A complicated scenario in terms of public security, accentuated by the assassination of Sergeant Rita Olivares, opened up controversy regarding the paths to follow, where one can aim more to respond to emotions and perceptions, than to land effective measures against crime, organized crime and drug trafficking. Lawyer Claudio Nash stressed that “if one acts in such a way that human rights are violated when seeking to guarantee security, what ends up happening is that police action is delegitimized.” The jurist Francisco Cox commented that in the current scenario “There is a lot of fuss, lack of rationality and an extremely dangerous path” and he emphasized the risks of “have a police without controls”. “In the task of combating crime and crime, be effective forces, and effectiveness includes prevention,” noted Lautaro Carmona, general secretary of the PC. Deputy Diego Ibáñez stated that “It is necessary to make the pertinent modifications so that the Rule of Law is respected, that the indications (that) protect Carabineros are effective and that at the same time respect due process.”
Team “The Century”. Santiago. 3/28/2023. Several lawyers and legislators made it clear that the country could enter the field of “criminal populism”, a “morning legislation” and “specific and non-integral variants” in a complicated scenario in terms of public security, accentuated by the murder of the Sergeant Rita Olivares.
And it is that priority was given in Congress to laws that, above all, aim to prioritize that the police have more powers in their firepower, to the protection of Carabineros and to increase prison sentences for criminals, especially when it comes to attacks on uniformed personnel. Not so in preventive measures, respect for the rule of law and intelligence to combat the diversity of criminal actions.
Along the lines of greater attributions for the Police and PDI and protection for their officials, the “Retamal” and “Naín” bills point substantially, which right-wing legislators want to approve with a fast trackwhile from the ruling party they call for a more careful analysis and that it can contemplate indications, without this meaning delaying the process.
In statements to Radio Universidad de Chile, the lawyer and coordinator of the Human Rights Chair at the University of Chile, Claudio Nash, it should be noted that initiatives such as the Retamal Law or the Naín Law “are an expression of criminal populism.”
He said that “an issue that I would say is quite clear from comparative experience and from Chile’s own experience is that increasing sentences does not contribute to crime prevention.”
He emphasized that “if you want to deal with the problem of crime, you must act on issues such as the training that the Carabineros are receiving, the way in which police actions are organized and implemented on the street in risk situations, adequate equipment, but also its proper use by officials”.
Claudio Nash stressed that “if one acts in such a way that human rights are violated by seeking to guarantee security, what ends up happening is that police action is delegitimized.”
The jurist wondered: “Should progress be made in security measures? Yes, obviously”, but he added that “these measures must be adequate within the framework of a rule of law. If not, the only thing we do is end up generating a spiral of violence, which is what has happened in Brazil, in Mexico, in the United States, and we should avoid that path”.
Meanwhile, lawyer Francisco Cox, interviewed on Radio ADN, commented that in the current scenario in the country “there is a lot of fuss, lack of rationality and an extremely dangerous path” and emphasized the risks of “having a police without controls, with privileged legitimate defense”.
Regarding the legislative projects that are being discussed or that are being proposed, the jurist warned of the danger and ineffectiveness of “a morning legislature”, in a tacit allusion to how television morning shows handle these issues, resorting more to emotionality than to rationality.
He explained that “the important thing, more than the increase in penalties, is that it can be effectively investigated, detained, punished and de-structured (organized crime).”
“What worries me about these privileged legitimate defense laws for Carabineros –indicated Francisco Cox- is the equivalent of US law, stand-your-ground, which produced a greater trigger-happy effect on the part of the police; largest number of people shot and killed. Pretending to give more power to the police and lower controls is the recipe for failure.
Cox noted: “The police began to be given power and what it generates is someone with almost absolute control in a rule of law, which is the antithesis of the rule of law and, therefore, organized crime gangs begin to see who to corrupt. And to think that Carabineros is incorruptible is not to see what happened with reserved expenses.
Regarding laws that increase the powers of the police in matters such as making more flexible use of their weapons, the general secretary of the Communist Party, Lautaro Carmona, explained to the press that “I have a warning about this project, in that it does not there is a license that allows tomorrow to regret unnecessary situations ”.
He maintained that the objective is that “in the task of combating crime and crime they are effective forces, and effectiveness includes prevention.” He aimed to address issues of training, intelligence, prevention, to go to the bottom in matters of public safety and combating crime.
The president of Social Convergence, Diego Ibáñez, pointed out that the idea of reinforcing security legislation is shared by the ruling party, but noted that “the pertinent modifications must be made so that the rule of law is respected, that the indications ( that) protect Carabineros be effective and that at the same time respect due process.”
The Deputy of the Communist Party, Daniela Serrano, said that “we are not going to remove this discussion” of greater powers and protection for police personnel, “but we consider that these types of measures are only a part,” he commented.
Beyond contingent environments, the legislator declared that “it is not being honest with the public, understanding that there are other measures that have to be implemented, and that they have to take care of a crisis that goes far beyond this government.”