The Chamber of Deputies and Deputies approved and dispatched the Naín Retamal Law, a measure that seeks to strengthen and protect the exercise of the police and Gendarmerie functions. This, as a result of the murder of the second sergeant of the Carabineros, Rita Olivares.
Specifically, the initiative was endorsed in general with 137 votes in favour, 2 against and 2 abstentions. In this way, the project will be dispatched to law. There were almost 10 days of processing, where objections were registered from various sectors, and even led to a pronouncement from different international organizations, who warned that the measure did not comply with international human rights law.
Among those who voted negatively are the deputies Félix González (Ecologist) and Claudia Mix (Comunes). Meanwhile, those who abstained were the parliamentarians Andrés Giordano (IND-FA) and Pamela Jiles (PH).
In the midst of the debate, the Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, stated that “in order for the police to belong to everyone, we have to be clear about what rules they have to abide by, because we are giving them the monopoly of force, and not for just anything It has to have a shared objective and limits. The support that is being delivered needs an agreement on what is required of the police regarding the limits of action.”
It should be noted that in total there were 18 votes in particular requested by parliamentarians Lorena Fries (CS), Maite Orsini (RD), Boris Barrera (PC) and Benjamín Moreno (Republicans). All the votes in particular had the support of the Lower House.
However, the vote that generated the moment of greatest tension in the chamber was on article 7 of the project, which establishes the “privileged legitimate defense” of the Carabineros, the Investigative Police (PDI), the Gendarmerie and the Armed Forces. In any case, it was endorsed with 87 votes in favor, 51 against and 3 abstentions.
Thus, the indication was stipulated as follows:
“It will be legally presumed that the circumstances provided for in numbers 4, 5 and 6 in this article (privileged legitimate defense) concur, with respect to the Public Order and Security Forces, Gendarmerie, the Armed Forces and the services under their dependence, when they carry out functions of public order and internal public security. In such cases, it will be understood that the rational use of the means used is concurred if, due to his position or due to and on the occasion of the fulfillment of functions of protection of public order and internal public security, he repels or prevents an attack that could seriously affect his integrity. physical or his life or that of a third party, using weapons or any other means of defense”holds the indication.
After the approval of the bill, representative Andrés Longton (RN) celebrated that now “more powers are given to the police and not only is hope returned to Chilean families and the families of the martyrs. Everyone will be able to see with hope that our police will be able to act with the political and legal confidence they deserve”.
From the other side of the road, the representative of the Communist Party (PC), Boris Barrera, announced that they will resort to the Constitutional Court (TC), since in his opinion “nothing is going to change with this law, don’t let them fool us.”
“The problem here is against organized crime, against drug traffickers, against those who have weapons. We have to strengthen intelligence, we have to improve the police more to be able to attack this organized crime before it confronts the Carabineros,” whipped.
“That is why we are going to resort to the Constitutional Court, because there are articles that have given us alerts from all sectors, that this puts people and also the institution (Carabineros) at risk,” concluded Parliamentarian Barrera.
