UN requests investigations for police repression in Chile

The UN representative for South America asked the authorities to review the causes that generate conflicts.

The Office for South America of the High Commissioner of the United Nations Organization for Human Rights on Monday asked the Chilean authorities to investigate the acts of repression that took place on October 2 at the Pío Nono bridge in Santiago de Chile.

#Chile🇨🇱@ONU_derechos llamó a una investigación exhaustiva de los hechos ocurridos el pasado 2 de octubre en el puente Pío Nono (Santiago), que resultaron en lesiones graves de un adolescente de 16 años.

ℹ️Entérate: https://t.co/UJ4547oweK #DefiendeLosDerechosHumanos pic.twitter.com/iJh2ACjCOD

— ONU Derechos Humanos – América del Sur (@ONU_derechos) October 5, 2020

The request comes after a police officer threw a 16-year-old from the top of the Pío Nono bridge until he fell on the banks of the Mapocho River, an action that left the teenager seriously injured.

Un joven de 16 años que participaba en una protesta en #Chile resultó herido grave al caer 7 metros al río Mapocho luego de que un carabinero lo empujara. @ONU_derechos denuncia que el caso se suma a una extensa lista de violaciones de derechos humanohttps://t.co/5b9LRM0697

— Noticias ONU (@NoticiasONU) October 5, 2020

“For the Office it is necessary to investigate and, if necessary, judge and punish not only the individual responsibility of the Carabineros official directly involved, but also investigate the possible responsibility of the commanders in charge of the operation (…) the omission is worrying of assistance from the Carabineros to the victim, who had to be assisted by other protesters and civilian rescue workers, “the Office indicates.

In his statement, the representative of the Office of the multilateral organization in South America, Jan Jarab, pointed out that he is concerned about the hostile actions of the police authorities of the southern country

“The continuous and unconditional support to the forces of order and security is concerned, because they are repeated behaviors. I call for the patterns to be identified and the causes that favor these behaviors to be analyzed ”, he added.

“A profound reform of the forces of order and security is needed, which has as pillars the professionalization of its agents, training in human rights, subordination to civil authority and especially, accountability mechanisms at all levels,” said Jarab.

Finally, the UN representative for South America asked all police and political authorities to review the causes that generate confrontations in the population

“It is necessary to address the structural causes of conflict in society, such as socioeconomic inequality and inequity. The State must protect the human rights of all people in conditions of equality and non-discrimination, “he concluded.