3 stating that all the victims were killed by shots fired by FAL submachine guns, and that later dynamite charges were detonated, scattering the remains of those murdered: “When they reached their destination, the 15 villagers were forced inside the mineshaft; then the soldiers fired FAL rounds at them and proceeded to install explosive charges (dynamite) causing an explosion that ended up scattering the remains of the bullet-ridden bodies. According to the account given by a resident of Santa Bárbara, whose son had been very close to the place where the events took place, there were two successive explosions. “These facts have been confirmed in the statements made during the proceedings in the military jurisdiction. Sergeant, Second Class, Carlos Prado Chinchay, testified that the detainees were eliminated by Corporal Simón Breña Palante, presumably on the orders of Lieutenant Bendezú, leader of the military patrol, since the declarant did not hear directly the order to kill them. For his part, the Auditor General of the Army stated in Report N° 2820-91 that the person in charge of killing the victims was Sergeant Carlos Prado Chinchay. “It should be noted that all the military witnesses agree that the Santa Barbara community members were indeed eliminated with FAL rounds inside an abandoned mine and then dynamited using explosive charges found inside the mine. “Sergeants Oscar Carrera Gonzáles and Duilio Chipana Tarqui maintain that it was Lieutenant Bendezú Vargas who gave the order to kill the detainees and then to dynamite the entrance to the abandoned mine. For their part, Sergeants Dennis Pacheco Zambrano and Carlos Prado Chinchay, as well as NCO Fidel Eusebio Huaytalla, said that they learned of the death of the detainees from comments made later by other members of the patrol who mentioned that their elimination was ordered directly by Lieutenant Bendezú Vargas.” 7 8. Faced with this unanimous assertion that the order to kill the detainees and explode the dynamite was given by Lieutenant Bendezú Vargas, the latter tried to distance himself from any responsibility by means of a totally outlandish explanation (which is not mentioned in the judgment): “Lt. Javier Bendezú Vargas, when giving his preliminary statement, said that he did not order the killing of the villagers in the manner and circumstances described by his co-defendants and the numerous soldiers who gave their testimonies, maintaining that it was the detainees themselves who committed mass suicide in a single act, throwing themselves into a very deep ravine as they made their way to the Lircay military base. The military judge in charge of the investigation, and subsequently the Court Martial, dismissed this version, considering it implausible and untenable. 8 In any case, even this far-fetched version of the events confirms the death of the 15 detainees on the same day, July 4, 1991. Discovery of some of the bodies 9. Despite the dynamite explosion (or explosions) and its devastating effects, family members of the victims, and to some extent the judicial authorities or Public Prosecutor’s Office, managed to identify some of the remains: 7 8 Report of the CVR, volume VII, page 533. Report of the CVR, volume VII, pages 533-534.