CAT/C/CHL/CO/6
2013 deaths of the Luchsinger-Mackay couple despite having reported being tortured into
confessing (art. 15).
21.
The State party should take effective measures to ensure that confessions and
statements obtained under torture or ill-treatment are not admitted into evidence in
practice, except when they are used as evidence against a person accused of
committing torture. It should also expand the training programmes for judges and
prosecutors so that they can detect and effectively investigate all complaints of torture
and ill-treatment and, in particular, it should strengthen institutional capacity to
enable them to reject statements obtained under torture.
Police brutality and excessive use of force
22.
The Committee is concerned by the many cases of police brutality and excessive use
of force by the security forces against demonstrators during the reporting period. It is also
concerned about consistent reports of ill-treatment against detained demonstrators, of police
brutality against members of the Mapuche people in the context of evictions and raids in
their communities and of acts of sexual violence by the police against women and girls
during student protests. According to data provided by the State party in its report, between
2010 and mid-2015, 732 alleged cases of excessive use of force by Carabineros (police)
were investigated, of which 392 were referred to the courts and 137 led to disciplinary
sanctions. According to the additional information provided by the delegation, in 2017
disciplinary sanctions were imposed on 34 Carabineros and a further 20 cases are being
processed. The investigative police has pursued 36 administrative proceedings since 2010
(27 administrative inquiries and 9 pretrial proceedings). The Committee regrets that it has
not received complete information in this regard and notes that, although the State party
indicated that the administrative investigations into cases of police brutality have led to
legal action, it has not provided information on the number of trials, the sentences or the
criminal and/or disciplinary sanctions imposed in cases of excessive use of force during the
reporting period. The Committee is further concerned that complaints of police brutality
continue to be referred for preliminary investigation to units that are part of the same
institution as the alleged perpetrators. Lastly, the Committee notes the succinct information
provided by the State party on the investigation and subsequent trial before the military
court in connection with the deaths of José Facundo Mendoza Collio and Manuel Gutiérrez
(arts. 2, 12, 13 and 16).
23.
The State party should:
(a)
Ensure that all complaints of excessive use of force by law enforcement
and security personnel are subject to a prompt, impartial and effective investigation,
that the alleged perpetrators are prosecuted and, if found guilty, are punished in
accordance with the seriousness of their actions and that victims receive appropriate
compensation;
(b)
Ensure that an independent organization carries out prompt and
impartial investigations into all complaints of excessive use of force and other forms of
police brutality and that the investigators do not have an institutional or hierarchical
relationship with the alleged perpetrators;
(c)
Step up efforts to systematically provide training to all law enforcement
officers on the use of force in the context of demonstrations, duly taking into account
the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials;
(d)
Compile detailed information on the number of complaints,
investigations, prosecutions, convictions and sentences handed down in cases of police
brutality and excessive use of force.
Complaints of sexual violence by the police against women and girls
24.
The Committee regrets not having received detailed information on the outcome of
the investigations into acts of sexual violence committed by the police against women and
girls during student protests over the course of the reporting period or on the resulting
prosecutions, convictions and sentences. Nevertheless, the Committee takes note of the bill
GE.18-14136
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