The Judgment of the «Operación Colombo», main episode. Judging DINA’s biggest cover-up operation

Abstract

This paper will analyze the trial issued by the Supreme Court of Justice of Chile in the case entitled «Operación Colombo: main episode» followed by the crimes of 16 detained and disappeared victims in the context of the set-up devised by the DINA to cover up their participation in those events. This case began its processing before the criminal justice system in 1998 with the first complaints filed against Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, processed by the Minister Juan Guzmán Tapia. Due to the number of victims and the extent of the process, the various episodes investigating the crimes committed began to divide with respect to a total of 119 victims, the most extensive operation of the repressive organs of the dictatorship. In the first part, the historical context of Operation Colombo will be analyzed, and then the most important aspects of the sentence handed down in relation to the intervention of the agents of the regime's secret police will be analyzed, and the developments that the trial provides in this sense. Finally, conclusions on the historical and legal importance of this judgment will be presented.