Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment In the early years of the 21st Century, 2000 to
2025 gvnet.com/torture/Chile.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Chile. Some of these links may lead to websites
that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No
attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on this
page and others to see which aspects of Torture by Authorities are of
particular interest to you. You might
be interested in exploring the moral justification for inflicting pain or
inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment in order to obtain critical
information that may save countless lives, or to elicit a confession for a
criminal act, or to punish someone to teach him a lesson outside of the
courtroom. Perhaps your paper might
focus on some of the methods of torture, like fear, extreme temperatures,
starvation, thirst, sleep deprivation, suffocation, or immersion in freezing
water. On the other hand, you might
choose to write about the people acting in an official capacity who
perpetrate such cruelty. There is a
lot to the subject of Torture by Authorities.
Scan other countries as well as this one. Draw comparisons between activity in
adjacent countries and/or regions.
Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper
resources that are available on-line. ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Chile U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/chile/
[accessed 7 July
2021] TORTURE AND OTHER
CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT Although the
constitution and law prohibit such practices, there were reports of excessive
force, abuse, and degrading treatment by law enforcement officers. Since
widespread protests and civil unrest that began in 2019 and continued into January
and February, the INDH filed nearly 2,500 criminal accusations that law
enforcement officials committed acts of torture or cruel treatment during
detention of protesters or criminal arrests, including accusations of sexual
abuse or assault. In July the National Prosecutor’s Office announced it had
received more than 8,800 allegations of abuse by security forces between
October 18, 2019, and March 31. Of these, more than 1,000 allegations were
for abuse of minors and nearly 400 for sexual violence. As of October the
National Prosecutor’s Office reported that 4,681 investigations remained open
and that it had formally charged 75 members of security forces and had
requested hearings to charge 22 more. Of those charged, one case had resulted
in a conviction by October. PRISON AND DETENTION
CENTER CONDITIONS According to the
INDH and other observers, conditions in some prisons were poor, due to
antiquated infrastructure, overcrowding, substandard sanitary infrastructure,
and inadequate water supplies. Human rights organizations reported that
violence, including torture, occurred, as well as an entrenched practice of
unsanctioned punishment. Freedom House
Country Report 2018 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/chile/freedom-world/2018 [accessed 11 May
2020] F3. IS THERE PROTECTION FROM THE ILLEGITIMATE
USE OF PHYSICAL FORCE AND FREEDOM FROM WAR AND INSURGENCIES? The government has developed
effective mechanisms to investigate and punish police abuses and corruption.
However, excessive force and human rights abuses committed by the carabineros still occur. Chile:
Police Investigate 'Torture' Of Two Ecuadorean Prisoners teleshur, 26 June 2018 www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Chile-Police-Investigate-Torture-Of-Two-Ecuadorean-Prisoners-20180621-0019.html [accessed 26 June
2018] A viral video
showing two Ecuadoreans being tortured in a Chilean prison has drawn national
attention and garnered harsh criticism from state authorities on Thursday. Police at a
Santiago jail were recorded torturing two Ecuadorean men, Christian R. and
Jonathan C., charged with the murder of Margarita Ancacoy,
a cleaning lady at the University of Chile. The Ecuadoreans
were beaten, tortured with electroshock instruments and forced to apologize
to their victim's family. Together with two 20-year-olds, Diego T. and Olguer O., the men attempted to rob Ancacoy
while she was leaving work and beat the woman to death. Justice Minister
Hernan Larrain wrote on his Twitter account:
"What happened to the two Ecuadoreans in the penitentiary, accused of
murdering a woman, is unacceptable; justice is
applied by judges and torture is an atrocious practice." How
I survived Chile's torture commune run by Pinochet's paedophile
Nazi pal Emma Pietras, The Daily Mirror, 5 Jul 2016 www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/how-survived-chiles-torture-commune-8357695 [accessed 21 August
2016] Blindfolded and
strapped to a bed in an underground tunnel, the prisoner braces himself,
knowing there will be no escape from the agonising
electric shocks about to be inflicted. This harrowing
torture scene features in Emma Watson’s new film The Colony. But what makes
it even more disturbing is that it is no work of Hollywood fiction. Erick Zott Chuecas lived through the ordeal
when he was kidnapped in the aftermath of Chile’s 1973 military coup. While Erick
suffered many different types of torture ,
electricity was used most often. He
says: “They put it all over my body, in my head, in my mouth. I’m not able to
say how many times they did it exactly, but they did it a lot of the time –
it was the way it was. “Whatever
opportunity they had, they would use this form of torture. “It was terrible.
As a human being we have natural defences, but each
time it happened my body would completely break down, it would go into shock.
But in these moments the biggest motivation was to keep on living.” An estimated 45,000
people were rounded up, interrogated and tortured in Chile. Torture
in Chile International
Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (irct) Developed in
collaboration with the Centre for Mental Health and Human Rights (CINTRAS),
August 2014 www.irct.org/Admin/Public/DWSDownload.aspx?File=%2fFiles%2fFiler%2fpublications%2fCountry+factsheets%2fCF+Chile+-+PUBLIC+EDIT+pdf.pdf [accessed 23 June
2015] The general
situation of torture and rehabilitation in Chile is characterised
by poor public policies on matters of prevention, access to justice, the
right to full reparation and guarantees of non-repetition. Impunity for past and current violations
persists and those seeking access to the truth are silenced. Social protest is criminalised. Human
Rights Watch World Report 2015 - Events of 2014 Human Rights Watch,
29 January 2015 www.hrw.org/world-report/2015/...
or
www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/wr2015_web.pdf [accessed 18 March
2015] CHILE PRISON CONDITIONS - Many of Chile’s
prisons are grossly overcrowded and conditions remain poor despite government
reform efforts. A study of 44 prisons published in March 2014 by the INDH
reported beatings by prison guards, and high levels of inmate violence in
some prisons that resulted in 35 deaths from January to October 2012. Prisoners are often arbitrarily confined in
punishment cells without adequate light, ventilation, basic access to water,
sanitation, and hygiene, or medical attention. On her retirement in 2014, a
Supreme Court official responsible for monitoring prison conditions described
this practice as “flagrant cruel and inhuman treatment.” TORTURE - Cases of torture
continue to be reported and impunity is common. Between 2011 and August 2014,
the INDH filed 33 complaints of torture with the courts—16 for acts allegedly
committed by Carabineros, 10 by prison guards, and
7 by the Investigations Police (PDI). Amnesty
International: ‘Torture in Chile not a thing of the past’ Paul Carlsen, The Santiago Times, Jun 26th, 2014 santiagotimes.cl/2014/06/26/amnesty-international-torture-chile-thing-past/ [accessed 21 August
2] “Torture in Chile
is not a thing of the past, it is a current topic and it is necessary to take
action today,” Ana Piquer, executive director of
Amnesty International Chile told The Santiago Times According to the
2013 annual report by the National Institute of Human Rights (INDH), torture
remains a problem in Chile, something compounded by what the organization
describes as, “normative deficiencies and which allow the use of practices
considered as torture.” The INDH notes that
certain acts considered torture are not defined as such in Chilean law. Two
offences do, however, cover the internationally accepted definition of
torture — unnecessary violence and unwarrented
arrest — but national law also dictates that any charges of these counts
brought against police be heard at a military tribunal. This, the INDH report
suggests, violates the right to due process and an impartial judge. Conclusions and
recommendations of the Committee against Torture U.N. Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment -- Doc. CAT/C/CHL/CO/5 (2009) www1.umn.edu/humanrts/cat/observations/chile2009.html [accessed 24 February
2013] Allegations of
torture 13. The Committee
is concerned about continuing allegations that serious crimes have been
committed by on-duty police officers and regrets that efforts to publicize
such acts are subject to legal restrictions, which are a contributing factor
to the failure to punish such crimes (arts. 2 and 12). The Committee
recommends that the State party introduce legislative reforms relating to
supervision of the police force as soon as possible with a view to ensuring
that no action on the part of the police force that is contrary to the
Convention goes unpunished and that the investigations of such acts are
effective and transparent. The State party should reinforce educational programmes in order to ensure that all law enforcement
personnel are fully aware of the provisions of the Convention. The Committee also
recommends that the State party continue to expedite the measures required
for the creation of the Ministry of Public Security, which would oversee the Carabineros and the Investigative Police Force. Impunity 19. The Committee
is concerned at the continuing impunity of those who perpetrated the crime of
torture under the dictatorship and at the fact that suitable measures have
not been taken to prosecute and sentence them (arts. 2 and 12). The State party
should take the necessary steps to investigate, prosecute and impose
appropriate punishments on those who have committed human rights violations,
including torture. The Committee urges the State party to provide the courts
with all relevant information at its disposal in order to help them
administer justice. The Committee also urges the State party to repeal the
provision contained in Act No. 19.992 under which information on the practice
of torture during the dictatorship is to remain classified for 50 years. Human Rights in
Chile Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org/node/106217 [accessed 22 January
2013] Chile has made
positive reforms to its counterterrorism law and military justice
system. Nonetheless, while military
courts no longer exercise jurisdiction over civilians, they continue to try
police accused of human rights abuses. The Piñera
administration has not pressed “terrorism” charges against indigenous
protesters, but some prosecutors charge them under the counterterrorism law
for actions that should be considered common crimes. The government took
some important steps to remedy overcrowding and inhumane conditions in
Chilean prisons, but prison conditions remain a problem. Most recorded cases
of extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances committed during
military rule (1973-1990) have been heard in court or are under judicial
investigation. AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL From an old article -- URL not available Article was
published sometime prior to 2015 IMPUNITY In August, the Valech II Commission issued a report confirming five
additional cases of enforced disappearance, 25 political killings and 9,795
cases of torture. The commission had been established in 2010 to assess cases
of enforced disappearance, political killings, political imprisonment and
torture that had not been presented to the Rettig
and Valech Commissions. By the end of the year, the
total number of people officially recognized as disappeared or killed between
1973 and 1990 stood at 3,216 and survivors of political imprisonment and/or
torture at 38,254. The number of cases
of human rights violations under investigation by the courts rose to its
highest level yet following the submission in January by a court prosecutor
of 726 new criminal complaints and more than 1,000 complaints filed over the
years by relatives of those executed on political grounds. According to the
Interior Ministry Human Rights Programme, as of May
there were 1,446 ongoing investigations. Between 2000 and the end of May
2011, 773 former members of the security forces had been charged or sentenced
for human rights violations and 245 had had final sentences confirmed.
However, only 66 were in prison, the rest having benefited from non-custodial
sentences or sentences that were later reduced or commuted. POLICE AND SECURITY
FORCES There were several
reports of torture and other ill-treatment, including beatings and threats of
sexual violence, against students arbitrarily detained by police during
student demonstrations. In August,
16-year-old Manuel Gutiérrez Reinoso died after
being shot by a police officer during student demonstrations in the capital
Santiago. Five police officers were subsequently dismissed and a police
general resigned. In November, the military appeals court ordered the release
on bail of the policeman accused of the shooting. There were renewed
reports of excessive use of force during police operations against Mapuche communities. Search … AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL For current
articles:: Search Amnesty
International Website www.amnesty.org/en/search/?q=chile+torture&ref=&year=&lang=en&adv=1&sort=relevance [accessed 25 December
2018] Scroll
Down ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, March 8, 2006 www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61720.htm [accessed 22 January
2013] 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61720.htm [accessed 3 July
2019] TORTURE
AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT – Although the law
prohibits such practices, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) still received
isolated reports of abuse and mistreatment by the Carabineros,
the Investigations Police (PICH), and prison guards. Few reports of
abuse or mistreatment led to convictions. Cases of military and police abuse
typically were processed in military rather than civilian courts (see section
1.e.). On July 19, three
officers in the Gendarmeria were indicted in a
court of first instance in Colinas, Santiago, for a 2002 incident in which
two prisoners suffered hearing loss due to alleged mistreatment at a
high-security cellblock in the Colinas II prison. No further information was
available. Freedom House
Country Report - Political Rights: 1 Civil Liberties: 1 Status: Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/chile [accessed 22 January
2013] LONG URL
ç 2009 Country Reports begin on Page 21 [accessed 11 May
2020] The Truth and
Reconciliation Commission was formed in 1990 to investigate human rights
violations committed under military rule. Its report implicated the military
and secret police leadership in the deaths or forced disappearances of 2,279
people between 1973 and 1990. Chilean courts convicted several former
military officers of heinous crimes, ruling that a 1978 amnesty decree was
inapplicable in cases of forced disappearance. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this
webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, " Torture by Police, Forced
Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment in the early years of the 21st
Century- Chile", http://gvnet.com/torture/Chile.htm, [accessed
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