IACHR brings case before the IA Court over lack of investigation and sanction of extrajudicial execution in Chile

December 2, 2025

Washington, DC—On September 9, 2025, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) filed an application with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IA Court) over case 13.406 against Chile, concerning the lack of investigation and sanction of those responsible for the extrajudicial execution of Jimmy Freddy Torres Villalva, carried out by State agents in 1973.

The petition, presented by the IACHR in 2008, concerns Jimmy Freddy Torres Villalva, an Ecuadorian student at the University of Concepción who was detained alongside Felipe Porfirio Campos Carrillo during the 1973 coup in Chile. The two men were taken to the Fourth Carabineros Police Station in Concepción, where witnesses reported that they were tortured and held in critical condition. That same night, on the orders of Major Fernando Pinares Carrasco, they were removed from the station, taken to Boca Sur beach, shot in the head, and thrown into the sea. Their bodies were found the following day, but the initial investigations did not lead to charges against those responsible.

After the restoration of the rule of law in Chile, the case was reopened. In 2013, a court convicted Colonel Sergio Arévalo Cid, head of the Carabineros Intelligence Service (SICAR), but acquitted Pinares Carrasco. In 2015, the Court of Appeals of Concepción overturned the acquittal and sentenced him to 15 years in prison. However, in 2016, the Supreme Court annulled that decision and confirmed the acquittal, arguing that there was insufficient evidence to establish Pinares Carrasco’s responsibility for the killings of Torres Villalva and Campos Carrillo.

In its Merits Report No. 259/23, the IACHR determined that there is no doubt that Jimmy Freddy Torres Villalva was detained without a judicial order, taken to a police station, subjected to torture, and executed on September 20, 1973.

The IACHR also found that although one officer was convicted, the case remains in a situation of partial impunity. Not all those responsible were investigated or prosecuted, particularly members of the Civil Commission of the Carabineros who were allegedly involved. The lack of a thorough investigation, along with the passage of more than four decades before an initial conviction, significantly undermined the possibility of fully clarifying the events and ensuring justice.

The IACHR concluded that these violations also caused profound emotional and moral harm to Torres Villalva’s relatives, whose suffering has been compounded by impunity and the prolonged delays in investigating and punishing those responsible.

Based on these findings, the IACHR concluded that the State of Chile is responsible for violations of the rights to judicial guarantees, judicial protection, and personal integrity established in articles 8.1, 25, and 5 of the American Convention on Human Rights, in relation to article 1.1, to the detriment of the individuals identified in the report.

Consequently, the IACHR asked the IA Court to order the State to order the following measures of reparation:

1. Provide the victims with full reparation, including financial compensation and measures of satisfaction for material and moral damages.
2. Offer physical and mental health care to the deceased’s surviving brother, Kenny Alfonso Torres Villalva, should he so wish, either through diplomatic arrangements or financial support for treatment.
3. Carry out effective investigations within a reasonable time to clarify the facts, prosecute and punish all those responsible, and keep the relatives informed of progress on the case.
4. Implement training for judicial personnel on inter-American standards regarding the investigation and prosecution of human rights violations committed during the dictatorship in Chile, with emphasis on the courts involved in this case.

The IACHR is a principal and autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), whose mandate stems from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has the mandate to promote the observance and defense of human rights in the region and acts as an advisory body to the OAS on the matter. The IACHR is made up of seven independent members who are elected by the OAS General Assembly in their personal capacity, and do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 247/25

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