The vice president of the Senate and senator Francisco Huenchumilla (DC), referred to the detail of the project that seeks to delimit a Regulation of the Use of Force, entered this Monday to the Chamber of Deputies by the Executive, after the promulgation of the Naín Law -Retamal. In his opinion, the initiative “has the basics to protect people in a democratic standard (…) the detail can be discussed.”
In previous statements, the parliamentarian had expressed the importance of the Executive entering this initiative, because in his opinion the Naín-Retamal Law leaves “many open flanks” regarding the exercise of the right of self-defense by police officers.
Regarding this new project, the parliamentarian pointed out that “we are expecting to be able to debate it, with a sense of state, in Congress. But at first glance I see a rather robust project, which we can modify or improve with the agreement of the different sectors”, he stated.
The detail
The parliamentarian valued that the initiative presented by the Executive “in the first instance is well elaborated, because it does what the Naín-Retamal Law did not do: put itself in all the cases and situations that can occur in reality, when a police officer must use the strength,” he said.
In this sense, the parliamentarian appreciated that the project “defines the types of weapons, legal concepts such as compliance with duty or legitimate defense, in addition to the concept of the use of force and the principles that should govern it, such as the principles of legality , necessity, proportionality, rationality and responsibility”, highlighted the parliamentarian.
The legislator also highlighted that the initiative “clearly establishes the duties that the troops will fulfill when they have to use force as a last resort, introducing the prior duties of identification as police officers; the duty of warning that they will use a firearm; the duty of gradualness; the duty to minimize damage and injury; the prioritization of protecting third parties, or the duty to provide assistance in the event of having to use force, ”he explained.
“In addition, it is a project that mandates that police institutions provide their personnel with training and training in these matters, in order to ensure that the use of force, when there is no other remedy, will be carried out strictly in accordance with the defined principles, and In addition, with the proper equipment, another point that the law seeks to ensure”, the legislator reinforced.
“Flats” on human rights
On the other hand, the senator referred to the project as “the necessary complement that the Naín-Retamal Law must have, so that no sector questions that the right of police officers to defend themselves, in extreme cases, will be carried out without respecting the rights or under a ‘trigger easy’ logic, as some have feared”, said the parliamentarian.
In this sense, the legislator appreciated that the initiative “explicits floors on human rights, such as the prohibition of torture and cruel treatment; and clearly classifies the degrees of resistance or aggression that antisocials can exert and how to act against it”.
In this sense, the parliamentarian also appreciated that the bill regulates “matters such as the treatment of children and adolescents, and people in vulnerable situations. In short, everything we said that the Naín-Retamal Law should contain, or outline; and that it did not have it, because we legislated quickly, ”Huenchumilla insisted.
Finally, the legislator sent a political message: “I think that, contrary to what some sectors have said, this is an initiative that is far from being a setback regarding the Naín-Retamal Law, or a nod to Octobrism. It has the basics to protect people in a democratic standard, in a modern country, like the one that Chile prides itself on being ”, he stated.
“The detail can be discussed, because Congress is the space for us to discuss, correct, add or remove elements. What is not correct is to have a negative predisposition to debates. And even more so, refusing to legislate on such delicate matters (…) beyond the heat of the contingency, due to the recent and unfortunate murders of police officers, the lives of people may be at risk, due to the inaccuracies left by the Naín-Ley. It sucks,” he concluded.
