E/CN.4/2000/9 page 41 publicly attested to the injuries. On 12 February, an appeals court prosecutor, Raúl Rocha, entered the prison, accompanied by two forensic scientists who corroborated the facts. A criminal court judge was assigned to the prison. The Director of the National Prison Service, Hugo Espinoza, the superintendent of high security units, Edmundo Letelier, Lieutenant Saldivia and those responsible for the crime of torture were indicted on two criminal charges. The appointment of the above-mentioned appeals court prosecutor was requested, but the appointment of an inspecting magistrate was refused. An application for the remedy of protection was made against the Director of the National Prison Service for denying entry to judicial prosecutors, and other applications for protection and amparo were lodged by relatives of the prisoners. In February 1999, a ruling was handed down on the applications for amparo and protection; it was made public in June 1999. In the operative portion, the Court of Appeals acknowledged that the measures applied by the Chilean prison staff entailed "extreme repression" and caused "considerable injury, deviating from the procedures authorized by the regulations". It concluded that "the conduct of the guards constituted an illegal and arbitrary action jeopardizing the right to life and physical integrity". The Chilean Prison Service reportedly appealed the ruling in June 1999. 183. The Special Rapporteur has also received information on violent acts by carabineros that have caused a number of deaths and serious injuries during public demonstrations. In this context, his attention has been drawn to the following cases. 184. On 19 May 1999, during the days of student demonstrations in the city of Arica, carabineros in the Special Forces Unit made a violent entry into the headquarters in Santiago of the Christian Churches Social Aid Foundation (FASIC), a body devoted to the defence and promotion of human rights. The purpose was the unauthorized detention of three university students. FASIC's Executive Secretary, Claudio González, was reportedly hit, kicked and shoved by the carabineros when he attempted to stop them from beating the students. FASIC has submitted a complaint for breaking and entering and physical assault on persons in its headquarters to the Under-Secretary of the Interior, the police station concerned and the Second Military Prosecutor's Office. 185. Ulises Coque Roa, Miguel Alejandro Vergara Contreras and Sebastián Sánchez Vera, students at the University of Tarapacá, were reportedly beaten by carabineros on 1 June 1999 at the Ministry of Education. The events are said to have occurred while the students were participating in a peaceful demonstration. Three officers of the Carabineros Special Forces Unit allegedly punched and kicked Mr. Coque Roa, Mr. Vergara Contreras and Mr. Sánchez Vera when they were in the entryway of the Ministry of Education, with no attendant provocation by the students. Orlando Soto, representative of the students' federation, reportedly asked the officers involved to identify themselves. A captain from Santiago Police Station No. 1 who gave his surname as Rivero reportedly arrived minutes later and said the officers were not on his staff. He is said to have called the captain of the Carabineros Special Forces Unit, whose name is said to be Aldo Vidal Villegas, who ordered the officers to withdraw. They allegedly did leave the ministry building, while hiding their badges. The three students went for emergency treatment to El Salvador hospital, where their injuries were certified. They have brought criminal charges for the crime of torture.

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