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In the framework of the investigation into a complaint against him for crimes committed against civilians during the social outbreak, the former Minister of the Interior, Gonzalo Blumel, testified on November 17 before the Valparaíso regional prosecutor, Claudia Perivancich, and the persecutor Claudio Rebeco, to deliver his version.
Blumel’s statement is key, since he was the authority that was in charge during practically the entire period of protests. He assumed office on October 28, 2019, replacing Andrés Chadwick, and left the cabinet on July 28, leaving his position in the hands of Víctor Pérez.
According to what was reported by Emol, the Prosecutor’s Office asked the former chief of staff directly “if the Ministry of the Interior promoted actions to promote awareness and training of Carabineros officials about this new regulation (circular 1.832 on proportional use of force).”
Given this, Blumel replied that “since these regulations were issued, actions have been carried out to publicize the new regulation among Carabineros officials. On October 29, recently assumed as Minister of the Interior, I met with the police -Carabineros and the PDI – reinforcing, from the Government, the need to strictly comply with the rules of the use of force, respecting individual guarantees “.
“We tried to comply with the first requirement of the director of the NHRI who publicly requested compliance with these protocols. Furthermore, the issue of human rights violations in the country had been installed in the debate. In fact, on November 5, 2019, by official letter, I asked the director of the INDH for details of the complaints filed in order to have detailed information that would allow us to adopt preventive measures, “he added.
The former minister also referred to the actions of the Carabineros during the days of the social crisis. He explained that the meetings were held in person, by videoconference or “through instructions given from the high command” downwards.
Another question he had to answer was: “What intervention did the President of the Republic in particular have at this level of coordination, in the same period?” The former Secretary of State replied that “the President as Head of State obviously held meetings with the high command to reinforce the same guidelines: to restore public order in accordance with protocols and respect for individual rights.”
However, he ruled out that the Government had any type of intervention at a strategic or operational level, insisting that they were only coordination meetings and that technical competence corresponded to the police. “There was no intervention in the design of the public order control strategies, because I insist that it is a matter of technical competence of the police. Only coordination meetings.”
However, he admitted that one of the requests made by the Executive to the Carabineros was “to increase the operative personnel and accordingly the Carabineros advanced the discharge of operative personnel from their training schools.” And he added that he did “the same with regard to the acquisition of water tanks, tactical reaction vehicles, training, retraining, etc.”.
Carabineros responsibility
The Prosecutor’s Office is also investigating the responsibility of command in the Carabineros. In this sense, the former minister Blumel was asked if said responsibilities were evaluated, regarding the proportional use of force, to which he replied that “yes, by the way there were evaluations regarding the responsibility of the high command of the Carabineros.”
“This evaluation was made between the Minister of the Interior, the Undersecretary of the Interior and a proposal was made to the President of the Republic to introduce changes in two neuralgic areas: Special Forces and Intelligence. In fact, on December 11, 2019, I announced the change in the operating structure of the Armed Forces, which depended on General Jorge Ávila and General Rodrigo Ramos, Director of Planning and Development, who was in charge of the police intelligence, two sensitive areas in the context of the social outbreak. two other generals have retired due to other circumstances, “he said.
Regarding the decision to keep the then general director of the Carabineros, Mario Rozas and General Ricardo Yáñez, then deputy director of the institution, in their positions, Blumel replied: “because they had been in their positions for less than a year and both were committed to the project. of modernization and reform of the Carabineros, which is a fundamental political objective of the Government. Furthermore, in the previous year 40 generals of the high command had retired. “
Victims of the social outbreak
Regarding victims of the social outbreak at the hands of State agents, the former minister said that “I only have knowledge from the complaints and information from the NHRI. In some serious cases and of public connotation as the Ministry of the Interior we request information from the Carabineros and We asked to adopt disciplinary measures and deliver the respective information to the Public Ministry. I also met personally on several occasions with María Eugenia Manaud and Juan Antonio Peribonio, (councilor and president of the CDE, respectively), with whom we agreed that in more serious cases the Criminal action by the State, as the complainant, was brought by the CDE against the police officer involved. This happened, for example, in the case of Fabiola Campillay. “
When asked about the complaints that have been filed for crimes against humanity at the hands of State agents, he said that “under no point of view did I warn within the Carabineros the design of a plan or policy to repress the protesters at all event, regardless of the consequences. Carabineros was deeply overworked. Carabineros had not faced anything like this in the last three decades. According to reports I received there were more than 1200 serious public order events in the first 100 days, 93 subway stations vandalized ” .
“In the midst of this unusual street violence, it became very difficult to control public order and the need to make a profound reform to the Carabineros became evident, but in no case can I share the idea of a policy, plan or concert to harm the police. In December, a council for the reform of the Carabineros was convened, with the participation of prominent human rights figures, “he closed.
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