E/CN.4/2000/9/Add.1
page 5
were involved or mentioned. The 35 completed cases had resulted in the dismissal of 5 officers,
the fining of 20 others, reprimands to 5, dismissal of cases against 24 officers and the clearing
of 5 others.
15.
In a letter dated 29 May 1998, the Government provided information on the proceedings
against members of the Carabineros police investigations section in the case of Raúl Osvaldo
Palma Salgado, who was reported to have died on 12 January 1998 after being arrested and
tortured. The internal administrative investigation had resulted in the dismissal of a lieutenant
and three sergeants. Criminal proceedings against these officers on charges of unlawful coercion
leading to death were at the stage of confidential investigation in the second military court in
Santiago.
16.
In a letter dated 15 November 1999, the Government reacted to the information
forwarded by the Special Rapporteur in his letter of 15 September 1999.
17.
The letter from the Government reports that the new make-up of the Supreme Court had
resulted in the adoption of legal precedents which facilitated the investigation of past human
rights violations connected with the issue of impunity. The Government states that proceedings
cannot be dismissed until the investigation has been completed, a decision taken that a
punishable act has been committed and the offender identified (case of Pedro Enrique
Poblete Córdoba, Carlos Humberto Contreras Maluje, Alvaro Miguel Barrios Duque and
Marcos Quiñones Lembach). Similarly, it is established that amnesty is not applicable
between 11 September 1973 and 11 September 1974, so that the courts must refrain from
granting amnesty in any case involving serious violations of the Geneva Conventions of 1949
(cases of Pedro Enrique Poblete Córdoba and Marcos Quiñones Lembach).
18.
In the same letter, the Government indicates that the Supreme Court has ruled that
amnesty and prescription are not applicable to offences of an ongoing nature, such as abduction
and unlawful or arbitrary arrest (cases of Pedro Enrique Poblete Córdoba, Carlos Humberto
Contreras Maluje and Marcos Quiñones Lembach and the case of the disappeared detainees of
Parral). In addition, since the defence of res judicata in criminal proceedings requires both the
unlawful act and the person accused of committing it to be identified, res judicata will not apply,
even when the proceedings have been dismissed due to extinguishment of criminal responsibility
through prescription or amnesty (case of Alvaro Miguel Barrios Duque). The Supreme Court
holds that grounds for extinguishment of criminal responsibility, prescription of criminal
proceedings and amnesty are personal in nature (case of Carlos Humberto Contreras Maluje).
Finally, in 1999 the Supreme Court ruled on approximately six cases involving competence
disputes between the military and ordinary courts, finding in favour of the latter in all six cases
(case of Jorge Müller and Carmen Bueno, case of José Luis Baeza Cruces and case of
Leopoldo Muñoz Andrade et al.).
19.
In the same letter the Government included a list of persons prosecuted in human rights
cases relating to the “caravan of death”, the murder of Alfonso Carreño and the disappearance of
Baeza Cruces, the case of “operation Albania”, the disappearance of Ramírez Rosales, the
Tucapal Jiménez case, the Ve£D0RQXPHQWDOGH&RQFHSFLyQFDVHDQGWKH3DUUDOFDVH7KH
Government also supplied information concerning cases settled by the courts: the Letelier