A group of UDI deputies arrived at the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic on Wednesday, led by the head of the UDI Caucus, Juan Antonio Coloma, to request the start of an investigation into the misuse of public resources that the National Institute of Human Rights (INDH) would be incurring, considering that one of its main headquarters has been taken for almost six months by the Coordinating Assembly of Secondary Students (ACES), without the authorities of the agency having requested the eviction.
As detailed, the lease contract maintained by the INDH with the owners of the property located in Eliodoro Yáñez establishes a monthly payment of 160 UF ($4,957,000). For the same reason, they assured that since July 8, the institution has disbursed $ 28,720,000 for the lease of said property, without being able to make use of it.
“It is truly unacceptable that, in almost six months of illegal seizure, the INDH has not had the capacity to file a complaint and request the eviction of the property. Moreover, if we consider that every month they are spending almost $5 million in rent, which are resources that belong to all Chileans and that are not intended to finance radical and violent groups,” the UDI deputies questioned.
For the same reason, Coloma, Alessandri and Ramírez insisted on the need to resort to the Comptroller’s Office given that “there is an evident misuse of public resources,” adding that “if in all this time the board of directors of the INDH has not had the will to sue for the illegal seizure of its headquarters, the only alternative that remains is for the controlling body to act and take action on the matter.”
The RESPONSE of the INDH
The lawyer of the INDH, Carlos Bellei, said that “in relation to a presentation made by a group of deputies to the Comptroller General of the Republic, it is necessary to remember that the National Institute of Human Rights is an Autonomous Corporation of Public Law and as such does not adopt its decisions or pronouncements as a response to undue pressure or public sites.”
“We will continue to bet on dialogue as a tool and way of resolving conflicts, as we have proposed from the first moment,” he concluded.
