MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th December, 2019) Chile's National Human Rights Institute published a report on Monday documenting the use of torture, sexual violence and other abuse by police during two months of anti-government protests.
"The report confirms repeated behaviors among uniformed police, such as indiscriminate use of riot suppression gear, undressing..., torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading practices as well as indiscriminate use of force against peaceful protesters," the summary reads.
The brutality of Chilean police was condemned soon after protests over a hike in subway fairs broke out in the Andean nation in mid-October. The demonstrations morphed into a general outcry over economic grievances, while some devolved into arson and looting and prompted clashes with police.
The Santiago-based rights monitor said that an increase in the number of protests was mirrored by the rise in the cases of abuse by police, contradicting the head of Carabineros, who said that human rights violations were isolated cases.
"Numbers speak for themselves. We are talking about 120 legal actions. We are having a situation where human rights are seriously violated," the institute's director was quoted as saying in the report. He added that his organization had seen police intervene in rallies staged by families.
The report estimates that 8,492 people had been detained during months of street clashes, including 1,013 minors. There were 20 murder attempts, 586 instances of torture and humiliation, including six attempted rapes and 135 cases of torture with sexual connotation. More than 3,000 people were injured by police officers, 347 received eye trauma.
