El Ciudadano
Original article: Justicia ordena indemnizar a pobladores heridos y a familiares de fallecido en jornada de protesta nacional de septiembre del ’85
The Supreme Court confirmed the ruling that mandates the state to compensate the siblings of Daniel David Aranda Saavedra, as well as Domingo Manuel Ovalle Molina and Danilo Alejandro Pardo Améstica, all victims of violent crimes committed on September 4, 1985, in the Lo Espejo area during a national protest against the civil-military dictatorship led by Pinochet.
In a unanimous decision (case role 54.251-2024), the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court upheld the appealed ruling, which ordered a civil compensation payment of $30,000,000 to each of the seven plaintiffs. However, for the surviving victim, Pardo Améstica, the amount was increased to $50,000,000 due to his young age at the time of the incident, as he was only 12 years old.
«Considering that at the time of the events, the victim was a 12-year-old adolescent whose studies were interrupted by the aftermath of the ballistic injury he sustained, which was substantiated not only by his account but also supported by testimony and expert reports included in the process, this Court prudently determines that the compensation for enduring such suffering is rightfully set at $50,000,000 (fifty million pesos), a sum that seems commensurate with the proven adversities,» states the ruling.
Meanwhile, in a divided vote, the court affirmed the ruling that acquitted retired Air Force officer Germán Alberto Vargas Fritz of the charges, as it was determined that he ordered the use of riot shotguns on the ground without knowing that the weaponry was loaded with steel pellets instead of rubber ones.
The Events
In the foundational ruling, the extraordinary visiting judge for human rights violation cases at the San Miguel Court of Appeals, Carlos Farías Pino, established the following facts:
«1. On September 4, 1985, a nationwide protest was conducted across various sectors in Santiago, during which several residents attacked an asphalt plant belonging to the Metropolitan Serviu, located at Avenida México and Avenida La Feria in the Santa Olga neighborhood, resulting in damage and arson, along with the theft of several items from within.
2. In response, firefighters were dispatched to extinguish the fire, who were subsequently protected by police who were overwhelmed by the attacking crowd.
3. Consequently, at around 6 PM on the stated day, a group of commands from the Chilean Air Force, affiliated with the Antiaircraft Regiment Colina, led by Captain Germán Alberto Vargas Fritz, arrived on site. They were transported in two trips by the Chilean Air Force helicopter UH-1H N° FACH H-90, with the first flight commanded by Captain Vargas and composed of corporals Pedro Rozas Meza, Jorge Pavez Venegas, Segundo Escobar Sazo, Néstor Cáceres Delson, and Pedro Cortés Cifuentes, while the second group was led by Sergeant 1st Luis Ríos Pinto and included corporals Eduardo Mundaca Terapegui, Jaime Zamora Garrido, Luis Cantillana Hidalgo, and Luis Saldaña Peña.
4. Upon descending from the helicopter, the Air Force personnel were attacked with blunt objects by the gathered crowd.
5. In this situation, carrying military weaponry such as the Galil rifle caliber 5.56 and caliber 9 mm handguns, and Riot shotguns caliber 12 mm, which were capable of firing live rounds as well as rubber and steel pellets, Captain Vargas Fritz ordered the use of the Riot shotguns to disperse the crowd, which some personnel, including Jorge Gary Pavez Venegas and Néstor Antonio Cáceres Delson from the first helicopter flight, as well as Eduardo Eloy Mundaca Tirapegui from the second, complied with.
6. As a result, one or more Air Force personnel, when firing the aforementioned Riot shotguns, used cartridges containing steel pellets, and they did so in a direct manner at the protesters, and not at a 45-degree angle, which would have minimized harm to vital areas, which unfortunately was not the case.
7. Consequently, Daniel David Aranda Saavedra (21 years old) sustained a steel pellet impact on the right hemithorax, in the sixth intercostal space, mamillary line, dying at 6:55 PM that day at Hospital Barros Luco; meanwhile, Domingo Ovalle Molina suffered a gunshot wound to his right chest and a non-penetrating gunshot wound to his left arm, healing in no less than 35 days, which would have proved fatal had it not been for timely medical intervention; and Danilo Pardo Améstica sustained a craniofacial gunshot wound (…) healing in no less than 40 days with equivalent time for incapacity.»
In the cover photo: Residents of La Victoria confront the repression of the civil-military dictatorship of the right, during the national protest on September 4, 1985. Author: Paulo Slachevsky.
It is important to remember that during these protests, there was another fatality due to repression: a 15-year-old student, Jorge Enrique Pardo, who was shot in Peñalolén. His case is recorded in the Memory and Human Rights Museum.
«At noon on September 4, some youths protested behind barricades near an Open Center guarded by military. Upon the arrival of a police bus, these youths threw stones and then fled in the opposite direction towards the Open Center. At that moment, a soldier fired upon the fleeing youths, killing Jorge Enrique Pardo,» reads the report.
The aforementioned events, the Memory Museum adds, have been corroborated by various testimonies that the Rettig Commission deemed credible.
«Weighing the gathered evidence, the Commission believes that while there was a legitimate need to defend the Open Center and maintain public order, the use of force was excessive in this case, especially as the youths were fleeing when shots were fired at them and no longer posed a threat. In this respect, the Commission is convinced that Jorge Enrique Pardo was a victim of excessive force by state agents, who thereby violated his right to life.»
El Ciudadano
La entrada Court Orders Compensation for Victims of September 1985 National Protest in Chile se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.
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