2024-05-07 01:19:51
This Monday, the commander in chief of the Army, General Javier Iturriaga, referred for the first time to the death of soldier Franco Vargas (18), who nine days ago lost his life in the middle of a military training in Putre, Arica Region.
In this regard, he reported that It was decided to relieve two officers from command, a captain and a lieutenant colonel. –of whom he preferred to reserve both identities-, who were “undoubtedly the direct commanders who They participated in the campaign and in the execution of the march”.
“In the interests of greater transparency in the ongoing investigation, especially in the administrative investigation that seeks to determine possible command responsibilities, I have formed the conviction and have resolved to relieve the deceased soldier’s direct commanders of command: I am referring to his company commander and the commander of the training battalion in Pacollo”he declared.
In this context, he clarified that both officers will continue in the ranks of the Army, and will be assigned to another military unit in the Arica garrison.
“As long as the investigation is ongoing, the presumption of innocence is assumed.” until their effective responsibilities are proven by the military prosecutor, the prosecutor’s office or a new visiting minister if the court-martial so decides,” he continued.
Regarding the possibility of them being discharged, Iturriaga emphasized that “There are no casualties because the investigation has not provided an account. If the investigations obtain, along the way, any relevant information, the commanders are obliged to take action in a timely manner.”
At the same time, he announced and “agreed” that the Military Public Prosecutor’s Office will request the Court Martial this Tuesday to appoint a visiting minister to continue processing the case.
“This is with the understanding that we seek greater transparency in what we are doing, because the worst that can happen is that citizens lose confidence in their Army,” he remarked.
In the same vein, he specified that until now There are five investigations in progressboth to determine what happened and to seek responsibilities.
The first has to do with the death of conscript soldier Franco Vargasin order to determine what actually occurred in the act of service, which “is close to being concluded.”
In this case, General Iturriaga announced that once the investigations are concluded, it is expected that the victim’s mother “can receive the legal benefits that correspond to hima situation that was personally communicated to her today.”
Likewise, there are two other medical investigations that aim to account for the situation of the two soldiers who remain in serious condition in the military hospitalespecially for possible consequences and legal benefits that would correspond to them.
Also, he explained that there is another investigation to determine sanitary and environmental conditions of the property and the training camp in Pacollo.
Finally, the last two investigations have to do with specify command responsibilities or administrative responsibilities if any and, another that is ongoing in the Military Prosecutor’s Office.
“I should emphasize that following these three days in Arica I have allowed myself to gain clarity regarding what happened, preliminarily of course, while the investigations progress. Without leaving aside the concern for the families and very attentive to the evolution that the different investigations have followed in order to adopt timely decisions without waiting for them to end if the situation requires it,” he said.
It should be noted that, from the first minute, the victim’s mother, Romy Vargas, has insisted that Army troops would be responsible for the death of his son, ruling out that the cause of death is supposed respiratory problems.
Directly, the woman accuses that the young man was torturedwhich is why he stressed that the military institution would be carrying out a series of actions to hide what really happened.
Due to this situation, the Arica Military Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation, and at the same time the government ordered the completion of two administrative summaries to clarify what happened.
At the same time, lawyers from the National Institute of Human Rights (INDH) filed a complaint with the Public Ministry, considering that, like Franco’s case, another 45 conscripts were affected by a viral illness during military training, and they advanced the filing a complaint for illegitimate pressures.
Regarding the contrary versions regarding the event, the commander in chief of the Army remarked that “I believe that in these crises there is always misinformation and lack of coordination and it is something that we have to continue learning every day.”.
Asked regarding the accusations that arose as a result of excessive force or mistreatment once morest the conscript soldiers, who reported that they had been beaten, Iturriaga asserted that “I don’t know the situation in detail because it doesn’t apply to me at this point, but I don’t have information regarding that.”.
“Regarding mistreatment, it is a situation that is absolutely prohibited in the Army, it is a situation that is continually reiterated and to date the investigation, To my knowledge, there have been no reports of that.”.
He also addressed the criticism of the conscripts who claimed to have been forced to sign a legal document before leaving the regimentindicating that “it is not a document that was born as a result of this situation, It is a document that has been around for many years and is part of our protocols”.
“It seeks precisely that the person, consciously, an adult, can determine if they actually had a situation or declare that they actually suffered abuse. He consciously signs it and agrees not to have been abusedTherefore, if he does not sign it, the situation might be different,” he added, ensuring that “that document is not secret at all, so If a soldier would like to take a copy, he can do so.”.
Regarding whether the soldiers were subjected to exams prior to the controversial military training, the head of the Army explained that “our current protocol considers basic exams that have been our protocol for many years and I I think it is a situation, obviously, that we have to review and implement from now on.”.
1715048704
#General #Iturriaga #relieves #command #officers #charge #military #instruction #Franco #Vargas #died #Putre
