PART THREE
Chapter Two (A.2.d)

1974 through August 1977 (continued)

1. HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS COMMITTED BY GOVERNMENT AGENTS OR PERSONS WORKING FOR THEM (continued)
   
   
   2. CASES (continued)
      
      
      4. Victims from the Socialist party
         
         
         1. Cases in which the DINA was responsible
            
            Socialist party (SP) members suffered persecution throughout the 1974-1975 period. Its members were targeted for disappearance and killing because many of them had held leadership positions reflecting their party's prominence in the Allende government, in public administration, and in professional and grassroots organizations. Repression in 1974 could be described as unsystematic since it reached a diverse group of people who had various lesser responsibilities in the Socialist party up and down the country. By 1975, however, when the party had an organized structure, repression became more focused on its top leaders and culminated with their capture and disappearance. In late 1975 and early 1976 several leaders who had replaced them were pursued and disappeared.
            
            On January 3, 1974, air force personnel arrested José Manuel RIVAS RACHITOFF, Rebecca ESPINOZA SEPULVEDA, José PEREZ HERMOSILLA, and two other persons near the Plaza of the Constitution. They all worked at-or had recently been fired from-INDAP, and all except Rebecca Espinoza were active Socialists. They were taken to the El Bosque air force garrison where they were interrogated. An official letter signed by an air force general to the criminal tribunal investigating their disappearance acknowledges that they were turned over to the DINA.
            
            The DINA took them to Tejas Verdes. According to statements by witnesses that the Commission has received, José Rivas and José Pérez were held in one cell at that prison site. Both had obviously been tortured, so much so that Rivas "could not go to the bathroom by himself," and "blood was coming out of his mouth." Other witnesses have testified that Rebecca Espinoza was also held there, and they say that she likewise had been tortured. None of the three was released, and there has been no further information on them. The Commission is convinced that their disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated their human rights.
            
            On January 22, 1974, DINA agents arrested José Guillermo ORELLANA MEZA in Santiago. He worked as a night watchman at the Barros Luco Hospital and had Socialist party ties. He was arrested along with other hospital employees. All of them were released except José Orellana; there has been no further word on him since he was arrested. The Commission has established that he was taken to Tejas Verdes. According to testimony in the Commission's possession, he was taken out to be tortured three times and did not return from the last such session. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On July 27, 1974, Joel HUAIQUIÑIR BENAVIDES, 28, a member of the Socialist party central committee was arrested in the north. He was taken to Santiago where he was seen at various detention sites, including Londres No. 38 and Cuatro Alamos. A Santiago newspaper mentioned his arrest and connected it to alleged weapons in the north. The interior minister acknowledged that he had been arrested, and in an official document to the court that was considering the appeal for protection introduced on his behalf, said that he was "affected in fulfillment of orders given in Exempt Decree No. 285." Some days later he said that "he has been released" by virtue of Exempt Decree No. 414. However, all trace of Joel Huaiquiñir was lost after he was seen at Cuatro Alamos. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On July 30, 1974, Gumercindo Fabián MACHUCA MORALES, 28, a painter, was arrested in Peñaflor by known DINA agents. His wife witnessed the arrest. Several MIR and Socialist activists who were friends of his had been arrested a few hours before. From that moment there has been no word about any of them. In view of the method used, Machuca's political involvement, and the fact that the agents were driving DINA automobiles, the Commission has come to the conviction that he disappeared at the hands of government agents who violated his human rights.
            
            Also on July 30, another member of the Socialist party, Alejandro Arturo PARADA GONZALEZ, 22, was arrested by DINA agents. He was the regional secretary of the Young Socialists. Since that day his family knows nothing of his whereabouts. Testimony by witnesses and evidence held by the Commission indicates that he was a prisoner at Londres No. 38. The Santiago appeals court judge who investigated Parada's case declared himself incompetent and passed the matter to the military justice system, since he believed that there was a presumption that DINA agents had been involved in these events. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On August 1, 1974, Sergio Sebastián MONTECINOS ALFARO, 28, was arrested. He worked as a tailor and was the labor union coordinator in the western zone of Santiago for the political parties that had made up the Popular Unity. He was taken out of his home by DINA members and was last seen at Londres No. 38. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On August 15, 1974, Rodolfo Alejandro ESPEJO GOMEZ, 18, a high school student and an active Socialist, was arrested. He was arrested by three DINA agents who had with them one of his friends. Some hours later the same agents had Rodolfo Espejo along when they went to the home of Gregorio Antonio GAETE FARIAS, 24, a worker and high school student, and arrested him. When the courts made inquiries, in both instances officials at the time denied that they were being held prisoner. Nevertheless, testimony by witnesses has made it possible to establish that they were held at Londres No. 38 and Cuatro Alamos. Nothing further has been known about them. The Commission is convinced that their disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated their human rights.
            
            On August 16, 1974, Oscar Manuel CASTRO VIDELA, 40, a photographer who was active in the Socialist party, was arrested. DINA members took him from his house, presumably in order to obtain information that would enable them to seize other party activists. It has been possible to establish that he was held at Londres No. 38 and Cuatro Alamos, and was taken out of that location toward an unknown destination. Since that moment there has been no word about him. The judge of the appeals court in Santiago who investigated Castro's case declared himself incompetent in this case and passed the matter to the military justice system, since he believed that there was a presumption that DINA agents had been involved in these events. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On August 17, 1974, Antonio Sergio Ernesto CABEZAS QUIJADA, 28, a Socialist, was arrested. He had been tried in September 1973 and sentenced to sixty days in prison. Before that he had been the government representative at Comandari S.A. He was abducted from his house in the presence of his wife and the woman who worked for them. His name was included in the "list of 119" DINA disinformation operation. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On September 1, 1974, Elsa Victoria LEUTHNER MUÑOZ, 32, a member of the Socialist party who had been secretary to an ex-Communist congresswoman, was arrested while underground. A few hours after her arrest, DINA agents went to her mother's house to ask her to hand over a sum of money that Elsa Leuthner had sent her children, as she did periodically while she was underground. There has been no further information on Elsa Leuthner. The Commission is convinced that her disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated her human rights.
            
            On September 6, 1974, Edgardo Agustin MORALES CHAPARRO, 38, a member of the Socialist party and president of the union at Cormu, disappeared. He was detained at his home in Santiago by members of the DINA that same day. There has been no news of him since that day. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of agents of the state, who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On September 10, 1974, DINA members arrested Claudio Santiago VENEGAS LAZARO, 18, a student who was active in the Socialist party. In the next few days, DINA agents took Claudio Venegas with them as they arrested different people. Since then nothing is known of his whereabouts. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On September 24, 1974, Claudio Venegas was used in order to arrest Eduardo ALISTE GONZALEZ, 19, a high school student with Socialist party ties, at his own home. His relatives recognized one of those making the arrest as a known DINA member.
            
            Officials denied that they had been arrested, and efforts made through the court system produced no results. Claudio Venegas' relatives initiated criminal proceedings for unlawful arrest and kidnapping, but in 1980 the judge declared himself incompetent to continue the investigation and ordered that the documentation be sent to the military justice system. Since September 1974 there has been no information on Claudio Venegas or Eduardo Aliste. In view of all the evidence, the Commission believes that government agents, specifically from the DINA, were responsible for their disappearance in violation of their human rights.
            
            On September 24, 1974, about twenty soldiers who said they were from the Tacna Regiment arrested Luis Armando SILVA SILVA, 20, an electrician and an active member of the Socialist party, along with his pregnant wife, María Eliana Castro, and a neighbor woman. The two women were released that same day. Officials at the time acknowledged the arrest of Luis Silva in the court process that followed his disappearance. An official document declared that he had been arrested for "being involved in subversive activities," and that after being interrogated he was sent to Tres Alamos, and was handed over to the DINA. The interior minister said that the DINA had released him on November 31. However, the commander of the Tacna Regiment said he had been released by the DINA on October 7, 1974, thus contradicting the statement by the interior minister. This Commission cannot accept those accounts, not only because it is unacceptable that officials should confuse the dates in this fashion, but also because there is no proof that he was actually released nor any reason to presume that he was. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On December 3, 1974, the merchant Gastón Eduardo CIFUENTES NORAMBUENA, 25, a member of the Socialist party, was arrested in the context of a wave of repression against mid-level leaders of that party. He was taken to the Eighth station, along with his secretary and two brothers. All except Gastón Cifuentes were released. Nothing further has been known about him, except that when his secretary was arrested a second time, they told her that he had "run away." The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On December 31, 1974, in the streets of Santiago, a group of DINA agents arrested Claudio Francisco THAUBY PACHECO, 24, a student at the University of Chile who was apparently a member of the Socialist party central committee, and Jaime Eugenio ROBOTHAM BRAVO, 23, a sociology student and who was active in the Socialist party. It has been established that both were taken to Villa Grimaldi. There has been no word about them since mid-January 1975. The Commission came to the conviction that Claudio Thauby and Jaime Robotham disappeared at the hands of DINA agents in violation of their human rights.
            
            As has already been noted, in July 1975 the Chilean press reported that two bodies had been found in Buenos Aires. One was said to be that of Jaime Robotham. His relatives went to Argentina and established that the report was false. The Commission is convinced that this was a ploy intended to spread disinformation or to conceal matters. That conviction is reinforced by the fact that his name also appeared on the "list of 119" published at that same period, which was also a DINA disinformation ploy.
            
            On January 2, 1975, Rodolfo Arturo MARCHANT VILLASECA, 28, an air conditioning technician, was arrested. He was active in the Socialist party and had been a union leader at the Enafri Company. On the day of his arrest, DINA agents came looking for Rodolfo Arturo Marchant at his brother's house. Not finding him at that moment, they waited until he arrived and took him prisoner. Some days later his captors brought him along as they were looking for other party members. Since his arrest his relatives have not been able to determine his whereabouts. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On March 4, 1975, Alfredo ROJAS CASTAÑEDA, 34, who had been the head of the state railroad company during the Allende government, was arrested at his home. DINA agents took him away, and even used his Yagan car, which then became part of the DINA fleet. On the basis of a number of accounts from witnesses, the Commission has been able to determine that Alfredo Rojas was taken to several clandestine prison sites, including Villa Grimaldi. The interior minister told the courts that Alfredo Rojas had been arrested on the basis of Exempt Decree No. 904, dated March 14, 1975-several days after he was abducted-and that he had been released on the basis of Exempt Decree No. 933, dated March 26, 1975. That account is not credible, not only because the decree is dated after his arrest, but because the Commission has received reliable testimony from witnesses proving that he was held after the date of the decree releasing him and that he was tortured. The foregoing is confirmed by the fact that the judge assigned to investigate this and other cases of disappeared prisoners declared himself incompetent and sent the documentation to the military justice system, since he thought that the facts of the case made it possible to detect that people covered by military immunity had been involved. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On March 6, 1975 or thereabouts, Ariel Adolfo MANCILLA RAMIREZ, 26, a civil engineer who was a leading member of the Socialist party central committee, was arrested. Since September 11, 1973, he had been working underground to organize party cadres. He was arrested at the house of a Socialist party activist. He tried to avoid being arrested by giving another name, but he was recognized. He was then taken to "a meeting point." He devised this idea on the spot. He told his captors that he was due to meet another member of the central committee. Once they were on the road he threw himself under a bus which was passing by. The various accounts from witnesses are consistent in indicating that he was at Villa Grimaldi. One of his legs was smashed and his head was bandaged and he had been tortured while in that state. A DINA doctor who examined him said he needed an operation, and he asked the prisoners to help. One of them said, "We had to hold Ariel down while [the doctor] set about cutting dead and infected tissue. I was one of those who helped the doctor do this alongside our cell and on the ground." He was then bandaged and taken to "the tower." Nothing has been heard of him since then. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On May 5, 1975, Guillermo Hernán HERRERA MANRIQUEZ died. He was studying the social sciences in the department of education at the University of Chile, was teaching at Liceo No. 28 [high school] in Maipú, and was active in the Socialist party. He was arrested by DINA agents Saturday March 3 [sic] near the Central Station. So as not to be taken to a secret prison, he said that he had to go home to make an important telephone contact with a party leader. The agents therefore took him to his own house. When he got there it was clear that he had been tortured: he was pale and was holding his hands to his stomach. One of the agents showed his DINA identification card to the family. He told Herrera's father that he had to cooperate in order to help relieve the situation of his son. They had to wait for the telephone call, since what the DINA wanted was to catch the "big fish," not the "worms" like his son. The father indicated his willingness to cooperate. The agent said they had had to "soften up" his son a little so he would talk.
            
            From that moment on, the whole family was kept imprisoned in their own house under a full time guard. Herrera was left in one room, handcuffed to the bed. They could not leave the house. An agent had to go with them even to buy bread. They even had to prepare meals for the guards, one of whom was a woman. That remained the case until Monday, when the father became aware that his son's condition was worsening. He began to vomit a large amount of blood. The father demanded that they get him medical care. Seeing the seriousness of the situation, the agents dressed him, wrapped his head in a blanket and took him out to a car without offering any explanation.
            
            In the afternoon the father's boss came to the house. He was an army officer, since the father was a civilian who worked for the army. The officer informed him that his son was dead. The official account reported his death as a suicide. The Commission has come to the conviction that that claim is false, and that he died from the torture he had received from the DINA agents in violation of his human rights.
            
            Disappearance of the Socialist Party Political Commission
            
            In June and the beginning of July 1975 the entire political commission, which led the central committee of the Socialist party, was arrested. Their liaisons and couriers were arrested along with them. In some cases it is very difficult to accurately specify the dates of arrest since these people were underground.
            
            Sometime prior to June 24, 1975, Ricardo Ernesto LAGOS SALINAS, 24, an accountant and member of the political commission of the Socialist party central committee, was arrested. He had been a leader of the youth branch of the party, but had then been obliged to take on more important responsibilities when a number of the older leaders left the country. He was underground. DINA agents arrested him before that date, since there is proof that on that day his captors took him somewhere else to arrest another member of the party. The Commission obtained a number of accounts from witnesses all of whom agree about the time and place. They say he was held at Villa Grimaldi, and that his torture left him in poor physical condition. The appeals for protection introduced on his behalf were unsuccessful because officials at that time said he was not being held prisoner. The investigation carried out by a specially appointed judge concluded when he declared himself incompetent and transferred the case to the military justice system. The Commission came to the conviction that Ricardo Ernesto Lagos suffered a human rights violation attributable to government agents who made him disappear.
            
            Two or three days after the arrest of Ricardo Lagos, Michelle PEÑA HERREROS, 27, a university student with whom he lived, was arrested. She was an active Socialist and was eight months pregnant. Witnesses whom this Commission finds trustworthy have said that despite her pregnancy Michelle Peña was at "the tower" in Villa Grimaldi in 1975. There has been no further information on her since that time. The Commission is convinced that her disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated her human rights.
            
            In the early morning of June 25, 1975, Exequiel PONCE VICENCIO, 40, a dock worker who was a former head of CUT and a member of the political commission of the Socialist party central committee, and his liaison, Mireya Herminia RODRIGUEZ DIAZ, 33, were arrested together in an apartment that they were renting in the back part of a house in Santiago. Exequiel Ponce had gone underground on September 11, 1973, and had sent his family out of the country. At the time of his arrest he was occupying one of the most important positions in his party in Chile. This Commission has received a good deal of testimony from witnesses enabling it to come to the conviction that they were arrested and taken to the Villa Grimaldi DINA facility. Since that moment there has been no further word on them. The Commission is convinced that their disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated their human rights.
            
            Also on June 25, Carlos Enrique LORCA TOBAR, 30, a physician, a former member of congress and a member of the political commission of the Socialist party central committee, and Modesta Carolina WIFF SEPULVEDA, 34, a social worker, were arrested at a laundromat on Calle Maule where contacts were made and orders were passed on within the Socialist party. Wiff was functioning as a liaison with the leadership, and was also responsible for carrying out some party tasks. DINA agents searched Modesta Carolina Wiff's house a few hours after she was arrested. All the appeals for protection attempted in order to secure their release were in vain. Likewise the criminal process that the relatives initiated as a result of their being apprehended concluded when the criminal court declared itself incompetent and ordered that the trial proceedings be sent to the military justice system. The Commission has received enough testimony to enable it to hold the conviction that these two people were arrested and taken to the Villa Grimaldi DINA facility. Since then there has been no further word about them. The Commission is convinced that their disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated their human rights.
            
            Sometime around July 7, 1975, Rosa Elvira SOLIZ POVEDA, 24, a nursing student, was arrested as a consequence of the previous arrests. She worked as a liaison with the leadership group of the Socialist party, and between it and other parties. She lived with Sara Donoso, who is also disappeared, in an apartment in the downtown area of Santiago. Both worked at the same clinic of the National Health Service on Calle Independencia. The Commission is convinced that her disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated her human rights.
            
            On July 15, 1975, DINA agents arrested Sara de Lourdes DONOSO PALACIOS, 25, a nursing student, outside that same clinic. Testimony received has made it possible to establish that Sara Donoso and Rosa Soliz performed similar tasks within the Socialist party, and that both were under the orders of Modesta Wiff. Their disappearance was a direct result of the repression unleashed against the party leadership. The Commission came to the conviction that her human rights were violated by government agents who subjected her to forced disappearance.
            
            On September 6, 1975, police arrested Gustavo Guillermo RAMIREZ CALDERON, an active Socialist. He was taken to the Cuatro Alamos prison camp, and was turned over to DINA agents there. Later he was transferred to Villa Grimaldi. The Interior Ministry acknowledged that he had been arrested and that he had been at Cuatro Alamos, and claimed that he had been released on November 18, 1975. Nevertheless, Gustavo Guillermo Ramírez was last seen at Villa Grimaldi on that very date and has been disappeared since then. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On January 17, 1976, Octavio Julio BOETTIGER VERA, who had majored in political science and administration at the University of Chile and was active in the Socialist party, was arrested at the corner of Calles Antonio Varas and Providencia in Santiago. He was taken to Villa Grimaldi; all trace of him was lost a few days later. The Interior Ministry denied that he had been arrested, but the Santiago appeals court prosecutor said that "it should be recognized that Boettiger was arrested by government security personnel on January 17, 1976, but official documentation obliges the court to regard the fact of his arrest as unproven. The only remaining possibility is that security personnel may have overstepped their obligations...or fallen into a culpable excess, and arrested him." The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On July 16, 1976, DINA agents killed a Spanish economist and United Nations official, Carmelo Luis SORIA ESPINOZA, who was active in the Socialist party. He had been arrested the previous day. The next day agents threw his car into the El Carmen canal near La Pirámide. The keys were in the ignition, the doors closed, some of the windows were broken, and there was no radio and no seats but the driver's, and a bottle of pisco [liquor] was left there to make it look like an accident. Soria's body was thrown into the canal and was found on July 17 a kilometer away from where the car was found. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On September 14, 1976, three DINA agents shot and killed Eduardo CHARME BARROS, member of the Socialist party political commission, on Avenida La Paz. They were driving a Chevrolet, and passers-by were astonished to see them putting him in the trunk. The next day his body appeared at the Medical Legal Institute. The Commission came to the conviction that Eduardo Charme was executed by government agents in violation of his human rights.
            
            On April 30, 1977, the young activist in the Socialist party, Vicente Israel GARCIA RAMIREZ, was arrested. He had been married the previous day, and while on his honeymoon at the apartment of a relative in the city of San Fernando, he was arrested at about 8:00 a.m. by a group of DINA agents, who had broken in by force. Garcia and his wife were blindfolded and taken immediately to Santiago. Vicente García has been disappeared since then. At the moment of his arrest Vicente García was working underground for the Socialist party. In this operation his wife and several members of his family were initially arrested. In fact they even saw and heard him at a prison site. Although those in charge of the DINA and the government officials whom the courts consulted denied his arrest, this Commission was able to come to the conviction that Vicente García's disappearance was an act of violence that took place when he was in the hands of DINA agents and was a human rights violation for which government agents were responsible.
            
            
         2. Repression of members of the Socialist party by other agencies or undetermined agencies
            
            On July 2, 1974, Victor Osvaldo ZEREGA PONCE, who had majored in economics and was active in the Socialist party and a member of its political commission, was killed. He was arrested in June 1974 a few days after his brother had been arrested and interrogated over his whereabouts. They held him in the underground part of the Plaza de la Constitución in Santiago, where some of the blankets had the acronym "SICAR" [police intelligence service]. Witnesses who saw him there say that on one occasion he was very much beaten up, apparently for having tried to escape when he had gone to a particular location with his captors. A female prisoner said that on July 1 or 2 she was told that he was being transferred to Valparaíso. His body was found July 4 at Los Lilenes beach on the central coast. The death certificate says that the cause of death was a bullet wound in the right side of the chest perforating the liver and right kidney, being dropped into the water, and ultimately drowning. The Commission has come to the conviction that he was executed by government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On July 23, 1974, Manuel Antonio BOBADILLA BOBADILLA, 42, a vendor and photographer who was active in the Socialist party, disappeared. Witnesses say that he was arrested at his workplace in Santiago. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On August 16, 1974, security agents arrested the vendor and active Socialist, Juan Miguel MURA MORALES, 24, on the street in Santiago. His destiny and whereabouts have been unknown since then. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On September 2, 1974, Gumercindo ALVAREZ PIZARRO, a worker at Mantos Blancos who was an active Socialist, died. On August 29 his house in Antofagasta had been searched by civilians who identified themselves as members of the Chilean Air Force. They arrested him and took him away. Four days later police went to his house and told his relatives that Gumercindo Alvarez was in the hospital in very serious condition. At the emergency ward the staff told them that he had been brought in dead the night before in a police truck. He had been severely beaten, had no fingernails or toenails, and his neck had a mark as though from a small diameter wire. The fact that his body had such marks enabled the Commission to come to the conviction that Gumercindo Alvarez died of torture he had undergone from government agents in violation of his human rights.
            
            On September 6, 1974, Omar Lautaro MANRIQUEZ LOPEZ, 56, a radio repairman who was district secretary of the Socialist party, was arrested in Coelemu by police and security agents. Since that day there has been no further word on him. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On December 26, 1974, soldiers arrested Marcelino Rolando LAMAS LARGO, 23, who was active in the Young Socialists, at his home in Iquique and in the presence of a number of witnesses. He had been held under arrest in Pisagua from December 1973 to the end of May 1974. There has never been any definite information on his whereabouts, and hence the Commission is convinced that he disappeared at the hands of government agents. Furthermore, the mother of another person whom the same soldiers had already arrested when they came to arrest Marcelino Lamas has testified that she stood in front of the customs office in Iquique where both her son and Lamas had been taken. She says that some hours later, she saw them take Lamas out of the customs office. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On January 31, 1973, Hugo Enrique ALFARO CASTRO, a blind teacher who was on vacation in Tocopilla, his wife's birthplace, died. He was active in the Socialist party. On January 27 his house was surrounded by police, and he was arrested along with other people. They were accused of holding a clandestine meeting to plot against the government. They were listening to an anti-government cassette. The official account was that he hung himself in one of the jail cells at the police station. That account must be dismissed, since normally in police stations, a prisoner is stripped of anything that could be used to commit suicide, and so they are very unlikely to do so. That is even more the case in this instance since Alfaro was blind. The foregoing is further confirmed by the statement of a witness who says that while imprisoned he heard two people talking while dragging the victim along. He heard one of them ask the other, who must have been a doctor, what he was going to do. The other man said he was going to "change his diagnosis, that's all." Moreover, the doctor at the hospital where he was sent after his death privately told the family that he showed clear signs of torture, including the application of electric current. For all these reasons the Commission has come to the conviction that he died of the torture he underwent at the hands of police agents.
            
            On February 17, 1975, the former mayor of Cañete during the previous government, Manuel Elías JANA SANTIBAÑEZ, an active Socialist, was killed. He had been arrested February 13, 1975 after having met with the intendant of Arauco. His wife, who was waiting outside, was given a message supposedly from him that she should go home, and that he would return later. There was no word of his whereabouts for about four or five days. The police then told the family to pick up his body at the naval hospital in Talcahuano. It was turned over to them in a sealed coffin. The Commission has had access to statements by witnesses indicating that he was held at the gymnasium of the Talcahuano naval base. He was taken out the very day of his death. The other prisoners were told he was being taken to the hospital. On the death certificate the cause of death is said to be suicide by hanging at the Talcahuano navy base. Nevertheless, the previous facts, which indicate that shortly before his death he was taken from the prison site, that he was still alive, and that it was said that they were taking him to the hospital, enable the Commission to come to the conviction that he was executed by navy personnel in violation of his human rights.
            
            On June 26, 1975, the former alderman of Santa Cruz who was an active Socialist, Manuel Jesús COLOMA ACUÑA, died. He had been arrested October 8, 1973, and sentenced to ten years in prison by a war tribunal. He was serving his time at the prison in Santa Cruz. His wife noticed nothing unusual about him when she took him his food on June 25, as she did every day. However, the next day they told her that he had been taken to the hospital in serious condition and had later died. One person told her that he had seen her husband covered with blood and with a head wound. The death certificate says he died of a cerebral hemorrhage. Officials did not allow his relatives to see the body, and ordered that he be buried in Talca, 100 kilometers away from Santa Cruz. These circumstances lead the Commission to the presumption that his captors may have been responsible for the events that led to the death of Jesús Coloma.
            
            On August 1, 1975, Jaime Raúl OLIVARES JORQUERA, an active Socialist (who some say belonged to the Elenos faction) died while he was being held under arrest at the offices of the Brigade for Investigating Attacks on the Investigative Police. The press was told that he had been killed in a gun battle with members of the investigative police. However, his death certificate says that the cause of death was asphyxia or breathing stoppage due to vomit being drawn into the respiratory system. That certificate contradicts the official account. This false information and the other circumstances surrounding the event lead this Commission to the conviction that government agents were involved in the death of Raul Olivares, and hence it regards him as a victim of human rights violations.
            
            On August 31, 1975, Patricio Fernando RIVAS SEPULVEDA, a former detective who was a member of the Socialist party, was arrested by police in the city of Angol. In the presence of witnesses he was forced off a bus on the way to Collipulli and was taken to the police checkpoint in Angol. From that point on all trace of him was lost. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On September 12, 1975, Luis Eduardo VEGA RAMIREZ, a leader of the Ranquil Small Farmer Confederation who was also an active member of the Socialist party, was arrested in the city of Curicó in the presence of witnesses. The agents who arrested him said they were acting under orders from Santiago. He has been disappeared since that day. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On October 27, 1975, two operational groups of the police intelligence service (SICAR), raided the workshop shop of José Domingo QUIROZ OPAZO, an active Socialist who was part of the Elenos faction, in Santiago. According to testimony examined by the Commission, the agents brought the five people in the shop under control, and then took Quiroz to one of the rooms in the shop. There they put him up against the wall; an officer shot him in the head, and another officer killed him off. The commander of the operation immediately ordered the troops to shoot at the walls to make it look like a gun battle. That is how the matter was presented to the press at that time. The Commission came to the conviction that José Quiroz was executed by government agents in violation of his human rights.
            
            In the early morning of October 22, 1975, agents arrested Horacio YAÑEZ JIMENEZ, an active Socialist, at his home in San Bernardo in the presence of witnesses. They put him into a white pickup truck and took him toward an unknown destination. He has been disappeared since that day. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On November 17, 1975, Miguel Enrique RODRIGUEZ VERGARA, an active Socialist was arrested at his home in Santiago in the presence of his family by three agents who took him toward an unknown destination. He remains disappeared to this day. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            On May 15, 1976, according to evidence in the Commission's possession, Ernesto Enrique PAREDES PEREZ, an accountant and active Socialist, was arrested on the street in Santiago. To this day he is still disappeared. The Commission is convinced that his disappearance was the work of government agents who thus violated his human rights.
            
            

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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. II/II, Part Three, Chapter Two (A.2.d), 587-599.
Note: Digitized and posted by permission of the University of Notre Dame Press, February 22, 2000.