In a court ruling for human rights violations in Chile, the minister on extraordinary visit Max Cancino Cancino of the Court of Appeals of Valparaíso has sentenced three retired former members of the Navy for their responsibility in the crime of kidnapping with serious damage to David Emilio Navia Burgos, committed in April 1974.
The ruling, issued in the context of case rol 215-2016, has led to the conviction of Valentín Evaristo Riquelme Villalobos, Juan de Dios Reyes Basaur and Héctor Vicente Santibáñez Obreque. The three ex-uniformed men have been sentenced to 5 years and one day in prison, in addition to receiving legal accessories that imply perpetual absolute disqualification for public positions and offices, deprivation of political rights and absolute disqualification for regular professions during the period of the convictions. The court has qualified those convicted as perpetrators of the crime.
Minister Cancino Cancino’s ruling also decrees the acquittal of the defendants regarding the charges of application of torture, dismissing the claims of prescription and amnesty presented by the defense of the convicted.
The verdict establishes that there was a military intelligence group called the Intelligence Service of the Jurisdictional Area Command for Internal Security (SICAJSI), which had been operating actively since the coup d’état in September 1973. Said group was made up of agents from different branches of national defense, including officers of the Chilean Navy. The main purpose of this entity was to repress people opposed to the military regime, carrying them out through arrests, deprivation of liberty, and physical and psychological torture.
In the specific case of David Emilio Navia Burgos, the ruling establishes that he was arrested in April 1974 for being a sympathizer of the Movimiento Izquierdista Revolucionario. He was taken to the Silva Palma Barracks in Valparaíso, where he faced interrogations and torture by a group of interrogators coordinated by military commanders. During his detention, Navia Burgos was subjected to various torture techniques, such as the application of electric current, beatings, and threats of violence.
After his arrest and torture, Navia Burgos was transferred to a detention facility in Puchuncaví, where he remained until he was handed over to the Naval Prosecutor’s Office in May 1974 and finally obtained his provisional release in September of that same year.
This court ruling represents a significant step in the search for justice for the victims of human rights violations committed during the dictatorship in Chile. The conviction of the former members of the Navy for kidnapping and torture reaffirms the commitment of the Chilean judicial system to confront the crimes of the past and guarantee accountability for acts of violence committed in those dark years of the country’s history.
