E/CN.4/1996/35/Add.2
page 7
Rapporteur refers in this connection to Principle 12 of the Body of
Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or
Imprisonment, 5/ which stipulates that, when an arrest is made, there shall
be duly recorded the identity of the law enforcement officials concerned and
the records shall be communicated to the detained person or his counsel.
20.
The cases of torture involve persons suspected of both ordinary offences
and terrorist acts, although its use against the latter category appears to be
decreasing of late. According to the non-governmental organizations, this
would be due to the fact that victims in the terrorist category more readily
report abuses, which are therefore more likely to be brought to public
attention. On the other hand, terrorist activities and related arrests have
decreased significantly, which is another reason why complaints of torture
have decreased.
21.
Testimony was also received relating to individuals arrested for
terrorist acts according to which the ill-treatment had basically consisted of
keeping the detainee seated on a chair, without allowing him to lie down, for
several days running, blindfolded and with his hands handcuffed behind his
back. The President of the Military Appeal Court told the Special Rapporteur
that it was part of the terrorist groups’ strategy to tell the judge that
they had been tortured; he referred in particular to a case in which the
Carabineros had been able to prove, by filming the interrogation, that
the detainee had not been tortured. Of the 11 prisoners being held for
terrorist-related offences (men and women) with whom the Special Rapporteur
had the opportunity to speak, eight said that they had been tortured,
providing details, in the days following their respective arrests, which
were reported to have taken place basically between 1991 and 1993.
22.
In a few of the cases communicated to the Special Rapporteur, the
complainants pointed out the connection between the torture inflicted on a
person and that person’s subsequent death. For example, 18-year-old Rubén
Bascur Jaeger was arrested by two Carabineros in the town of Futrono,
Tenth Region, on 1 July 1995, in front of his family and neighbours. The
latter had no news of him until they learned hours later that he had died.
His body allegedly appeared on the roof of a hardware store located at
303 Calle Balmaceda. The autopsy report stated the cause of death as
being respiratory arrest as a result of electric shock. The version that
Carabineros gave the family was that the victim had climbed onto the roof
of the hardware store with the intention of robbing it; he had then knocked
against some electric cables, which caused his death. The preceding events,
however, led the complainants to conclude that there was evidence that
Carabineros had been responsible for the youth’s death and had left the
body on the roof of the hardware store to simulate a robbery.
23.
Information was also received on the case of 44-year-old Miguel Angel
Vallejos Palma, who was arrested on 25 February 1995 in the town of
Panimávida, township of Colbún, Seventh Region, by Carabineros officials,
apparently for being intoxicated. He was released some hours later. On
returning home he told his relatives that he had been severely beaten while at
the police station and complained of intense abdominal pain. He was taken to
hospital, where he was operated on the following day but died. A criminal
complaint has been filed with the Military Prosecutor in Talca.