46.
During the public hearing held on September 6, 2001, the Court received the
statement of the person summoned by the Court based on Article 44(1) of its Rules
of Procedure. This statement is summarized below:
Statement by Antonia Gladys Oroza de Solón Romero, mother of the
victim, José Carlos Trujillo Oroza
She is 75 years of age and a retired teacher. José Carlos Trujillo Oroza was her
oldest son. In 1971 her family was composed of her husband and her three
children; the witness’s mother and siblings also formed part of the family. José
Carlos studied philosophy at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés in La Paz.
However, when Banzer took office, he closed that university; José Carlos therefore
went to live in Santa Cruz.
In 1971, José Carlos Trujillo Oroza was detained by members of the Political Control
Department (DOP) and of the Criminal Affairs Department of Santa Cruz and
imprisoned in the State prison called El Pari, in Santa Cruz. She found out about the
detention of José Carlos on December 31, 1971. The witness lived in La Paz. She
traveled to Santa Cruz to see José Carlos and stayed there for several days. The
authorities at the Police Station told her that there was no money to feed the
prisoners, so she took food to José Carlos every day at lunchtime, but she was only
allowed to see him in the afternoon. Moreover, every day she had to go to the
Political Control Department to obtain a pass to visit José Carlos. They allowed her
to speak to José Carlos for five minutes, she was accompanied by an agent and she
was told not to ask him any questions. José Carlos was subjected to many tortures.
During one visit, she observed that her son was missing three fingernails. Another
day, seeing signs that he had been beaten with something with a sharp edge,
probably a wire, she let out a moan of distress and, because of this, they returned
José Carlos to his cell, and she was told: “either you control yourself or you will not
see your son again.” The last day she saw her son, he indicated by signs that she
should go to the Red Cross and ask for help.
She last saw José Carlos on February 2, 1972. The authorities gave her various
versions of what had happened to the victim. Her son disappeared together with two
other people, Carlos López Adrián and Mr. Toledo Rosado. Up until the day of the
public hearing before the Court, all three have disappeared; according to Guillermo
Elio, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior at the time of the facts, these
three persons were liberated by means of a radiogram.
When searching for her son, she met with various State officials: Guillermo Elio,
Under-Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior; Elías Moreno, head of the El Pari
prison; Justo Sarmiento Alanés; Percy González; Oscar Menachohaca, and Ernesto
Moránt Ligerón, head of the Political Control Department (DOP). Each of them gave
her a different version of what had happened to those who had disappeared: they
had been liberated, they had been taken to Monero, they had been taken to
Paraguay by plane, that she should not worry because everything had been resolved.
The head of the DOP, Ernesto Moránt, showed her a memorandum from Guillermo
Elio, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior and told her that José Carlos had
been liberated. She was distraught and confused because she did not know what
would happen, and she had no information on why José Carlos had been detained;
no one would give her an answer and that is what she is seeking. In addition to
meeting with the State authorities, she denounced the facts of the disappearance of
José Carlos and the other two youths in the media. She went to all the prisons that