Chile Arrests Former DINA Officer Nelson Haase for Víctor Jara Murder

On July 25, 2024, retired Chilean army colonel Nelson Haase Mazzei, convicted for the 1973 torture‑murder of folk singer Víctor Jara, was captured at a rural property in Puyehue in the Los Lagos region, ending three years as a fugitive.

Santiago human‑rights judge Paola Plaza ordered his immediate transfer to prison. Haase had been sentenced in August 2023 to 25 years and two days – 15 years for the killings of Jara and prison director Littré Quiroga and 10 years for qualified kidnapping. His arrest is viewed as a milestone in Chile’s long‑running effort to bring accountability for crimes committed under the Pinochet dictatorship, which the 1991 truth commission classified as a grave human‑rights violation.

Legal proceedings continue for other former officers, notably ex‑army lieutenant Pedro Pablo Barrientos, who remains under investigation. Victims’ families and human‑rights groups welcomed the capture, while noting the decades‑long delay in delivering justice.