E/CN.4/1992/17
page 11
Chile
Letters
39. On 17 April 1991 the Special Rapporteur sent a letter to the Government
of Chile transmitting information on cases of torture and ill-treatment which
reportedly occurred between March and December 1990. The letter mentioned the
following cases: Fernando Concha Galvez, Iván Concha Pizarro, Erwin Rivera
Castillo, Pedro Felipe Ramirez Chaparro, Lino Enrique Palma Insulza,
Vladimir Ernesto Salamanca Morales, Rodrigo Morales Salas, Alvaro Rodríguez
Escobar, Sergio Vásquez Barrientos, Ester Alfaro González, Abraham Larrea
Zamorano, Catalina Avila Lazo, Wilson Rojas Mercado, Rodrigo Saa Gerbier,
Yuri Aliro Vargas Araya and Jorge Antonio Espinóla Robles. These people were
reportedly subjected to torture and ill-treatment at various police stations
and, among other things, were kicked and punched in different parts of the
body, strung up for long periods by their wrists, deprived of food, water and
sleep, suffered electric shocks to the sensitive parts of the body, near
suffocation from plastic bags placed over their heads, "submarino seco",
threats against them and their families, arid mock executions. In the case of
Jorge Antonio Espinóla Robles, who was held at the Santiago Third Police
Station, it was reported that, under the remedy of amparot a request was made
that a doctor should be sent urgently to the police station from the Forensic
Medicine Department. The doctor observed that the detainee had various
injuries which could only be explained by bullet wounds received when he was
detained and by ill-treatment.
40. On 18 October 1991 the Special Rapporteur sent a second letter to the
Government of Chile transmitting information to the effect that, despite the
legislative measures adopted by the Government, torture was still being used
by members of the Carabineros and the Police Department. The majority of the
cases communicated involved members of armed opposition groups, in particular
the Lautaro Youth Movement and the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front, but also
people who were arrested as a result of peaceful demonstrations or in
connection with criminal investigations. In particular the following cases
were transmitted:
(a) Jaime Patricio Celis Adasme, Jaime Iván Pinto Aglioni, Julio Ricardo
Prado Bravo, Marcela Laura Mardones Pacheco and Patricio Alejandro Gallardo
Trujillo, who were arrested between 6 and 10 July 1991 in Concepción by
officers of the Police Department;
(b) Iván Andrés Cordova Cordova, arrested on 27 May 1991 and taken to
the San Luis de Macul Police Station;
(c) Galia Gimpel Martinez, arrested on 20 May 1991 by carabineros and
taken to Station No. 18 in Santiago;
(d) Lucio Eduardo Maldonado García, arrested on 15 May 1991 by the
carabineros and taken to the police station in La Victoria, Santiago;
(e) Angel Patricio Muñoz Faundez, arrested by carabineros on
29 April 1991 in Cerro Navia, Santiago and taken to the carabineros station in
San Pablo;
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