translated from Spanish: National Ombudsman makes public statements and is thrown into a tailspin against preventive control children

The national Ombudsman, Andrés Mahnke, publicly questioned the initiative that seeks to expand the powers of the police so that they can make preventive identity checks to children under 14 years.
The criticism did it this morning, when it conducted an assessment of its management 2018 in an activity carried out in the Paseo Bulnes, within the framework of the fourth fair of citizen rights organized by the criminal public defender’s Office and which brought together 14 institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
In the instance, Mahnke said that, in the past year, the Ombudsman attended 19 thousand 330 minors, of which 83.3% received the attention of a specialized juvenile criminal Defender.
Mahnke said that, according to the statistics provided by the public, of the total number of Youth Ministry who entered in 2018 to the criminal justice system, a 17% concentrated more than half of the total number of crimes committed in that period by this age group.
“As shown, the longest-running crime group is already identified, is reduced, concentrates multiple income system and, given their level of criminogenic commitment, efficiency for the prevention and prosecution of their performance requires of” police investigation procedures targeted and specific”, said.
In this sense, was contrary to the preventive identity checks that from 2016 to adults, which could be extended to minors passed a Bill now being debated in Congress: “is not to deny that the crime” adult or youth exist, minimize its harmful effects or hold a naive look on ways to solve it. We are talking about look at the evidence and act accordingly, away from a general perception that is obviously wrong and work more on orient it so informed”.
He added that in this in-depth discussion, “rather than restrict or affect the collective rights of millions of young people, what is needed urgently is to focus the resources of the State precisely in that group of 4 thousand 807 offenders of law, their environments, and address” “indeed the known causes of their intense delinquent involvement”.
Mahnke also spoke about accused indigenous people and migrants. The Authority noted that in 2018 the Ombudsman attended 8.948 persons belonging to ethnic groups originating, which accounted for 2.8% of the total income of the institution, and that coverage to this group reached 83%. With regard to migrants, defendants served by the institution over the past year totaled 9.445 people, who accounted for 3% of total income.
Read the full report and its figures at the following link.

Original source in Spanish