23 Dead and 1,300 Wounded: Repression Continues in Chile

The Center for Public Safety Studies (CESC) of the Institute of Public Affairs of the University of Chile published an infographic on Twitter on Thursday with the six procedures established by the police protocol for the maintenance of public order during demonstrations.

After half a month of anti-government protests in the Andean country, 23 dead and more than 1,300 injured have already been counted, which is raising voices of protest in the political class that question whether the riot police and the army actually act according to the established norms. These are the key points of the official regulation:

Dispersion techniques

First, the protocol states that demonstrations are “legal” as long as “they do not produce damage to property and / or authority is not assaulted” That is, riot police can only use their force “in a differentiated and gradual manner” if the demonstration is forbidden by the authorities to “stop violators of law or disperse meetings that severely affect living together.”

They also highlight that the use of force is “the last resort” and should be limited, so it urges the police to not act in case of verbal or gestural provocations by protesters. It also advises that police vehicles circulate carefully to “avoid collisions, damage or abuses.”

In the case of water cannons, it is recommended to use them only to deter specific groups of people who disobey police instructions, to avoid “injuries to people” against which the action is directed. Along the same lines, it is indicated that the tear gas will only be used if the water has not dispersed the protesters to “achieve a defined visual and psychological objective”, paying special attention to whether there are hospitals, schools or nurseries nearby.