned to the "Maipo." The next day he was ordered to walk around on the deck. Due to his pitiable condition, however, he could not do so, and in a fit of despair he dove into one of the ships hold's and was killed immediately. According to another account his torture took place on the "Esmeralda." The Commission came to the conviction that Luis Enrique Sanguinetti was a victim of government agents because the immediate antecedent to his death was the cruel and degrading treatment to which he was subjected.
            
            Also on September 14, 1973, René Guillermo AGUILERA OLIVARES, 41, was killed. As has been noted, there was a gun battle that day in the port of Valparaíso. Aguilera was hit twice by bullets and died in the street. Having examined the events that led to his death, this Commission came to the conviction that René Aguilera was a victim of the situation of political violence at that time.
            
            On September 22, 1973, Michael WOODWARD IRIBARRY, 42, a former priest who was a MAPU activist, died at the naval hospital in Valparaíso. It has been established that a naval patrol arrested him September 16, 1973 at Cerro Los Placeres and that while imprisoned he was tortured. A navy doctor tried to give him emergency attention at the breakwater, an area under navy guard where the training ship "Esmeralda" and the "Lebu" were docked. He was then taken to the navy hospital where he died as a result of "cardio-respiratory arrest," due to his pitiable physical state. These facts enable the Commission to come to the conviction that Michael Woodward died at the hands of government agents who tortured him while he was being held prisoner.
            
            On October 10, 1973, Héctor ARELLANO PINOCHET, 19, was killed by a navy patrol. He was accused of violating curfew and of attempting to attack uniformed personnel while under the influence of drugs. The autopsy revealed that he had not imbibed alcohol. Without any evidence that would permit it to know the exact circumstances under which he died, and keeping in mind the general features of the period as already noted, this Commission has come to the conviction that Héctor Arellano died as a result of the overall situation of political violence.
            
            On December 11, 1973, Félix FIGUERAS UBACH, 30, was arrested by troops from Armored Cavalry Regiment No. 4 (Viña del Mar Corsairs). He was taken to the regiment grounds and then to the Naval War Academy. He died December 15, at the naval hospital, due to mistreatment by his captors. This Commission holds the conviction that Félix Figueras died at the hands of government agents who tortured him and violated his right to life.
            

            San Antonio
            

            In the province of San Antonio, which was under army control, two main prison sites were used:
            
            

            • Prisoner Camp No. 2 at the Tejas Verdes Military Engineering School. According to witnesses, this site was first used as a prison on September 11, 1973, and it was used for that purpose until mid-1974. At times it held as many as one hundred prisoners. Torture was used systematically at Prison Camp No. 2 and at the Military Engineering School, as is noted in greater detail in the first section of this chapter.
              
              
            • The jail in San Antonio, a facility which was subject to the military command structure of the Tejas Verdes Military Engineering School and controlled by the Chilean police. In its October 12, 1973 report, the International Red Cross pointed out that the conditions of the place were "barely acceptable" and were quite lacking in sanitation. Referring to medical services for the prisoners, who at that time numbered about one hundred, the report drew attention to the high number of consultations, about thirty-five a day.
              
              

            On September 22, 1973, the following people were executed by army troops in the area of Atalaya, on the road between San Antonio and Bucalemu:
            
            Raúl Enrique BACCIARINI ZORRILLA, 49, the regional secretary of the Socialist party in San Antonio;
            
            Héctor ROJO ALFARO, 43, a national leader of the longshoreman's union and a secretary of COMACH and of the International Federation of Transportation Workers who was active in the Communist party;
            
            Samuel NUÑEZ GONZALEZ, 49, a leader of the longshoremen's union in San Antonio who was active in the Socialist party;
            
            Armando JIMENEZ MACHUCA, 38, a member of the board of directors of the longshoreman's union who was active in the Socialist party;
            
            Guillermo ALVAREZ CAÑAS, 49, president of the longshoreman's union in San Antonio who was active in the Christian Democrat party; and
            
            Fidel Alfonso BRAVO ALVAREZ, 22, a worker who was active in the Socialist party.
            
            According to the official account, found in Military Decree No. 26, issued by the operational commander for the state of siege in the province of San Antonio who was also commander of the Tejas Verdes Military Engineering School, the prisoners "were being transferred from San Antonio to the prison camp in Bucalemu. Taking advantage of a mechanical problem with the vehicle, they tried to escape and were stopped by the weapons of the patrol guarding them." That official account goes on to say that these people, whom it called subversives, were being taken to Bucalemu because they were very dangerous. It also said that the four longshoremen leaders had tried to paralyze the port of San Antonio by inciting other workers not to obey the port administrator, who was carrying out instructions from the operational commander of the zone under state of siege.
            
            After examining the evidence gathered, the Commission rejects the official account, in view of the following circumstances:
            
            

            • It is unlikely that every one of these people had to be killed in order to halt their supposed escape attempt since they were unarmed and under heavy military guard.
              
              
            • There is no proof that there was a prison camp in Bucalemu in September 1973, and thus there is no justification for the route taken by the patrol.
              
              
            • Raúl Bacciarini Zorrilla was in very poor physical condition. There are many credible accounts that both his knees were broken and thus he could not move by himself. Moreover, Alvarez Cañas had undergone major surgery shortly before his arrest and was in frail condition, and so it is not very likely that he was in any condition to attempt escape.
              
              
            • When they arrived at the morgue the bodies of the six victims were almost completely destroyed by knife wounds; the bullet wounds looked like they had been made after death when the bodies were stretched out on the ground. The autopsy reports could not be found. The person who observed the condition of the bodies was arrested and taken to Prison Camp No. 2.
              
              
            • The death certificates state that the place of death was the Atalaya estate on the road to Navidad in San Antonio. On November 18, Jorge Cornejo Carvajal and Patricio del Carmen Rojas González were killed by firing squad there, as indicated on their death certificates.
              
              
            • There was no judicial or internal investigation of the weapon used in these events.
              
              

            Therefore this Commission holds the conviction that Ra£l Bacciarini, Héctor Rojo, Samuel Nuñez, Armando Jimínez, and Fidel Bravo were executed without any due process of law by government agents who violated their human rights.
            
            On October 5, 1973, the following persons disappeared in the hands of army troops:
            
            Jorge Luis OJEDA JARA, 20, a student leader who was active in the Socialist party. He was arrested in Melipilla September 16, 1973, along with Jorge Cornejo Carvajal, Patricio Rojas González, and others. He was taken to Camp No. 2 where he arrived in poor physical condition due to the torture to which he was subjected in the Melipilla prison. The mistreatment he received at Tejas Verdes worsened his health.
            
            Florindo Alex VIDAL HINOJOSA, 25, who worked on road repair in the San Antonio area and was a MIR activist. He was arrested along with others by a military patrol on September 27, 1973, and transferred to Prison Camp No. 2 at Tejas Verdes. His body was found in the Rapel River.
            
            Victor Fernando MESINA ARAYA, 25, a baker who was active in the Socialist party. Army troops arrested him at his home September 27, 1973, and he was taken to the Tejas Verdes prison camp. His body was found in the Rapel River.
            
            Luis Fernando NORAMBUENA FERNANDOIS, 31, an alderman in San Antonio and the regional secretary of the CUT who was active in the Socialist party. Upon being summoned by a military edict, he had voluntarily presented himself to the military authorities. While he was under arrest at the San Antonio jail, he was kept in solitary confinement by order of the military prosecutor's office.
            
            Ceferino del Carmen SANTIS QUIJADA, 31, a labor leader who was a MIR activist. He was arrested September 12, 1973.
            
            Gustavo Manuel FARIAS VARGAS, 23, a tax collector for the sanitation department in San Antonio who was a MIR activist. Upon being summoned by a military edict, he had voluntarily presented himself to the military authorities.
            
            It has been established before this Commission that after they were arrested or reported voluntarily, these people were taken to Camp No. 2, where they were kept in solitary confinement. On the night of October 5, all of them were put into a refrigerated truck driven by soldiers. They never returned to the prison camp. On the morning of October 6, 1973, the bodies of Ojeda, Mesina, and Vidal showed up on the banks of the Rapel River. They had been severely beaten as indicated by marks on their foreheads. To this day, however, it has not been possible to determine what happened to Norambuena, Santis and Farías. Nevertheless, the final data gathered by this Commission from the Medical Legal Institute suggest that they were also registered as having died that same October 5.
            
            After studying the evidence gathered, the Commission came to the conviction that Jorge Ojeda, Florindo Vidal, Víctor Mesina, Luis Norambuena, Ceferino Santos, and Gustavo Farías were executed by soldiers who were assigned to the Tejas Verdes Military Engineering School and who violated their right to life. The grounds for that conviction are the following items of evidence:
            
            

            • It has been established that all were arrested and held in Prison Camp No. 2 and the Military Engineering School and that they were kept together but apart from other prisoners.
              
              
            • It has been determined that the six prisoners were loaded onto the same truck and that none of them returned to the prison camp.
              
              
            • The verbal explanation given to most of the relatives that they had been released is not very plausible since three of them were found to have "died by immersion" in the Rapal River as their death certificates state, and that the other three have remained disappeared to this day.
              
              

            On October 16, 1973, Jenaro Ricardo MENDOZA VILLAVICENCIO, 25, and Aquiles Juan JARA ALVAREZ, 30, both policemen from the Tenth station in Algarrobo, who had been arrested October 15 at that police unit, were executed by order of the military command at Tejas Verdes. Their execution followed a death sentence issued by a war tribunal at the Tejas Verdes Engineering School. Even though it was requested from the proper authority, this Commission has not been able to obtain the trial documentation for these policemen. The Commission came to the conviction that the human rights of Jenaro Mendoza and Aquiles Jara were violated by government agents who executed them in violation of the norms that assure due process. It has come to this conclusion based on the features common to all such wartime procedures during the period in question, and in view of these specific considerations:
            
            

            • According to the scarce information that this Commission was able to obtain concerning the case, the crime of which they were accused, being drunk while on duty, cannot justify the application of a punishment as irreversible as the death penalty.
              
              
            • The two people executed were arrested in Algarrobo on October 15, 1973, transferred to San Antonio, and shot to death the next day. Such a quick procedure makes it inconceivable that there was a trial with even the most minimal and elementary guarantees that the standards for due process demand for the accused.
              
              
            • It has not been possible to determine whether the victims had legal aid. In any case the relatives were never aware of the appointment of a lawyer nor were they given any opportunity to appoint one.
              
              

            On November 18, 1973, Jorge Antonio CORNEJO CARVAJAL, 26, an inspector at the DIRINCO (National Bureau of Industry and Trade) in Melipilla who was active in the Socialist party, and Patricio del Carmen ROJAS GONZALEZ, 21, who was active in the Socialist party, were executed in compliance with the sentence issued by war tribunal 18-73, likewise by order of the military prosecutor's office in Tejas Verdes. Police in Melipilla arrested them both on September 16, 1973, together with Jorge Luis Ojeda Jara and other people, and they were turned over to the military authorities in San Antonio. Even after repeated requests to the proper authority, the Commission has not been able to obtain the trial record. By other means, however, it did obtain a copy of the sentence. After analyzing the evidence gathered, the Commission has come to the conviction that the human rights of these people were violated by members of the military at Tejas Verdes. The following reasons, in addition to those contained in the overall analysis of the war tribunals, are the basis for this conviction:
            
            

            • For planning to attack the Melipilla police station on September 15, they were accused of the crime contemplated in Article 8 of the Weapons Control Law, even though the plan was not carried out. The preliminary investigation documentation contained only 13 pages and mentions no other proof than statements by the accused and by the police who arrested them. The general norms of law require that the crime be established by means other than a confession. That norm was disregarded in this process. Since the people on trial were arrested the day after the attack was to have taken place, it is obvious that they had given up their alleged plan but that circumstance was disregarded.
              
              
            • In view of Ojeda's pitiful state of health while he was under arrest in Melipilla, the confession of these people cannot be regarded as offered freely and spontaneously.
              
              
            • It is also quite unusual that Jorge Luis Ojeda Jara, who was arrested together with these two, was not also tried in this war tribunal, even though they had all been arrested for the same activities, had been transferred together to San Antonio, and had been turned over to the same military authorities. The reason was that on October 5, 1973, a military patrol had taken Ojeda out of Camp No. 2, and he had been executed without any due process of law, as has been described above.
              
              
            • No consideration was given to the extenuating factor of their previous blameless conduct which should have weighed in favor of both prisoners.
              
              
            • It has not been possible to determine whether these people were provided with legal aid. In any case the sentence makes no reference to any arguments that the accused or their lawyers, if they had any, might have been able to make in their defense. It should be borne in mind that in war tribunals the defense is to provide a written argument. There is no evidence that any such argument was prepared in this case.
              
              

            Between December 27-31, 1973, two other people were executed in Tejas Verdes:
            
            Oscar GOMEZ FARIAS, 31, the administrator of the sanitation department of Cartagena who was a MAPU activist, was arrested at work on September 12, 1973 and taken to the jail in San Antonio. On two occasions soldiers took him out for interrogation at the engineering school. The second time, approximately December 20, 1973, he was taken directly to the basement of the officers' club, where he was stripped of his clothes and hung by his arms for about three days, given electric shock and subjected to other forms of torture until the day he died.
            
            Carlos Aurelio CARRASCO CACERES, 26, Gomez Farías's driver, was arrested at his house on December 14, 1973, and taken to Camp No. 2 and then to the engineering school. There he was tortured, both his arms were broken, and he suffered many other forms of mistreatment.
            
            Both were executed in the basement of the officers' club under different circumstances. On December 27, 1973, having gone mad from the torture to which he was subjected, Oscar Gómez Farías was left in his cell with the door open. He came out naked and screaming, and was shot down on the spot by one of the guards. On December 31, 1973, after Carlos Carrasco Cáceres had been subjected to several days of torture at the engineering school, he was brought back out of the vehicle that was about to take him away, and again taken down to the basement of the school. Soldiers returned the victims' bodies to their relatives. Their death certificates register the place of death as "San Antonio. Prison camp." In view of these facts, this Commission came to the conviction that Oscar Gómez and Carlos Carrasco died in the hands of their captors, government agents who violated their human rights.
            

            San Felipe
            

            On September 19, 1973, José Augusto MORA SEREY, 28, the driver of a passenger van, was killed when he was shot by soldiers during the curfew period. He was driving his car and had documentation authorizing him to be out at that hour. The official account was that he was a subversive who had violated an order to halt. This Commission cannot accept that account since it has been established that a group of people were returning from a day in the countryside, that they had obtained the permission required for being out during curfew, and that none of the passengers in the van heard the order to halt. Therefore this Commission holds the conviction that José Augusto Mora died as a result of the political violence of that period.
            
            On October 1, 1973, Ramón Antonio PALMA CORTES, 30, a worker, was executed in the city of San Felipe by troops from Infantry Regiment No. 3-Yungay. He had been arrested at home that same day by a military patrol on the grounds of an accusation by a private citizen. He was wounded in his home, and then taken to the banks of the Aconcagua River, where he was executed, and his body was thrown into the river. The next day it was drawn out. This Commission believes that this act was by its very nature a grave abuse of power. Although it had no political connotation it was committed by government agents and was never sanctioned nor even investigated. The grounds for that conviction are the fact that many credible witnesses attest to the fact that soldiers arrested him, and to the other events mentioned here, and the fact that his death was caused by two bullet wounds to his torso-all of which is quite consistent with other evidence this Commission has at hand.
            
            On October 11, 1973, six Communist activists were executed by the army in the area of Las Coimas in San Felipe. Their names were:
            
            Mario ALVARADO ARAYA, 34, mayor of Cabildo, who had first been arrested September 17 and then released with no charges against him. In early October, military authorities forced him to make a public retraction of his political commitment in the presence of many witnesses at the Cabildo municipal building. He was arrested a second time on October 8 at home by police from Cabildo.
            
            Faruc Jimmi AGUAD PEREZ, 26, an office worker at SADEMI (Sociedad Abastecedora de la Minería) Mining Supply Company who was in charge of elections and propaganda for the local Communist party. On October 8, 1973, he was arrested at work in the presence of other workers by police from Cabildo.
            
            Wilfredo Ramón SANCHEZ SILVA, 28, an office worker at SADEMI. He was arrested at work the same day and under the same circumstances as Faruc Aguad.
            
            Artemio PIZARRO ARANDA, 37, a worker at SADEMI. He was arrested by the same agents on October 9.
            
            Pedro Abel ARAYA ARAYA, 27, government representative at the La Patagua mine. He was first arrested September 11, and was released without charges a week later. He was arrested a second time on October 9, when he voluntarily reported to the Cabildo police station after police had left a summons at his home.
            
            José Armando FIERRO FIERRO, 24, a worker at SADEMI. He was arrested October 9 or 10 in Cabildo by local police.
            
            According to the official account given by the commander of the zone under state of siege of Aconcagua province and the commander of Infantry Regiment No. 3-Yungay, these six people were executed in the course of an escape attempt when they attacked a subofficer who was traveling in the army truck which was transporting them from the San Felipe jail to the jail in Putaendo. That account claimed that it had been proven that all were directly involved in a terrorist organization in the mining area of Cabildo and had been arrested during an operation in which a large quantity of weapons and explosives was found. The evidence gathered by this Commission on their arrest refutes the official version since there was no search for arms in any of their houses nor did a military operation take place at their workplace. Indeed, some of them were arrested there peacefully and in front of the other workers.
            
            The Commission could not accept the explanation that these people were killed in an escape attempt, mainly for the following reasons:
            
            

            • It does not seem likely that the only way to stop them from running away was to kill on the spot all these people, who were unarmed and under heavy military guard.
              
              
            • The man who was then head of health services in San Felipe was ordered to have autopsies conducted and to return the bodies to the relatives. The forensic expert told him that the bodies bore a number of bullet wounds, many of which were not fatal. They also had many puncture wounds for no apparent reason. Their death certificates corroborate this information.
              
              

            Therefore, this Commission holds the conviction that Mario Alvarado, Faruc Aguad, Wilfredo Sanchez, Artemio Pizarro, and José Fierro suffered a violation of their human rights at the hands of government agents who executed them without any due process of law.
            
            On December 13, 1973, army troops killed two other persons in San Felipe:
            
            Absalón del Carmen WEGNER MILLAR, 31, director of public health in the area of San Felipe and a doctor at the psychiatric hospital in Putaendo who was an active Communist. He was first arrested on September 12 or 13 for a day and then released without charges and told to return to his hospital work. He was arrested a second time toward the end of November and was turned over to local military authorities.
            
            Rigoberto del Carmen ACHU LIENDO, 31, a sectional secretary for the Socialist party who ran the Social Development program in San Felipe. He was arrested September 12 at a relative's house after he had been summoned by a military edict. He was held prisoner at the jail in San Felipe and regularly taken out for questioning by the investigative police at their headquarters. According to the official account issued by the head of the zone in a state of siege of the Aconcagua province and commander of Infantry Regiment No. 3-Yungay, when the prisoners were being brought back from the military prosecutor's office to the jail the vehicle in which they were being transferred broke down just sixty meters from the jail and so they had to walk the remainder of the way on foot. At that moment one of the prisoners is said to have taken advantage of the situation by trying to seize by force the weapon of an enlisted man while the other prisoner tried to run away. Both were killed on the spot.
            
            The Commission could not accept this account mainly in view of the following circumstances;
            
            

            • It is unlikely that the only way to prevent these people from running away was to kill them, since they were unarmed and under heavy guard by troops from Infantry Regiment No. 3-Yungay, and since the patrol was located near the prison which had personnel trained to provide help in the supposed recapture of the escapees. Moreover it has been established that as they were being taken to the military prosecutor's office the prisoners had been chained as an extra safeguard. There is no reason to doubt that they returned in the same' fashion, unless the intention was to somehow set up their supposed escape.
              
              
            • Credible eyewitnesses say that on the way back to the jail, the prisoners were being guarded by an army patrol; at a particular moment, without any escape attempt on their part, the soldiers shot the prisoners in the back, and finished them off with further shots. These witnesses also declare that their bodies were then put into a vehicle and that police immediately came out of the jail with buckets of water to wash the traces of blood off the sidewalk.
              
              
            • Rigoberto Achú was in very poor condition as a result of the systematic torture to which he was subjected beginning the day he was arrested, September 12, at the investigative police headquarters. As a result he could not even get dressed, eat, or coordinate his bodily movements. On the day he was executed, he was observed to be in very poor physical shape, and had lost a great deal of weight and a lot of his hair. His condition makes it unlikely that he would have tried to run away.
              
              
            • The story that Doctor Wegner tried to run away is not credible, since the evidence and testimony this Commission has gathered shows that he was a person who never tried to evade the military authorities. After the events of September 11, he was held prisoner for a day in the jail in San Felipe, and once he was released, he continued to live in the area and moved about openly while continuing to work at the same agency, even though he had the wherewithal to flee from the zone without anyone stopping him, since there were no accusations against him, and indeed no charges were made known even after his second arrest.
              

            Quillota
            

            On September 27, 1973, Teobaldo SALDIVIA VILLALOBOS, 26, a street vendor who was mentally retarded, was executed in accordance with war tribunal 9-73 of the Cavalry School in Quillota. He was arrested by troops in Quillota on September 17, 1973, supposedly because he attacked those who arrested him. The Commission was unable to examine the trial record even though it had been requested from the proper authority. However, it came to the conviction that Saldivia suffered a human rights violation committed by official agents. This determination has been made in view of those features that were common to all war trials during this period, and the following specific considerations:
            
            

            • The crime of which he was accused was apparently that of attempting to attack military personnel, which does not justify applying a punishment as irreversible as death. There is not even any evidence that he injured those who were supposedly the object of his attack.
              
              
            • It was possible to establish that the victim was mentally retarded, and in accordance with the common rules of criminal law, that fact should have been considered as exempting him from responsibility or at least diminishing his responsibility. Moreover, there is no indication that his previous blameless conduct was taken into account.
              
              
            • It has not been possible to determine whether he had any legal assistance. His relatives have never heard mention of any lawyer; they were not even informed that he had been arrested and that trial proceedings were underway.
              

            Other Areas
            

            On September 16, 1973, Ernesto Alfredo LOPEZ LOPEZ, 25, who worked digging sand for construction, was arrested by police from La Ligua who took him to their station. Since that day his fate and whereabouts have remained unknown. Since it has been established that he was arrested and held at a police facility and since that date he has not returned home or conducted any official business with the Chilean government, this Commission has come to the conviction that the human rights of Ernesto López were violated by government agents who made him disappear.
            
            On October 6, 1973, Orlando GALDAMES ROJAS, 41, an alderman in Petorca who was an active Communist, died at the hospital in La Ligua. As this Commission was able to establish, he had been arrested by police from Petorca and taken to the local checkpoint. Because of the mistreatment he received there he had to be taken to the hospital in La Ligua where he died. The Commission came to the conviction that this was a violation of human rights for which government agents were responsible since it has been established that he was arrested by police from Petorca and then taken to the checkpoint, that he had to receive medical attention at the hospital in La Ligua as a result of that torture, and that the death certificate states that the cause of death was "hemorrhage of the kidney cortex affecting the adrenal gland." Such a cause of death is quite consistent with the beatings and other mistreatment to which he was subjected.
            
            On October 9, 1973, Onofre PEÑA CASTRO, 52, an alderman in Catemu and an active Communist, who had been arrested by local police, was taken to the La Calavera tunnel in Lay-Lay and executed. Since it has been established that Alderman Peña was arrested by police from Catemu and was never released and since the cause of his death was a "bullet wound to the right side of the thorax," this Commission has come to the conviction that Onofre Peña was executed by government agents who violated his right to life.
            
            The next day, on October 10, 1973, Jean Eduardo ROJAS ARCE, 23, an office worker at the Melón Cement Factory, was killed by army troops in the area of Pachacamita, La Calera. He had previously been arrested at the La Calera police station and transferred to the Nogales station. He was released with obvious signs of physical mistreatment. His house was raided while they were searching for him. According to the official account, Jean Rojas Arce was executed when he was caught placing an explosives charge on the railroad line. The account invoked Military Decree No. 24, which authorized immediate on the spot execution. The Commission came to the conviction that Jean Rojas was executed by government agents who violated his human rights in view of the following circumstances:
            
            

            • It was established that he had previously been arrested by government agents.
              
              
            • Decree 24 is illegal since it permits an immediate execution ordered at the discretion of the military who apprehend a person in actions that might be classified as crimes, while the law says that in these cases the person must be turned over to the competent judicial authority, even during periods when constitutional guarantees have been suspended.
              
              
            • When the proper military authority was consulted about this event, he did not offer any evidence and said that the documentation from that period had been legally burned.
              
              
            • The military official who was responsible for handling the remains said he would not turn over the evidence to this Commission.
              
              
            • Rojas died as a result of bullet wounds to the head and torso.
              
              

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Posted by USIP Library on: October 4 2002
Source: Report of the Chilean National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation
(Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1993), vol. I/II, Part Three, Chapter One (A.2.f), 306-320.
Note: Digitized and posted by permission of the University of Notre Dame Press, February 22, 2000.