E/CN.4/2000/9 page 44 195. Julio Esperguel Santander was allegedly beaten on 31 December 1995 by two carabineros from motorized units. The Government indicated that following preliminary investigation, proceedings were under way for the offence of excessive force. It provided this information in its letter of 10 February 1999. 196. Juan Pablo Contreras Mondaca was reportedly detained and tortured by carabineros of the Retén Pomaire squad, Santiago, on 14 April 1996. The Government indicated that he was detained for being in a state of inebriation and was released on 15 April 1996, having submitted no complaint and having paid the fine imposed by the Melipilla First Criminal Court before which he appeared on the day he was taken into custody. Subsequent inquiries revealed that on 16 April 1996, Mr. Contreras Mondaca went to the hospital, where minor injuries were diagnosed. The sequence of events on the dates mentioned above reveals that he was not subjected to violence at the initial examination, although proceedings were initiated for excessive force and were now at the pre-trial stage. 197. Agustín Fegueroa Sepúlveda and a friend were allegedly detained on 10 August 1996 by carabineros, who took them to Police Station No. 34 in Santiago, where they were reportedly subjected to torture. The Government indicated that both individuals were taken into custody when robbing a bus. Both were injured during their arrest because they offered resistance. They were transported in the same vehicle in the presence of the driver, who stated that the police officers used only necessary and reasonable force. They were placed in preventive detention and taken to emergency clinic No. 4 in Ñuñoa so they could receive medical care. They were found to have minor injuries and were transferred to Peñalolén police barracks 43 and later to the preventive detention centre at Puente Alto, where they were brought before a court on 11 August 1996. An internal investigation incorporating statements by the officers who took them into custody, the bus driver and the mother of one of the detainees showed that they were not subjected to torture or ill-treatment. On the administrative side it was determined that the second guard corps officer failed to note the cause of injuries in the guard book, although he did so in the police report, and for this he was reprimanded. In addition, the chief of the supplementary patrol failed to record the procedures used by the officers under his command and the time they went off duty: he was issued a warning. A charge of excessive force is currently in pre-trial investigations before the Sixth Military Prosecutor's Office of Santiago. 198. Andrés Meléndez Sánchez was reportedly detained and tortured by carabineros on 11 September 1996 in Santiago. The Government indicated that the complaint of ill-treatment lacked credibility in that it identified uniformed persons as being responsible, whereas the detention had been carried out by plain-clothes officers from Peñalolén Police Station No. 43. According to the Government, the person concerned lodged the complaint in the belief that he would thereby diminish his own responsibility, but it had been reliably shown that institutional staff had inflicted no injury whatsoever upon him. By letter dated 10 February 1999, the Government indicated that a charge of excessive force was in pre-trial investigations before the Fourth Military Prosecutor's Office. 199. Patricio Gana Valdés, arrested on 24 September 1996 by carabineros from Police Station No. 42 in Santiago, was allegedly tortured after being transferred to Police Station No. 41. According to the Government, the injuries he later suffered were caused when he fell while under guard in his cell. After