By Sebastian Silva
Santiago de Chile (BLAZETRENDS).- The concept of “privileged legitimate defense”, which the UN asks to reform since it does not respect human rights by eliminating proportionality, avoids the necessary debate in Chile on the unavoidable reform of the Carabineros, a discredited body and without adequate training to address the new security challenges facing the country, experts warn BLAZETRENDS.
The concept, which broadens the Police’s ability to maneuver in the use of firearms and at the same time reduces the assumption of responsibilities, has been promoted by the opposition in Congress amid mourning and public sorrow for the death of two police officers in two routine procedures.
On Monday, the Government withdrew from the vote scheduled for this Tuesday in the Senate, understanding that the law does not conform to those international standards and that the debate must be calmer to reach a balance that allows a more effective fight but also guarantees in the fight against crime.
Present in the laws of countries such as Costa Rica, Colombia, Uruguay and Spain, the privileged defense also causes divisions within the government coalition, whose objective is to incorporate indications into the senatorial debate using already existing articles in the Code of Military Justice.
Contrary to international standards
According to American Amnesty International (AI) consultant, former explosive ordnance disposal officer and Iraq war veteran Brian Castner, the presumption of legal firearm use is “deeply problematic and contrary to the Basic Principles on the Use of Firearms”. of the United Nations Force.
“Those principles state that law enforcement should use non-violent means as much as possible and that firearms can only be used in extreme circumstances, to avoid death or serious injury. There is no presumption that any use of a weapon is, by definition, in self-defense,” the specialist explained to BLAZETRENDS.
Even more emphatically, Castner points out that “there should be no presumptions at all. When a law enforcement officer discharges a firearm, an impartial investigation must be conducted to determine whether or not the use of force was lawful, without bias.”
A “wrong” discussion
The Chilean Penal Code already stipulates the grounds that exempt the Police from liability when using their regulation weapon in the line of duty, in the same way as when a civilian defends himself against certain risk situations.
“In Chile we do not need to review comparative legislation on this issue. We need to regulate the use of force, if it is lawful, necessary and with what magnitude”, the Chilean lawyer and expert in human rights and police function, Daniel Soto, stressed to BLAZETRENDS.
“When these three events are resolved, we can measure police performance,” emphasizes Soto, who retired from the Carabineros with the rank of colonel.
In his opinion, the debate “is wrong” because “we run the risk of endorsing the disproportionality in the use of force. You can’t start from the assumption that the policeman did it right. For the police to work they must be controlled,” he added.
Training and legitimacy
For Soto, support for the police must work to the extent that there is adequate control of the institution and its protocols.
“The police should not feel threatened by that control or supervision. Carabineros have tools to fight crime, what is lacking is training and legitimacy, ”he insisted.
Although for years it appeared as one of the institutions with the highest citizen approval, Carabineros de Chile is stained with one of the most serious cases of corruption in Chile.
It has also been accused by international organizations of violating human rights, especially during the repression of the 2019 protests in which some thirty people died and hundreds were injured.
“It seems to me that there is a lack of professionalism when controls are seen as a threat. The strongest are those that should be put by the organization itself. Let’s look at the international standard, it establishes limits and protections for the police,” Soto pointed out.
A reform that does not arrive
From AI Chile they are emphatic in pointing out that this law would mean “some type of impunity when there are excesses.”
“This new legislation does not help to face the security problems that Chile has. We should have a profound reform of the police system, review its military character that is not consistent with a democratic police force”, the director of AI Chile, Rodrigo Bustos, told BLAZETRENDS.
“We must establish more robust standards of accountability. Advance in police training that is better and that lasts longer. It seems that he was looking for some kind of impunity in the event that the law is violated or that Human Rights are violated, ”he added.