SANTIAGO – Amnesty International’s Chile chapter has released a report coinciding with the second anniversary of the social uprising. The report details structural methods that enabled human rights violations during the protests. It also proposes reforms for the Carabineros police force.
The latest report by Amnesty International details procedures that “enabled, promoted or tolerated” the extreme use of force during the 2019 social uprising.
In the 28-page report, Amnesty again highlights the need for reforms, which it first mentioned in its April report. “On this anniversary, Amnesty International reiterates that justice and the structural reform of the Carabineros are fundamental steps to ensure that these human rights violations do not happen again.”
The report highlights actions systematically taken, not in exceptional cases as authorities claimed. It proposed arms should be used to dissuade protestors in a “selective and rational” manner, which was not that case during the social uprising.
Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty’s director for the Americas, told a press conference while presenting the report that authorities opted for a violent response to the protests and highlighted that protesters were being criminalized.
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The reports details how high ranking Carabineros officials deliberately encouraged violence. This toxic culture has enabled the promotion of officers like Ricardo Yáñez from order and security director to Director General.
Executive Director of Amnesty Chile, Ana Piquer, criticized that “two years after the uprising, investigations have made little progress.”
Rosas, in turn, said authorities were biased since “many of the same officials who are alleged to have committed human rights violations are still, to this day, in their posts in charge of controlling the protests.” Reforms are needed to confront this bias, she said.
Chile’s government has previously come under fire for human rights violations by the UN and other organizations.
Amnesty International also launched a report on police accountability across the Americas. Chile is implicated too as a country were police routinely violates human rights. It outlines measures that would help tackle these violations and introduce accountability.
The adjoining report is available here.
Emmanuela is an International Relations and Modern Languages student from the Univeristy of East Anglia. Human Rights is of key interest to her as are culture, politics and sports.