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By Maxine
Lowy, for Memoria y Justicia
Santiago, April 2005
In the
weeks following the capture of fugitive Colonia Dignidad leader
Paul Schaefer in Argentina and his transfer to Chile in March,
plaintiff lawyers for the Antonio Llido case received a tip
that suggests the Spanish priest, arrested and disappeared
since 1974, may have been taken to Colonia Dignidad.
Fr. Antonio
Llidó was arrested October 1,1974. Numerous former prisoners
testified that the priest was held with them at the Jose Domingo
Cañas detention and torture center, known by the repressive
DINA agency as Cuartel Ollague. Witnesses state that Llidó
was in poor physical condition due to repeated torture sessions.
In late October 1974 he was transferred to Cuatro Alamos detention
center. On October 24 other prisoners saw prison personnel
take him out of Cuatro Alamos. What happened to Antonio Llido
and where he was taken has been unknown since that moment.
After
Schaefer was brought to Chile, attorney Fabiola Letelier received
an important lead concerning the Spanish priest. The confidential
source indicated that Llido may have been taken to Colonia
Dignidad. The attorney
proceeded to minutely study the lengthy court records for
each defendant that number more than 100 pages for some individuals,
for information that would justify pursuing that line of investigation.
What she found was a sworn statement by retired Army colonel
Juan Gomez Segovia, the official in charge of the DINA in
Parral, the locality in which the German compound Colonia
Dignidad is located.
Fabiola
Letelier cites his sworn statement:
"Gomez Segovia was asked what his job was. He admitted that
he was head of the DINA in Parral and added that he frequently
met with Schaefer, often accompanied by a German named of
Alfredo who served as interpreter. Schaefer became an informant
for Gomez Segovia. The retired colonel described how Schaefer
assisted the DINA structure in Parral by providing the Gomez
Segovia family with a house. Later that house became the permanent
headquarters for the DINA in Colonia Dignidad. When the judge
orders him to testify, he gives as his home address the house
Colonia Dignidad maintained on Campo de Deportes Street in
the ñuñoa section of Santiago. The relation between Schaefer
and the DINA was absolutely clear."
Letelier looked for a possible reference to Antonio Llido.
She says, "I cannot categorically affirm that Antonio Llido
was taken from Cuatro Alamos to Colonia Dignidad in October
1974, but it is a real possibility that we are investigating."
On May 15, 2003 Judge Jorge Luis Zepeda indicted the former
DINA chief Manuel Contreras Sepulveda and former crime operatives
Miguel Krassnoff Martchencko, Osvaldo Romo Mena, and Fernando
Laureani Maturana for the crime of aggravated kidnapping.
He also indicted DINA agents Ciro Amerto Torre Saez, director
of the Jose Domingo Cañas detention center; Marcelo Moren
Brito, who directed torture at the same secret prison; Orlando
Manzo Duran, who ran Cuatro Alamos; and Francisco Maximiliano
Ferrer Lima, a member of the Brigada Caupolican, that functioned
out of Villa Grimaldi.
Today all these individuals are free in this case upon payment
of bail. However, all of them have been sentenced in other
cases.
The former agents of the State answered the complaints alleging
that they had no involvement in the crimes and only followed
orders from their superiors. Their pleadings, which extended
100 pages in some case, alleged statutes of limitation and
res judicata. Regarding the plea of res judicata, the plaintiff
attorneys showed that the regulations indicated by the defendants
pertain to private and civil law, whereas the courts have
interpreted the norms differently in criminal law. Moreover
these exceptions should have been filed with the judge prior
to determination of the facts of the complaints.
According
to attorney Letelier, "Of the numerous human rights cases
in the courts, this investigation has made substantial progress.
I have no doubt that the court will issue convictions."
The lawsuit
also names Augusto Pinochet as defendant, stemming from particularly
strong evidence that links the former dictator to the case.
In January 1975 Pinochet granted members of the Comite Pro
Paz a personal interview. They showed him a list of persons
who had disappeared subsequent to arrest. One of them was
Antonio Llido. When Lutheran bishop Helmut Frenz showed a
photograph of Llido, Pinochet replied "That one is no priest.
He is a Marxist." And he added, "You as priests can be merciful
but I am responsible for the entire political authority, have
to use torture to obtain information."
This remark
constitutes the only admission by the dictator of the systematic
practice of torture during his regime and the sole recognition
of a disappeared person.
Attorney
Letelier states, "The case has clearly established that Pinochet
had knowledge of the arrest of Llido and also knew and approved
of the use of torture. That is extremely important."
Helmut
Frenz has testified several times before Judge Zepeda, confirming
not only that Llido was arrested and mistreated, but also
that he was humiliated as a priest.
"The more
you learn about this case, the more you value the priestly
vocation of Llido. He tried to lift the spirits of the other
prisoners, and he would share his food with others. He would
say This will pass. Good has to prevail over evil. The way
he gave himself to others is exceptional."
See
also In Focus, Antonio Llido
Case.
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