(Santiago) — The dismissal yesterday of a police Special Forces commander and his deputy, whose unit has been implicated in police brutality in ongoing student protests, is an important step toward accountability, Human Rights Watch said today.
Human Rights Watch also called on the Chilean government to conduct a full public investigation into the recent use of force by the Carabineros (national uniformed police) and an urgent review of police procedures and controls in dealing with public demonstrations.
“Excessive force by Carabineros in controlling street demonstrations is still disturbingly common in Chile,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas Director at Human Rights Watch. “Fortunately, this time the government has begun to take the measures appropriate to the gravity of the situation and is moving to hold a Special Forces chief accountable for the abuses occurring under his command.”
Later yesterday, a deputy Special Forces commander was also dismissed and eight other officers were suspended pending a full investigation.
On May 30, Chile’s Carabineros used water cannons and tear gas, and resorted to violent assaults to break up massive street protests in Santiago and other cities by thousands of high school students demanding educational reforms. The protests started peacefully, but groups of hooded demonstrators who had mingled with the students later threw rocks at the Carabineros and their vehicles. Carabineros reacted with indiscriminate violence against all the protesters, most of them teenage high school students. The Carabineros reported making 730 arrests during the day.
Members of the Special Forces reportedly violently attacked at least four journalists covering the protests. Some of the incidents were shown later on the television news. Libio Saavedra, a television cameraman, told reporters that he was assaulted by more than 20 Special Force officers who threw him to the ground and kicked him repeatedly. He said that none of the police appeared to be wearing the name tags they are required to display.
Three female students alleged that they were sexually abused in a police station in the neighborhood of Puente Alto.
The government has ordered an inquiry into these serious incidents. A police official on Tuesday night called the attacks on the journalists “unjustifiable excesses,” and said that an investigation was under way. After a meeting on Wednesday with President Michelle Bachelet, the director of Carabineros removed Special Forces prefect for Santiago Colonel Osvaldo Jara from his post due to that unit’s violent conduct during the protests, saying that he would not tolerate abuses.
In a joint press conference yesterday with the president of the journalists’ union, President Bachelet expressed “indignation” at the violence inflicted on journalists and students, and defended the work of the Chilean press.
Human Rights Watch urged the Bachelet administration to ensure that the inquiry is prompt, independent and thorough, and subject to public scrutiny. The inquiry should enable the Chilean authorities to take appropriate disciplinary and, if appropriate, prosecutorial measures against any officers found guilty of using excessive or illegal force, as well as against the commanders who intentionally or negligently permitted this conduct. Its findings should also inform a full review of police procedures relating to street demonstrations.
“Tuesday’s violent events demonstrate the pressing need for a thorough review of police procedures and controls to ensure that the right to peaceful protest is fully protected,” said Vivanco. “Any use of anti-riot force must be selective and strictly proportionate to the risk faced by the police and the public.”
