9 V. ESTABLISHED FACTS A. Background: 1975 events that occurred between September 16, 1973 and June 12, 34. First, the Commission understands that the facts that occurred during this period are not within the Commission’s competence ratione temporis 2 and that in making their case the petitioners did not include any arguments related to the commission of acts of torture. However, those events are being included in the section on facts established only in order to contextualize the facts in the instant case. 35. Concerning the facts that occurred under Chile’s military dictatorship, the National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture to Clarify the Truth about Human Rights Violations in Chile “the Valech Commission”, created by Supreme Decree No. 1040 and published in Official Gazette dated November 11, 2003, wrote in its final report that “it had been morally persuaded that these distinctive features of political imprisonment verified in the period from September 11, 1973 to March 10, 1990, were present in all the cases examined. The inevitable conclusion is that during that period there was a repressive policy organized by the State and conducted from its highest authorities.” The Commission documented 33,221 detentions and 27,255 victims, and indicated that 94% of the persons detained said they had been tortured. 3 36. This National Commission documented the fact that Mr. Leopoldo García Lucero was detained and tortured. 4 At the time of his detention, Mr. García Lucero had been actively involved in political activity in support of Allende’s Socialist Party, and in political events where he appeared together with Minister Hernán de Canto and President Salvador Allende. 5 37. On September 16, 1973, he was arbitrarily detained by Carabineros in Santiago, five blocks from the Palacio de Gobierno. He was taken to the building that housed UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) where he was held incommunicado, without charges or accusations against him. 6 While at the Police Precinct, he was subjected to various forms of torture: his hands and feet were tied, he was blindfolded, beaten on the head and forced underwater; and hit in the head which almost cost him his eyesight. He was threatened that his daughter would be killed in his presence. 7 After two days of torture, he was transferred to the National Stadium, where the torture intensified: his hands were tied to a pole which was then lifted 2 As the Commission wrote in its report on the admissibility of this case, “The Commission has jurisdiction ratione temporis because the petition does not ask the Commission to pronounce itself on events that occurred prior to August 21, 1990. (…)The Commission considers that in this case the allegations refer only to events that occurred after August 21, 1990. (…) As to the State's argument that the Commission should declare the petition inadmissible because the events began prior to March 11, 1990, the Commission rejects this argument because the judicial proceedings constitute events independent of the summary executions.” IACHR, Report No. 58/05, Petition 350/02, Admissibility, Leopoldo García Lucero, Chile, October 12, 2005, paragraphs 32, 34. 3 Annex 1. National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture (“Valech Commission”) Report, 2004, Chapter IV, pp. 228 – 229; Annex 2. National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture (“Valech Commission”) Report, 2004, section: List of Persons Recognized as Victims, p. 8. 4 Annex 2. National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture (“Valech Commission”) Report, 2004, List of Persons Recognized as Victims, Number 9581, “García Lucero, Leopoldo Guillermo”, RUN: 2.471.218-4, p. 241. 5 Annex 3. Original petition from the petitioners dated May 15, 2002, p. 1. Allegation made by the petitioners and not contested by the State. Nothing in the record of the case with the Commission suggests otherwise. 6 Annex 3. Original petition from the petitioners dated May 15, 2002, p. 1. Allegation made by the petitioners and not contested by the State. Nothing in the record of the case with the Commission suggests otherwise. 7 Annex 3. Original petition from the petitioners dated May 15, 2002, p. 1. Allegation made by the petitioners and not contested by the State. Nothing in the record of the case with the Commission suggests otherwise.