El Ciudadano
Original article: Era escolar y lo torturó la Armada en 1973: Suprema confirma indemnización para víctima en Valparaíso
The Second Chamber of the Supreme Court has irrevocably upheld the ruling that mandates the State of Chile to compensate M.A.A.D. with $10,000,000 (ten million pesos) for moral damages. M.A.A.D., who was a 17-year-old high school student, was detained and brutally tortured by Navy personnel in Valparaíso during the early months of the civil-military dictatorship, between September and November 1973.
This ruling concludes a long judicial process and establishes a significant precedent regarding the international responsibility of the State in addressing crimes against humanity. The Chamber, comprising Justices Manuel Antonio Valderrama, Leopoldo Llanos (who dissented), along with Justices María Cristina Gajardo, Eliana Quezada, and appointed attorney Eduardo Gandulfo, rejected the cassation appeal filed by the government defense, thereby confirming the previous sentences of the Eighth Civil Court of Santiago and the Appeals Court of the same city.
The ruling from the highest court stated that «the compensation for the harm caused by the illicit act and the actions to ensure it is of utmost importance when administering justice, engaging public interest and aspects of material justice aimed at achieving full reparation for the damages caused by the actions of agents of the State of Chile, as demanded by the good faith application of international treaties ratified by our country.»
“These norms take precedence in our internal legal framework, according to Article 5, second paragraph of the Fundamental Charter… over any national legal provisions that would allow avoiding the responsibilities incurred by the Chilean State through the criminal acts of its officials,” it added.
The Court dismissed allegations that previous instances had failed to correctly apply these treaties, stating that, on the contrary, the contested ruling «explicitly references and considers international treaties regarding state responsibility and the duty of reparations.»
The Torture of a Teenager by the Navy
The heart of the case lies in the harrowing testimony of M.A.A.D., as collected in the records. His account details a nightmare that began in the last week of September 1973, when he was a schoolboy and a group of marines stormed his parents’ home in Valparaíso, detaining him along with his high school classmate and neighbor, J.C.A.
According to his story, he was taken with his head covered to a Carabinero police station in central Valparaíso, where he was «beaten and then sent in a closed truck to the Naval War Academy.»
In October, he was detained again «along with other high school students at the very educational establishment.» The peak of his torment occurred in November, following another arrest, when he was transferred to the Naval Academy and then to a Police Department (PDI) station in Santiago.
The victim alleges that he faced physical and psychological abuse during all detentions, but it was in the first instance where he was subjected to systematic torture due to his supposed connections with the Frente Amplio de Resistencia (FAR) of the Socialist Party.
“They reportedly tortured him through these methods alongside his high school classmate, J.C.A., indicating that besides electrical torture, he was hit with a board or a stick in the stomach, punched, and subjected to a simulated anal rape using the same stick with which he was beaten,” the ruling describes.
Furthermore, he recounted that “along with other detained individuals, he was subjected to a simulated execution by Navy personnel, while his face and head were covered, alleging a supposed lack of cooperation during interrogations.”
Consequences and Compensation
The repercussions of these events have marked his life forever. The plaintiff indicated that the torture caused him physical scars that he was able to treat «in exile, in the Federal Republic of Germany.» Psychologically, he suffers from “insomnia, depression, anxiety, and emotional instability,” compounded by the traumatic experience of being prohibited from entering the country for years.
Regarding the compensation amount, set at $10,000,000, the Supreme Court considered that its regulation is a discretionary power of the substantive judges, who evaluated the evidence presented. The court noted that the appeal was limited to criticizing the regulated amount… a matter insufficient to constitute the grounds for nullity invoked, while emphasizing that the appellate judges «extensively outline the rationale that leads them to quantify the compensation amount.»
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