20-Year-Old Welder Tortured During Dictatorship to Receive $60 Million from Chilean State

Original article: Cables en la cabeza, brazos y testículos: soldador de 20 años fue torturado en dictadura y el Fisco deberá pagar $60 millones

The Twenty-Ninth Civil Court of Santiago has ordered the Chilean government to compensate E.V.M.Y., a 20-year-old welder who was subjected to illegal detentions and horrific torture by agents of the civic-military dictatorship in 1988, with 60 million pesos plus adjustments and interest.

The ruling, issued by Judge Matías Franulic Gómez, determined that the incidents constitute a crime against humanity, which is imprescriptible, rejecting the government’s technical defenses.

The decision is based on the detailed statement given by the victim to the Valech Commission and various judicial records. The ruling recounts two incidents of kidnapping and torture that took place in March 1988, when the young man lived with his family in the municipality of Pedro Aguirre Cerda.

First Detention: Cables and Electric Shocks at the Investigations Headquarters

According to judicial testimony, the first arrest occurred on March 14, 1988. Agents from the Police Investigations Force broke into his home «through the roof, the back yard, and the front yard.» He was handcuffed, beaten, and taken along with two of his brothers to the General Investigations Headquarters.

At this facility, he was assaulted and tortured by agents serving dictator Augusto Pinochet. The ruling includes the victim’s account, stating that «at the headquarters, he was taken to a room where he was soaked, and they placed wires on his head, arms, and testicles, being tortured to extract information about his neighbor to blame him for a robbery that had occurred in the area.»

After the torture session, he was taken to his neighbors’ house to «verify the truth of his statements.»

Second Detention: Drownings, Beatings, and Sexual Assaults by the CNI

The nightmare repeated itself just nine days later. On March 23, 1988, agents from the National Intelligence Center (CNI) arrested him again at his home, in connection with a robbery at the Japan School. Blindfolded, he was taken to an «old house,» a secret location, where psychological torture began with death threats against his family.

«He was locked in a room, stripped, and handcuffed before being taken to a bathroom and submerged in a tub of water, where an agent pushed his head down with his foot to drown him,» the ruling indicated.

E.V.M.Y was accused of participating in the burning of minibuses, coming from a guerrilla school, and throwing stones at police. «He detailed that during the interrogation, the submersion acts occurred repeatedly until he lost consciousness. In addition, he was hit with a stick in the head and chest and sexually assaulted.»

Later, he was transferred to the Central Investigations Headquarters, where he remained incommunicado for five days, continuing to receive beatings and death threats. After being charged by the military prosecutor on accusations of being a member of the ‘Rodriguista militias’, he went through the Santiago Penitentiary and the Public Jail, finally being released on December 7, 1988, after approximately 8 months and 11 days of imprisonment.

Crime Against Humanity and Imprescriptible

The government attempted to evade responsibility through claims of integral reparations, payments, and statutes of limitations. However, Judge Franulic Gómez flatly rejected all these defenses, establishing a crucial legal principle: «after establishing that E.V.M.Y was a victim of a crime against humanity, which is imprescriptible in both criminal and civil contexts.»

The ruling cites the Roman principle alterum non laedere (do not harm another) and states that «concerning the judgment made by the Tribunal about the events narrated and the impact on the plaintiff in their spiritual dimension, which is perceived as permanent.»

Compensation of $60 Million for ‘Replacement Satisfaction’

In quantifying moral damage, the judge acknowledged the limitations of evidence, such as the absence of current assessments of psychological damage and the lack of precision regarding sexual assaults. However, applying the «duty of compensation explicitly assumed by the State,» he determined an indemnity as a form of «replacement satisfaction.»

«Observing the duty of compensation explicitly assumed by the State, the conclusion of justness is to grant a replacement satisfaction, which in prudence and equity, in light of the merits presented, particularly the duration of the deprivation of liberty (approximately 8 months and 11 days) as well as the torments inflicted, totals the unique amount of $60,000,000,» the ruling indicated.

Additionally, this amount will be paid with adjustments according to the consumer price index from the execution of the sentence, plus current interest.

The Aftereffects of Torture on the Welder

E.V.M.Y not only lost months of his youth in jail and torture cells. His testimony, collected during the trial, describes the damage and lasting effects the torture inflicted.

«He asserts that the ordeal caused him tremendous harm, starting with mockery for having been tortured, stating that he has been unable to start a family, that his teeth were broken from the blows, and that he has physical scars.» On psychological damage, he noted that «he remains affected and has never recovered, isolating himself from others.»

This ruling marks a significant return by Chilean justice to acknowledge, nearly four decades later, the irreversible harm caused by Pinochet’s dictatorship, imposing on the government the obligation to provide compensation, even if only financially, to one of its victims.

View the First Instance Ruling