Chile's government represses students' demands for better and free education

To: all democratic and human rights supporters

Aug 20 (yesterday, but it has continued today)

As part of Chile’s refusal to negotiate with students’ demands their right to quality education, Chile’s government continues to reply with incresing repression.

Uniformed police have besieged the National Institute (IN is Chile’s most prestigious Public Secondary School)

CECT correocect@gmail.com

Spanish version available at http://www.contralatortura.cl  CECT’s site.

Today IN's students were not admitted to class. Chilean police have surrounded the site with a skunk truck and there were Special Police Forces (GOPE) agents and two Special Forces buses. (Students are detained for hours in these buses and subjected to tortures and sexual harassments)
At 14:38
* A police contingent with buses, water cannon trucks (guanaco) and moving into Santiago’s core centre. Some students tried to speak with Mayor Zalaqutt and walk towards the center of Santago. (Santiago’s Mayor, Zalaquett, is one of the hardest opposers of students’ demands and an enforcer of repressive measures.)
Another group of students was marching towards Providence (the mayor in that sector is a known former man of Pinochet and participated n those years as trainer of torturers! It is Labbé).
Children resist and have been severely violated. This morning eight of them were arrested while doing a hunger strike with chains tied to the bars of the Lyceum INSUCO (Superior Institute of Commerce) from which they were expelled this week for having takien part in the protests of 2011!

Please, share and demand Chile’s diplomatic representations to stop repression and sit down to solve the education crisis. Chile has the worst equity and quality education of all OCDE countries.  (Students and Human Rights Organizations support students’ struggle and demand respect for their rights)

Ethical Commission Against Torture (CECT)

(Translated by CECT’s European Secretariat)