Police brutally cracked down on protesters in the capital, Santiago, less than a month before Chile voted on whether to change its Pinochet-era constitution.
On Friday evening, Carabineros police officers used the plumes of teargas and high-pressure water jets to disperse protesters gathered at Plaza Italia, where pockets of violence erupted amid heavy police presence.
The video shows a 16-year-old boy being bundled on the railing of a bridge by a police officer. The boy fell into the dirty concrete channel of the Mapocho River, where he fell face down into the scattered water.
“As the protesters fled, we saw the moment the officer stopped [the boy] “And threw him off the bridge,” said Pavel Pavlik Joffrey, who led a company of volunteers in protest.
“We managed to take our two groups down to help him, and after his condition stabilized, the fire brigade helped take him from the river to the hospital.”
Addressing the incident in a televised address, Carabinieri’s spokesman, General Enrique Monres, did not deny the group’s responsibility for what happened, but said that, in his opinion, the boy “lost his balance” during the arrest.
He said the force had its own set of videos that acquitted him, though he did not say what he showed.
The boy was said to be in a stable condition at the Santa Maria Clinic, a short distance from where the incident took place.
As images began to spill over on social media, carabinieri faced new pressures to work on a culture that imagined brutality.
Opposition politicians have called for the beleagured PM to resign following allegations of human rights abuses.
Since October last year, Chile has been rocked by a wave of mass protests against inequality and systemic injustice. The forthcoming police action has been condemned internationally.
Chile’s public prosecutor says there have been 8,575 alleged human rights violations by Carabinieri since last October, and that only 16 police agents are on the run.
A series of cabinet reshuffles since the demonstrations began, with three men taking charge of the home ministry one after the other, despite police retaining government support despite numerous allegations against them.
Many international missions, including a delegation sent by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, detailing a number of violations, including former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, alleged torture and sexual exploitation during protests.
Nevertheless, President Sebastian Pinera used his address to the UN General Assembly less than two weeks ago, calling for values such as respect for human rights around the world.
Chile’s constitutional referendum will be held on October 25. Following the recent scandal surrounding carabiners, there were calls on social media for more protests over the weekend.
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