Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said on Thursday that police may have broken protocols in responding to a month of protests, and prosecutors will investigate whether they violated human rights.
His comments came after Amnesty International released a report denouncing a "deliberate policy" of wounding protesters during the unrest that broke out last month and has so far resulted in 22 deaths.
"If those protocols were not met, and I think it is possible that in some cases they were not met, that will be investigated by the prosecutor's office and will be sanctioned by the courts of justice," Pinera said in a meeting with foreign media.
'Unnecessary and excessive force'
The prosecutor's office reported that from October 31, around 1,089 criminal investigations have been opened into allegations of police violence, 24 for alleged instances of torture and nine for cases of alleged sexual abuse or rape.
Pinera has previously condemned what he said were abuses committed by police, and promised "there will be no impunity" for both protesters and security forces.
Chile's police had on Tuesday announced they would suspend the use of birdshot against protesters, following an outcry over the more than 200 demonstrators who have suffered eye injuries.
The Amnesty report released Thursday said Chilean security forces are "carrying out widespread attacks using unnecessary and excessive force with the intention of injuring and punishing protesters."
"The intention of the Chilean security forces is clear: to injure demonstrators in order to discourage protest, even to the extent of using torture and sexual violence against protesters," Amnesty's Americas director Erika Guevara-Rosas said in a statement.
Bütün xəbərlər Facebook səhifəmizdə
USD
EUR
GBP
RUB