CORONEL – Four minors have been taken to the hospital on Saturday after eating glass in the Internment Center of Sename in Coronel in the Bíobío region. The children broke a light tube and were sent immediately to the hospital after their action. Although the reason behind their desperate action is still being investigated, sources involved believe it is out of protest against the slow advance of their juridical cases.
In a desperate protest against the slow advance of their cases in the Chilean judiciary, four minors in Sename in Coronel in the Bíobío region ate glass on Saturday, causing all four to be transferred to the local hospital. After staying there for one night under observation, they were sent to the Internment Center the next day.
Sename is the Spanish abbreviation for National Service for Minors and is a state organization regulates adoptions. Children in Sename often come from dysfunctional families, sometimes because of alcohol and drugs abuse. In other cases, officials take children out of their homes because of sexual abuse or domestic violence.
Controversy at Sename: 1313 deaths in 11 year
Over the last couple of years, the internment centers of Sename have been making headlines with shocking reports about the numerous deaths of minors. In 2016, an 11-year-old girl died in Sename center in Santiago of cardiac arrest. The death was explained by Sename as being due to traumas over sexual abuse. An independent investigation performed by the Chilean Department of Justice held Sename responsible.
Following the death of the 11-year-old, an extensive investigation was launched, looking at all internment centers of Sename in Chile, and the conditions of minors held there. The shocking outcome of the report, presented in 2017, showed that over the last 11 years, 1313 children had died inside the walls of the internment centers, or at organizations connected to Sename.
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Editor-In-Chief Boris van der Spek is the founder of Chile Today.