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The first anniversary of the social outbreak of October 18 is approaching, a date on which the image of the Carabineros de Chile was heavily tarnished, following complaints from various organizations for serious human rights violations.
Although various investigations and internal investigations have been carried out to determine the responsibility of members of the uniformed police in the events that occurred from October 18 onwards, there is an edge that – until now – was unknown, and that is being investigated by the Comptroller’s Office General of the Republic.
According to details revealed by the Research Unit of Radio Bío Bío, the Comptroller’s Office filed charges against seven active generals of the High Command of the institution, for their administrative responsibility.
Those investigated are: the general inspector, Ricardo Yáñez Reveco, current National Director of Order and Security; Inspector General Jorge Valenzuela Hernández, National Director of Support for Police Operations; Mauricio Rodríguez Rodríguez, Head of the Metropolitan Area; Enrique Bassaletti Riess, Head of the Santiago East Zone; Enrique Monrás Álvarez, Santiago Oeste Zone Manager; Hugo Zenteno Vásquez, Chief V Zone Valparaíso; and Jean Camus Dávila, Director of Logistics.
The decision of the controlling entity to file charges against these seven generals of the uniformed police has to do with an administrative summary that until now is secret, which is directed by the Institutional Prosecutor’s Office, and which began after several anonymous complaints from individuals and foreign human rights organizations to determine the responsibility of the High Command, said the aforementioned media.
The comptroller body considered that – taking into account the actions of the uniformed men during the social outbreak – the High Command would not have guaranteed compliance with the protocols for the use of force.
The Comptroller’s investigation
The summary is currently in the charging stage. This implies that the defendants may respond to these. Later comes the “fiscal hearing”, in which the Comptroller’s Office will evaluate the responses and propose sanctions to the general director of the Carabineros, Mario Rozas, which will have to be confirmed or rejected by President Sebastián Piñera.
In recent weeks, the Comptroller’s Office separately summoned each of the High Command generals to testify. The objective of this diligence was to find out what knowledge they had of the police processes that took place as of October 18.
In addition, this investigation is parallel to that being carried out by the Public Ministry against Carabineros officials, many of whom have been dismissed for crimes related to human rights violations.
Remezón in La Moneda
The investigation carried out by the controlling entity generated a real shaking not only in the police institution, but also in the Palacio de la Moneda.
On the other hand, police sources indicated to Bío Bío that in criminal, civil and administrative terms, “a general does not have command responsibility since they fulfill a strategic and non-operational role.” In that sense, they explained that for a general who is in charge of 14,000 soldiers, it is impossible to know how the operations are carried out.
So far, the uniformed police have not publicly referred to this investigation. However, it is known that the general director Mario Rozas assumed that the defense of these officers will be institutional. Weeks ago the issue was discussed with lawyers and it is not ruled out that the meetings will continue during this day.
In addition, for the Public Ministry, the formulation of charges made by the Comptroller’s Office will be very useful. The administrative responsibilities determined by the supervisory body may be used as support in criminal matters.
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