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Chile: Information on news reports of skeletal remains in 1993, particularly at Fuerte Arteaga, on whether Fuerte Arteaga and the Peldehue military camp are the same place, and whether there is a non-governmental group called Organization of the Detainees and Disappeared

The information that follows was provided by a staff member of the Corporacion Nacional de Reparacion y Reconciliacion of Chile during a 21 April 1997 telephone interview.

The skeletal remains of three people were discovered at the Fuerte Arteaga military base in 1995. The discovery was made by military personnel of the army base who then reported it to their authorities, who in turn began a legal process to identify the bodies and determine the circumstances surrounding the case. Two of the three bodies were identified as those of persons who were detained and disappeared in 1973. The legal process being followed is under the authority of the military attorney's office (Fiscalía Militar). The source stated that, to the best of the Corporacion's knowledge, no one has suffered threats or harassment as a result of this discovery. Finally, the source stated that the Fuerte Arteaga is part of a large military complex located in Peldehue, near Santiago.

The information that follows was provided by a representative of the Agrupación de Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos (Detained-Disappeared Relatives' Group) during a 21 April 1997 telephone interview.

Skeletal remains of three persons were found at Fuerte Arteaga in December 1995. In 1990, in a former military training camp at Peldehue, three other skeletal remains of detained-disappeared were found (those of an ex deputy, of Eduardo Cantero Prado and of Alejandro Avalos Davidson); the site where these remains were discovered had been bought by a mining company, and is located in front of Fuerte Arteaga. Of the three bodies found  inside Fuerte Arteaga in 1995, two have been positively identified as belonging to Ricardo Weibel Navarrete and Ignacio Gonzales Espinoza, while the third body remains with the Instituto Medico Legal undergoing a process of identification. The two identified bodies were given last year to the relatives of the deceased for proper burial.

Every finding of skeletal remains is followed by a process of autopsy and identification. In this case, the investigation determined that the victims had been tortured and shot. However, there has been no satisfactory investigation into the circumstances of their death and the identity of those responsible for it. The Agrupación has not heard of any person being threatened or harassed as a result of this finding; the case received wide coverage in the press immediately after the finding and for some time after, but eventually it faded from public attention and no one was ever indicted, but no scandal, public outrage or related action ensued.

The source indicated that Fuerte Arteaga belongs to an army regiment which occupies a large military complex in Peldehue, near Santiago.

The only other organization in Chile with a name similar to that of the Agrupación is called Agrupación de Familiares—Línea Fundadora (Relatives' Group—Founding Line), which is comprised by approximately nine persons and does not have legal registration (personería jurídica).

Please find attached two news articles reporting the finding of skeletal remains in 1993. No additional 1993 articles on the subject were found among the international news databases consulted by the DIRB.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additinal sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Agrupacion de Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos, Santiago. 21 April 1997. Telephone interview with representative.

Corporacion Nacional de Reparacion y Reconciliacion, Santiago. 21 April 1997. Telephone interview with representative.

Attachments

Inter Press Service (IPS). 8 January 1993. "Chile: Remains of Disappeared Found in Former Police Station." (NEXIS)

Radio Chilena Network [Santiago, in Spanish]. 7 January 1993. "Human Remains Found at Former Police Station." (FBIS-LAT-93-005 8 Jan. 1993, pp. 39-40)

Additional Sources Consulted

Andean Newsletter [Lima]. Monthly.

Keesing's Record of World Events [Cambridge, UK]. Monthly.

Latinamerica Press [Lima]. Weekly.

News from Americas Watch [New York]. Monthly.

Material from the Indexed Media Review (IMR) or country files containing articles and reports from diverse sources (primarily dailies and periodicals) from the Weekly Media Review.

Newspapers and periodicals pertaining to the appropriate region.

DIRB, USINS, UNHCR and Internet databases.

Topics: Disappeared persons,