The Minister of the Interior and Public Security, Carolina Tohá, announced that the Government is willing to “find a solution”, after the criticism received by La Moneda’s indications of the project aimed at regulating the Rules of Use of Force (RUF). for the police and the Armed Forces, in the context of controlling public order and fighting crime.
One of the Executive’s indications generated uncertainty in both the opposition and the ruling party. Specifically, the part that establishes that “the regulations regulated in this article must consider specifications for a differentiated use of force in cases where there is the presence of children or adolescents, women, sexual diversities, people with disabilities, migrants, indigenous people or older adults.”
“The Executive would have no problem, if there is a desire to find a solution, for this to be stated in all its letters; This does not imply privileged use or privileged treatment, but specialized treatment given the characteristics of the group being talked about. It is something that the police do all the time, what happens is that sometimes they make mistakes, so it is much better that the rules are clear,” Tohá declared before Congress.
Later, the Minister of the Interior reiterated this position, expressing that “a gigantic misunderstanding was generated here. The law that regulates the rules of use of force is the same for all groups. “There are no privileged groups, there are no untouchable groups, there are no groups that are softer towards, it is the same standard for everyone.”
Furthermore, Tohá was clear in saying that parliamentarians are not obliged to vote in favor of the Executive’s regulations.
Cross-cutting criticisms of the indication
Yesterday, the Government of President Gabriel Boric presented to the parliamentarians of the united Constitution and Security commissions 19 modifications to the bill that aims to update the RUF. According to what was stated by La Moneda, these indications are intended to improve the effectiveness of the law and guarantee public order and security.
The differentiation proposed by the Government has been questioned by the opposition, who think that the indication affects “a basic principle in our country which is equality before the law, added to the fact that it puts the Armed Forces at risk. and to the entire population, since a signal is being given to foreign criminal organizations such as the Tren de Aragua, because they are told to come to our country because migrants will be treated kindly,” the president commented. of the security commission of the Lower House, Andrés Longton (RN).
The measure was not only criticized by the opposition, but deputies from the ruling party called on the Executive to “reconsider the proposal”, such was the case of deputy Raúl Soto (PPD), who noted that one of the main problems of organized crime in Chile is the use of irregular migrants.
Former military officers did the same. In conversation with The counterLieutenant Commander (r) Richard Kouyoumdjian and General (r) John Griffiths said they agreed on the importance of having a clear regulation on the use of force, but argued that the distinction proposed by La Moneda on gender and nationality does not reflects the reality on the streets.
The measure has faced stagnation since September 2023 due to the lack of consensus between the Government and the opposition. At that time, the Executive decided to withdraw the urgency of its processing with the purpose of reaching a technical and political agreement that would provide the Armed Forces with a protocol to act with greater security in the protection of critical infrastructure.
“Identity” indications
Given the questioned indication, Deputy Longton said that “the ideological fanaticism of this government is revealing, which leads them to these absurd, incomprehensible irrationalities that violate a basic principle which is equality before the law.”
Asked about the issue, Ricardo Hernández, director of the Politics and Society program at the Res Publica Institute, pointed out that the Government’s indications can be described as “identitarian”, because in his opinion they have an “ideological component typical of the new left.” ”.
“In legal instruments such as the RUF, it is essential that clear and objective prescriptions be contained to evaluate the use of force, thus preventing a risky subjective analysis regarding special considerations that the police or military official must make,” commented Hernández, lawyer and Master in Administrative Law.
Otherwise, he warned, “equality before the law can be seriously violated, as is the case of the use of force that differentiates a national from a migrant and leaves police officers obliged to do something impossible, having to distinguish ex ante perceptions. , not very obvious or subjective categories to use legitimate force.”
Exemption from liability
Another point that was criticized by the opposition is the rule on exemption from criminal responsibility. In the opinion of deputy Henry Leal (UDI), the proposed wording would repeal the Naín-Retamal law. He stated that this law is “from” and warned that if it is not withdrawn it will be an obstacle to advancing this project.
Faced with the new modifications presented, some deputies once again proposed inviting representatives of the Armed Forces and Order and Security to speak.
