SANTIAGO – The public ministry has announced that the number of human rights abuse complaints has increased to 5,558. This announcement comes the same day the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights completed its report on human rights abuses. These two are the latest related to various investigations that are taking place in the country.
The number of complaints of human rights abuses allegedly committed by government agents between Oct. 18 and Nov. 30 has increased to 5,558. Most of the complaints come from adults, while 834 come from children, both male and female. Of these complaints, 4,158 accuse state officials of illegitimate constraints, 1,938 allege injuries caused by firearms, 285 allege ocular damage, and 134 claim torture.
Regarding alleged sex abuse, 192 accuse state officials of making them strip naked, 67 accuse them of rape or other sexual misconduct, and 15 report threats of a sexual nature.
Of the 5,558 complaints, 4,170 are against the Chilean national police force, with 294 individual officers identified. The other institutions named in the report are the Chilean Army, with 244 complaints; Chile’s “Investigations Police,” PDI, with 96; and the remaining 27 point to the Chilean Navy. As of this writing, 38 state officials have been prosecuted for crimes.
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IACHR report
On the same day that the public ministry announced the new numbers, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) announced its conclusions from its visit to Chile, presented recommendations to the Chilean state, and announced that in the coming months it would publish its final report.
The IACHR thanked the Chilean state for allowing international visitors to monitor the current situation in Chile, however it also criticized the state’s repression of what it considered peaceful protests. The commission also urged the government to investigate every human rights abuse accusation as well as to listen to the demands of the protests, which the commission found to be legitimate.
Some measures that the commission suggested include:
- Creating a government body to regulate the police,
- Creating programs to help those who have suffered ocular damage, and
- Discarding the newly-created laws that might criminalize the act of protesting.
Diego Rivera is currently a senior in University, finishing up his audiovisual degree. You can find him on Twitter as @Piover45.