Chile 1976 - Chapter II

CHAPTER II

RIGHT TO LIFE

American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man

Article I. Every human being has the right to life, liberty and the security of his person.

1. During its visit to Chile from July 22 to August 2, 1974, the Commission received information from various sources concerning the number of persons killed during the open confrontations in the first days and before the cessation of organized resistance to the new Government. It received, in addition, denunciations that, once the armed fighting was concluded, some punitive actions took place against members of the opposition which had ended, in certain cases, in shootings without trial.

2. As is obvious, the Commission, in the brief period of observation in loco in Chile, was not able to obtain the kind of evidence that is essential for issuing a definitive judgment concerning such information and denunciations. For this reason, in its first report concerning the situation of human rights in Chile, the Commission limited itself to indicating the volume of information and denunciations on this subject, with the express reservation that this did not imply a prejudgment (First Report, paragraph 1).

3. After its observation in loco, the Commission continued to receive communications in which there were denunciations of presumed violations of the right to life. Since the denunciations received were processed and considered after the visit in loco, this permitted the Commission to establish a logical sequence of facts and to carry out an evaluation of the changes between the two periods, that is, the period prior to the visit in July, 1974 and the period after that visit. For an orderly arrangement of this material, the denunciations have been classified in three categories: a) homicides imputed to the authorities; b) persons detained, disappeared and presumed to be dead; and c) illegal executions.

A. Homicides imputed to the authorities

4. The Commission received a denunciation that Franklin Antonio Valdés Valdés, resident at Calle San Francisco Nº 1669, San Bernardo, Santiago, accountant and administrator of the Hospital Sanatorium “El Pino”, was detained on September 28, 1973, by a military patrol of the Infantry School of San Bernardo while engaged in his work; that on October 4, 1973, the detained person was called for interrogation at 9:30 a.m. along with other detained persons; that on the same day at 12:00 o’clock, a military patrol left the body of Franklin Valdés Valdés at the Legal Medical Institute, reporting that he had been found dead in the public thoroughfare; that his clothes had been taken, as well as a watch, trademark Tressa, and 9,000.00 escudos, and his documents, so that the body was delivered to the said Institute as unidentified.

The Commission decided to apply to this denunciation the special procedure of Article 53 (Case Nº 1858).

5. In a note of July 29, 1974, the text of the denunciation was transmitted to the Chilean Government and information was requested in accordance with the regulations. By note of October 29, 1973, the Minister of Foreign Relations stated that reports had been requested from the various services concerning the circumstances of the death and that, as soon as his Ministry received background information and the results of the requested investigations, these would be transmitted to the Commission. On January 14, 1975, the Government reiterated the information that it was making the pertinent investigations in order to be able to report to the Commission.

6. In its session of October 24, 1975, considering that more than a year had passed without provision of the information by the Government of Chile, the Commission formally decided to consider as proved the facts of the denunciation, referring to the documentation in its possession, combined with the silence of the Government. The Commission declared, in addition, that this involved a very serious case of violation of the right to life, security and integrity of the person. The Commission recommended, finally, that the Government continue its investigations for the purpose of establishing responsibilities in the case, and it requested that the Commission be informed of the result of such investigations.

7. This formal resolution was transmitted to the Government of Chile by note of December 1, 1975, and the Chilean Government replied on January 21, 1976, with the following observations:

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has adopted this conclusion on the sole basis of an exposition in a private denunciation, without the facts having been corroborated by any other evidence. Not even sworn testimony has been given.

On the other hand, the Chilean authorities have carried out repeated investigations, without being able to find any background information that confirms the denunciation.

In the judgment of my Government, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, comprised of men of law and eminent jurists, cannot consider facts invoked in a private denunciation to be proved when those facts have not been confirmed by adequate corroboration. To do the contrary would be unnatural to the functions and purposes of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

8. It is sufficient to point out that the Government of Chile, by its silence, had given reason for the presumption that the facts in the denunciation were true (Article 51 of the Regulations of the Commission), so the Commission did not need other corroboration.

9. After the Commission completed its observations in loco in Chile, new communications concerning homicides imputed to the authorities have been received:

a) Luis Gilberto Matamala Venegas. According to the denunciation, approximately 10 carabineros [national police] of the Comisaría [police station] of San Joaquín (Nº 12), came to his house (Población Isabel Riquelme, Pasaje 7a de Línea, Nº 245) on September 18, 1974, entering the house by breaking the door. Inside were the person affected and his six brothers. Before they asked the names of the inhabitants of the house, they shot at the head of the minor, Luis Matamala, 17 years of age. The other minors hid under the beds. After shooting, they left, leaving the affected person dying. A few minutes later, the mother, Mrs. Bernarda Venegas Bayo, arrived at the house; she took her son to the Polyclinic of the Red Cross. When they arrived there, the minor was already dead. Death was due to three bullets in the head. From there, the mother went to the Comisaría Nº 12 of San Joaquín. They gave no explanation. There were five carabineros of the Comisaría Nº 12, and they said only that the action was the result of a mistake.

b) Vicente del Carmen Vidal Paredes. According to the denunciation, on October 6, 1973, at his residence (Población Aníbal Pinto, Pasaje Nº 4, house Nº 3271, Stop Nº 3, G. Avenida San Miguel, Santiago), at 1:30 a.m., a patrol, comprised of six uniformed carabineros, armed with machine-guns, came and broke the window of the bedroom and, pointing their guns, compelled Vicente del Carmen Vidal Paredes to get up and accompany them, without presenting any identification or order of detention. He was taken to the Station of Carabineros at Tenencia La Sumar. On the same day, at 9:30 a.m., he was found dead at a place called “Zanjón de la Aguada,” with bullet holes in his thorax and his cranium. The death was recorded in a Death Certificate issued by the Circunscripción de Independencia of the Department of Santiago, dated October 7, 1973, Nº E-2858. On the same day, the wife was informed that the death had been the result of a mistake on the part of the carabineros. The authorities who took note of the facts are: army personnel of the armored regiment Nº 2 of Santiago, on October 7, 1973, and the Central [Office] of Investigations, on October 14, 1973.

c) Jorge Rubén Lamicha Vidal. According to the denunciation, he was detained at four o’clock in the morning on August 13, 1974, in his residence at Errazuriz 126, Buin, by four members of the Army, two carabineros and two persons dressed in civilian clothes. There is no indication of the reasons for the detention. Two days later, on August 15, 1974, a person came to the house of the detained man offering funeral services, asserting that the body of the detained person was in the Santiago Morgue. Members of the family went immediately to the Morgue and confirmed the death. The official death certificate indicates that death by bullet wound occurred in the Infantry School. The wife of the deceased has made the denunciation in her own name and that of her children, before the Court of Appeals. The deceased was a construction worker on his own account. He was 48 years old. In the denunciation to the Court, the wife said “… My husband had retired completely from all political activities since September 11. He had been detained before and he stayed in the National Stadium until November 6, 1973, when he was placed at liberty and given a document issued by the National Executive Secretariat of Detained Persons signed by Colonel Jorge Espinoza in which it was stated that there were no charges against him.”

d) Luis Segundo Toledo González, according to the denunciation, was detained on August 2, 1974, at two in the morning. In his residence, Población Carlos Cortés, Block 27, apartment 44, Santiago, by two persons from 25 to 30 years of age dressed in civilian clothes, in the presence of his housemate, Julia González Santana, without the exhibition of an order. Members of the family tried to ascertain the place of his detention day after day until August 16, 1974. The person who makes the denunciation states that “on the day to which reference is made, carabineros of the district found the body in Calle Carrascal and a member of the family recognized it at the Medical-Legal Institute…” The death certificate shows the cause of death to be two bullet wounds. His neighbor, detained in identical circumstances, was also found dead. The housemate is at present in the Psychiatric Hospital of Santiago.

e) Julio Gastón Valenzuela Bastías, according to the denunciation, was detained in the month of October 1973, in Arica. He was visited several times at the Regimental Headquarters in Arica. There is no indication of the reasons for the detention. The person who makes the denunciation was informed, in the month of December, that the detained person had been transferred to a place of investigations where he could not be visited. The person who makes the denunciation states, “…In the first part of January, they called to deliver the body. The cause of death, as reported by the Department of Investigations of Arica, was an automobile accident. Upon receiving the body, it was seen by a medical doctor who certified that it had two bullets in the back. The State Railways (where the deceased had been a chief operator) inquired by radio on two occasions concerning the cause of death and on both occasions they were told that it occurred as the result of an automobile accident. There was no indication that the affected person was at liberty after his detention…”

10. These denunciations constituted, in the Commission, part of case Nº 1934, transmitted in conformity with the special procedure prescribed in Article 53 of the Regulations. Upon requesting information from the Government of Chile concerning the five preceding cases, providing the Government with transcriptions of pertinent parts of the denunciations, the Ministry of Foreign Relations, in note Nº 2774 of February 18, 1976, replied textually as follows:

Luis Alberto Matamala Vanegas, Vicente del Carmen Vidal Paredes, Jorge Rubén Lamicha Vidal, Luis Segundo Toledo González and Claudio Labra Saure, died in various confrontations with the police or security agents when they were taking part in criminal, subversive or sabotage activities.

Julio Gastón Valenzuela Bastías died in an automobile accident when the detained person was being transported from Arica to Pisagua.

11. The Chilean Government confirmed the death of the five persons, which occurred in places, on dates and in circumstances that were distinct according to the persons making the denunciations, but the Government asserted that four of the five deaths were the result of confrontations with the “police or security agents” and attributes to the persons “criminal, subversive or sabotage activities” without providing essential details concerning these substantial factual points. With reference to Valenzuela Bastías, the reply of the Government, in addition to confirming his death, recognizes that the person was under detention at the time of the automobile accident that had caused his death.

12. If the information provided by the Government is authentic, there should be carried out in each case an investigation and an official report to confirm the facts, as well as the legality of the use of arms against the dead persons, in conformity with the provisions of the Code of Penal Procedure and the Chilean Code of Military Justice. The same procedure should have been followed in the case of the alleged automobile accident. Nevertheless, the reply of the Government did not provide any information concerning formal reports or about authorities charged with investigations or concerning compliance with legal formalities.

13. On September 5, 1975, Fernando Aristia Ruiz, Bishop of the Catholic Church, President of the Committee of Cooperation for Peace in Chile, and other representatives of various churches, who were members of the same organization, requested the Court of Appeals of Santiago, in conformity with articles 560 and following, of the Organic Code of the Courts, to “designate a Visiting Minister” to proceed with the investigation of presumed homicides, which were described as follows:

Death of Pedro Claudio Labra Sauré. In the morning of February 8, 1975, three automobiles came near the residence of Pedro Labra Sauré, 23 years old, single, student, Séptima Avenida 1580, San Miguel. His parents were spending the summer in El Quisco. He was alone. They knocked on the door. He came down and, just as he opened the door, they let fire with a burst of bullets a few centimeters from his body. He fell down wounded, and in this state, after a search of the house had been carried out, he was taken to the interior of one of the automobiles, which left rapidly. A sister of the victim, informed by the neighbors, went to the house. She found spots of blood inside the house, at the doorway and on the pathway to the street. The hall was covered with tracks. She found a piece of a pajama button, a bone splinter and five shell cases. She began to hunt for the wounded person. Berta Labra entered a recurso de amparo [approximating a writ of habeas corpus] based upon the presumed detention of the person who had disappeared. It was only on February 11 that the body was recognized in the Morgue of the Medical-Legal Institute, where there was no registration of the entry of the body or of any other indicating what authority had been responsible for bringing the body there.

Death of Juan Manuel Valdenegro Arancibia. Juan Manuel Valdenegro, 23 years old, locksmith, married, resident in Población Juanita Aguirre, passage Camberra 5766, Conchalí, left on a bicycle from the house of his parents on February 8, 1975, at approximately 1:30 a.m. He went to his residence which was a few blocks away. But he did not arrive. At 10:30 a.m., two unknown persons came to his residence indicating that Valdenegro had suffered an accident. One of them said that the cyclist had assumed a provocative attitude. The bicycle, which was returned, showed no signs of an accident. The body of Juan Valdenegro was received at 8 o’clock at the Hospital Post J.J. Aguirre. The physician on duty diagnosed the cause of death as blows on the cranium. It was noted in the registers: “Brought from the Buin Regimental Headquarters, in a jeep under the command of Second Corporal Julio Ortega Díaz. Physician who received it: Dr. Luis Rivera. Diagnosed: (traumatismo encefalítico cranial) closed.”

Death of Cedomil Lucas Lausio Olasinovic. On April 9, 1975, there was presented to the Court a request for a recurso de amparo for the arbitrary arrest of Cedomil Lausio, who was detained on April 3. His whereabouts were unknown. Also, the woman to whom he was engaged had been detained on April 4, 1975. Cedomil Lausio continued as a person who had disappeared, until May 8, on which date his cousin, Cristina Stipetich, recognized his body in the Medical-Legal Institute. There is sufficient background information to presume that he died as a result of blows from the persons who had apprehended him and who held him in Villa Grimaldi, the detention center of the Dirección de Inteligencia National (DINA) [National Bureau of Investigation]. Cedomil Lausio was 28 years old. He was single. He lived at Calle Carlos Cariola 6375, Maipú. He is the son of a well-known family of Punta Arenas. The autopsy did not indicate the date of death, indicating that it was in the month of April, without an indication of the day.

Death of Guillermo Hernán Herrera Manríquez. Teacher in secondary school, married, two children, 28 years old, resident at General Gana 671. Detained on May 3, 1975, at approximately 2 o’clock in the afternoon, at the Central Station. Taken the same day by agents of the DINA, to his own residence. The chief of the group that had apprehended him told his father, don Ramón Herrera Sepúlveda, that they had brought his son because he would receive a telephone call from his political chief. That they had had to “soften him up” a little to make him collaborate. The detained person was pale. He entered the house with his hands on his stomach. He was laid down in a room after it had been searched. Handcuffed to the bed, he remained there under constant guard. Only his father could speak with him. Thus it became known that the presumed telephone call had been only a subterfuge of the detained person so he could be brought home. He remained in the bed through Saturday night; on Sunday, he shared mealtimes with his family, but he kept silent. On Monday, May 5, when his father came out of the bathroom, he heard the noise of a death rattle in the room occupied by his son. He burst into the room, shoved the guard aside and took the head of his son between his hands, while the son vomited blood. The son died while he was holding his head. The agents, under the pretext that he was alive, wrapped him in blankets and took him away. Don Ramón Herrera, a functionary of the Army, placed the body in the Medical Legal Institute where it was identified. It did not show any external lesions. It has been learned that the indication of the cause of death was acute anemia caused by a cutting wound in the cervical region, attributed to suicide.

Death of Daniel Abelardo Fuentes Cáceres. He was the object of proceedings before the Eighth Juzgado del Crimen [Criminal Court of First Instance], for check forgery, placed in the Public Jail of Santiago, from which place he was taken by a military patrol, under the command of Captain Pedro Durcudoy Montandón. He was taken to Quillota to be interrogated in a process initiated by the Military Legal Office, on June 11, 1975. He was killed on the way. Multiple bullet wounds. The Military Attorney has alleged that he was killed after stealing a gun from the personnel who were guarding him, so that the patrol “acting in its own defense” had to shoot him. He was 27 years old, married, resident at Lira 693, Santiago.

Death of Fernando Díaz Muller. Detained in the public thoroughfare by two uniformed carabineros of the detachment of the Eighth Comisaría [Station], on June 25, 1975, at 7:30 p.m., near the intersection of Avenida República with Toesca. He was taken to the police station and registered as entered for intoxication. At one o’clock in the morning on June 26, he was transferred to Post 3 (Calle Chacabuco) by Carabineros. He was entered as “NN”, with minor wounds, caused by another detained person named Raúl Reyes Chavez, resident at San Alfonso 4544.

The Comisaría sent an official communication to the Second Juzgado del Crimen, attesting that the person who had caused the wounds had been defending himself. On the 27^th, Díaz was visited at the Post by a friend, Belmar García Miranda, an engineer. The visitor was able to talk with the wounded man, who told him that he had been beaten by carabineros. He could scarcely breathe; he was in such serious condition. Taken to the Neuro-Surgery Hospital, he died at 4 o’clock in the morning on June 28. The body was taken to the Crematorium of the General Cemetery, but it was not incinerated. The presumed author of the homicide was placed at liberty on June 30. Fernando Díaz Muller was 46 years old, married, a lawyer, resident at Santa Magdalena Sofía Nº 95, Las Condes.

Death of Fernando Dionisio González Fredes. Mason, 57 years of age, married, nine children, resident at Sprinhill 3386, Población Nueva La Legua. An old employee of the industry Tin Maipú, of Maipú, he was highly regarded by his employer. On July 21, 1975, he was detained by carabineros of the Eighth Comisaría, after leaving a friend, Juan Fredes Aguilera, in the vicinity of the Central Station.

The wife of the detained person presented a recurso de amparo before the Court on July, 1975. Her husband had disappeared after being arrested. She continued her search for him until August 8, the date on which his body was identified in the Medical Legal Institute. She had gone twice to the Medical Legal Institute, but she had been told that the body had not been entered there. The body had been taken there on July 21, by carabineros of the Eighth Comisaría. It had been entered at 11:50 p.m.

It is presumed that he died as a result of multiple concussions that occurred during his arrest, even though it was indicated that he had committed suicide by hanging himself; the death certificate indicates the place of death to be the “calabozo” [jail] of the Eighth Comisaría.

14. The mentioned request for the designation of a Visiting Minister, made to the Court of Appeals, to investigate the facts in these denunciations, in the exercise of the power of corrective supervision, was denied. The same attitude on this subject prevailed in the Supreme Court. The Commission has not been able to obtain the texts of the respective decisions in order to learn the bases for the decisions.

15. The cases which are mentioned in the following were sent to the Commission at the beginning of the sessions in which this report was prepared. Due to the seriousness of the cases, the Commission agreed to include them in this document, without any prejudgment concerning the veracity of the facts in the denunciations, and taking into consideration, also, the provisions in paragraph 4 of Resolution 190 of the General Assembly. The Government of Chile, on the other hand, will have the opportunity to refer to these cases when it makes its observations on this report.

A summary of the denunciations follows:

a) Death of Arsenio Leal Pereira:

Personal information:

Identity certificate: 95079 of San Bernardo

Date of birth: December 18, 1930

Civil status: Married, four children

Residence: Stop 35, Gran Avenida, San Bernardo

Profession: Transporter; candidate for councilman from San Bernardo

On Monday, September 1, 1975, at 1:20 a.m., the Legal family was aroused by strong blows on the door of their house. The wife of Arsenio Leal, Rosa Herminda, was met at the door by two persons in civilian clothes carrying machine-guns. The shorter of the two had his face painted black. Without any explanation, they came into the house. Legal Pereira asked the reasons for this action and they gave no reply. They required that Leal identify himself, searched the house carefully, and then said to him, “We want to talk with you; let’s go outside. Hurry up.” As soon as they were in the street, they forced him into a white Citroen van. It was then that his wife, who had come out into the street, realized that this was a police round up. There were no fewer than eight persons in the group that was carrying out the round-up, and they had four vehicles: the van already mentioned, a blue Chevrolet CMO light truck, a white Fiat, and another yellow automobile that could have been a Fiat 125 or a Peugeot 404. One of the vehicles was equipped with a radio-transmitter with which it appeared to be communicating with a central point. On Friday, September 5, one of the men who had taken part in the detention came to the house of the detained person and identified himself as an Officer of the Air Force. He stated that Leal Pereira was well and that he was being detained in a place operated by the Air Force. On Monday, September 8, at 10:20 p.m., an individual who was dressed in civilian clothes and who said he was an Officer of the Air Force Health Service came to see the wife of Leal Pereira, and said that he had to inform her that her husband had committed suicide. He told her that she could take the body the next day from the Medical Legal Institute. The body showed bruises in several places and also around the eyes. There was a short strip of cloth around the neck of a color different from the clothing that Leal had been wearing. He had a cut knee, a cut in his right shoulder about 5 centimeters long, apparently made by a knife, a one centimeter hole through his right hand which was very swollen. The hair was gummy with blood, there were bloody spots on his testicles, his forehead had been beaten and his nose was skinned. The authorization for burial, inscribed as E 2435 of 1975, dated September 10, indicates that the death of Legal Pereira occurred on Saturday, September 6, at an unspecified hour. The cause stated was: “mechanical asphyxiation by hanging.”

b) Death of Jaime Olivares Jorguera:

Personal information:

Identity certificate: 6099806-K of Santiago

Date of birth: December 27, 1949

Civil status: Married, one son of 1 year 8 months

Residence: Población Chacarilla, Comuna Nuñoa, Santiago

Profession Without profession; educational level, middle secondary

He was a militant socialist before September 11, 1973.

In 1974, Jaime Olivares was detained 15 days; he was not tried and he recovered his liberty. Subsequently, he was detained 3 days, with his wife, because of a denunciation by some neighbors, and he was taken to Viña del Mar. The last time members of his family saw him alive was July 31, 1975, when he talked with his mother and assured her that he would go to his house the following day, which was in the same small street as hers. Olivares did not arrive at his house that day or in the following days. However, on August 1, at 10 p.m., about 20 civilians armed with machine-guns came to the house of Olivares Jorguera. They said that they were functionaries of the Investigation Service [DINA] and that they were hunting for Olivares. Not finding him, they took his wife in detention, putting her at liberty a few hours later. On August 4, the parents of Olivares Jorguera went to the headquarters of Investigations [DINA] to try to find out what had happened to their son. The functionaries at the headquarters, after questioning the father, informed him that his son had died in a confrontation with police functionaries. The parents were told this at 12:15 midnight on August 5, 1975. The parents did not believe the report and the next morning, August 5, they went to the Medical Legal Institute of Santiago, where they found the body of your Olivares. The Mother examined the body minutely, and it presented the following characteristics: there was no bullet wound; the abdominal region was black and blue, replete with bruises, as were the temples and the cheeks; the lips were blue and the neck showed signs of having been beaten with a heavy object, possible the butt of a gun. The death certificate, issued August 6, indicated that Saúl Jaime Olivares died on August 1, 1975, at 11:55 p.m., in Zañarta Nº 1728 (the place of the headquarters of the Investigation Service), caused by “secondary asphyxiation and suffocation from breathing in vomit.” On August 6, the Santiago newspaper “La Tercera” reported that “three extremists, among them a woman, who took part in various assaults on branch banks, on payroll employees of CHILECTRA and the Metropolitano, in addition to a holdup against the revenue collectors of the Ovalle Negrete bus lines, were seized by the civilian police.” Later, it was reported that “the detained persons were identified as Raúl Jaime Olivares, José Antonio Hernández Manzano and Ana María Manzano González, mother of the preceding.” It added that the first-named of the detained persons was knocked down by the police when he attempted to resist them, armed with a caliber 38 revolver.

c) Death of Gustavo Humberto Castro Hurtado

Personal information:

Identity certificate: 1583283 of Santiago

Age: 54 years

Civil status: Married

Domicile: General Las Heras 10185 Gran Avenida

On September 3, 1975, about 2:30 in the morning, a group of 15 civilians armed with machine-guns, with blankets, some hooded, others with their faces painted with soot, came to the home of Castro. These persons said they were from Investigations [DINA]; however, they did not show an order to search the premises or to detain the victim. On November 12, his wife, Irma Flores Naranjo, learned from the Court of his death, since the Court had received a report on November 7, from the DIFA [Investigation Headquarters of the Air Force], that Castro Hurtado “was detained by that headquarters and that subsequently he had committed suicide, facts which were being investigated in proceedings ordered by the Attorney’s Office of the Air Force.” On September 3, a recurso de amparo was entered for protection of the victim, in the Court of Appeals of Santiago, registry number 1070-75. On October 8, the recurso de amparo was declared out of order “because, in accordance with information received from the pertinent authorities, Gustavo Humberto Castro Hurtado was not under detention.” On October 10, an appeal was made to the Supreme Court (registry 19.596). In this appeal, Irma Flores Naranjo stated that she was a witness to the detention of the person for whom protection was requested, as were her two children. On September 9, the appellant informed the Court that it had been learned that the personnel who carried out the detention belonged to the Air Force, for which reason she requested that the Attorney’s Office of the Air Force be requested to provide information concerning the detention of her husband. After this had been under official consideration for a month, the Court of Appeals rejected the request for protection, in view of reports from the authorities indicating that the person for whom protection was requested was not under detention. On October 23, again requesting that a report be sought from the Intelligence Headquarters of the Air Force, she stated: “I have gone to Tres Alamos with the hope of finding him there, but instead of hope, I found more anguish there. There, other persons detained by the DIFA told me that they had been my husband in a place of the Chilean Air Force (FACH)—they did not know where, because they had been taken there blindfolded—and that he was in bad health. This was due to the blows he had received and which he could not stand at his age. On November 7, the Intelligence Headquarters of the Air Force reported to this Court that HE WAS DETAINED BY THIS HEADQUARTERS AND THAT HE HAD THEN COMMITTED SUICIDE, FACTS WHICH WERE BEING INVESTIGATED IN PROCEEDINGS ORDERED BY THE ATTORNEY OF THE AIR FORCE. In this report, so brief, so tragic for our family, not even the date of death was mentioned, nor the date on which he was detained, nor by order of what competent authority and with what authority to order such a measure, and, even more, there was not even an indication of the whereabouts of the body of the person for whom protection had been requested, nor what proceedings had been ordered by the Attorney of the Air Force.”

d) Death of Enriqueta Reyes Valerio. On Saturday, November 1, 1975, at about 10:30 p.m., Father Guillermo Halliden Howard, of Irish nationality, Regional Superior of the Congregation of San Columbano, foreigner’s identity document Nº 5.639.307-2 of Santiago, arrived at his residence at Larraín Gandarillas, Santiago. His residence is the seat of the Congregation of Santiago.

A half hour later, there came to his residence Dra. Sheila Cassidy, who lives near the intersection of Bilbao and Larraín Gandarillas, Santiago, for the purpose of visiting Sister Constancia Kelly, who was ill. A little later, Father Guillermo went to his office on the second floor, where the room of the ill person was also. Suddenly, he heard in the silence of the night a burst of machinegun fire and a horrible, prolonged scream. He thought that the house was being attacked by robbers. He went down to the ground floor and upon entering the living room, he saw on the floor his housekeeper, ENRIQUETA REYES VALERIO, 30 years old, separated from her husband, with 4 children, who gave her services to the Congregation. Around her there was much blood. The priest called the radio patrol, reporting the brutal incident. Then, a new burst of machinegun fire came from the front garden on Calle Larraín Gandarillas. They heard more bursts of machinegun fire. The priest went to the back of the house to a small interior patio, which is next to the house of Sr. Alberto Balart. Surprisingly, he found 3 civilians armed with machineguns who were trying to jump over the dividing wall.

Later, the civilians went up the stairway to the second floor and proceeded to search the rooms. They found the ill nun who was on her knees praying. They struck her with a kick and made her go downstairs with her hands in the air, at gunpoint.

The chief of the group called the ambulance to take the body of Sra. Enriqueta, who, according to Dra. Cassidy, still had a pulse. Subsequently, on going back to the living room, the priest saw three uniformed carabineros. Two were officers. He was very glad because he thought they were the ones he had called by telephone. The arrestors took away Dra. Cassidy and his employee after cutting the telephone line and the internal bell. A little before they went away, the ambulance had come to take the dying person. After the arrival of another priest, Father José Joyce, a patrol of carabineros came in response to the telephone request. The priest told the leader all details of the incident, and he showed them the marks of blood scattered on the floor and the empty shell cases of the projectiles that were scattered about the street. The officer insisted persistently that this action was not by the Carabineros and he took some of the empty shells with him, stating that they were not of the Carabineros.

The official report, given by the Information Headquarters of the Government in a public statement on November 4, stated that, in the “residence of the Columbano Fathers, Sheila Cassidy took refuge along with another unidentified individual when she learned that she was going to be detained.” “Upon arriving at the said place, personnel of the National Security Service were received by shots from pistols and AKA rifles, presumably by the doctora and her companion, gunfire which was returned by the functionaries.”

“Immediately after the shooting, the doctora was able to slip away and hide in a closet of the house, covering herself with clothing until she was discovered. Her companion was able to get away.”

“As a result of this confrontation, one of the men in the Service was wounded in the arm with a projectile from a caliber 765 pistol.”

“Likewise, the employee of the house was shot by a projectile from an AKA rifle, fired by the companion of doctora Cassidy, from the interior of the residence, when the victim was in the line of fire. Moments later, she died at the Central Post of the Public First Aid.”

“In the interior of the residence, there were found three empty shells of an AKA rifle and three from a caliber 765 pistol. Upon searching the residence of the Columbano Fathers, there were found in it only one nun, ill and in bed, and one priest of advanced age who remained on the second floor, in addition to the implicated persons and the victim of the confrontation.”

e) Death of Humberto Juan Carlos Menanteaux Aceituno and José Hernán Carrasco Vásquez

These persons were detained in December 1974, and for many months they were incommunicado in “Cuatro Alamos” and “Villa Grimaldi.”

The second fortnight of February, 1975, under detention in DINA [National Intelligence Headquarters], these persons made a public declaration by television to the entire country, along with Cristián Mallol Comandari and Hernán González Osorio (who were likewise under detention by DINA) in which “they called on the MIR to lay down its arms and end what they called a sterile and suicidal road of clandestine military opposition to the government of the Military Junta.” In that occasion, they summarized the losses of personnel by the MIR since September 11, 1973. A few days later, they gave a press conference which was transmitted to the entire country by National Television.

Toward the end of September, 1975, three of them were placed at liberty, by decree 1482 of September 3 of that year. There remained under detention only Mallol, who is at present in “Tres Alamos.” González Osorio was permitted to travel to Spain.

On November 19, Humberto Menanteaux was detained in his house in Maipú. The following day, José Hernán Carrasco was detained in the house of some friends on Avenida Egaña. Both detentions were carried out by members of the DINA, as was mentioned by the detained persons to other persons who were in the same places of detention. In the first case, members of the family of Menanteaux recognized agents of the DINA among the captors.

There was no news of them until one of the wives received a telephone call on November 25 which was attributed to the MIR. They said: “Of the 4 traitors, only 2 remain. The MIR.” The wives of the affected persons came to the Committee and signed a request for a recurso de amparo for their husbands, requesting protection for them. The said recurso was declared out of order and at present is in the Supreme Court. “On November 25, the said wives received a declaration from the DINA which, as in other occasions, was written with identification as though coming from the MIR, in which it was announced that justice had been administered to their husbands.”

In the Medical Legal Institute, according to the declaration of the relatives of the dead persons, at the time of claiming the bodies, that of Menanteaux lacked an arm and the teeth. That of Carrasco was half-devoured by animals and birds of the field. The funerals took place on December 12.

[ Table of Contents | Previous | Next ]