The organic bill that regulates the legitimate use of force enters the phase of approval of the report for the first debate, and according to the calculations of the assembly members, before the carnival holiday it will go to plenary session.
In the 77 articles of the draft text, topics such as the levels of use of force, use of force in detention centers, use of force in social protest, rights and duties of servants in the use of force, rules for employment, carrying and equipping weapons, ammunition and self-protective equipment, use of force with animals and mobile means, among others.
Use of lethal weapons in social protest is debated in the law of the progressive use of force
In the files of the Sovereignty and Comprehensive Security Commission, which has been discussing the bill since November 2021, there are more than 50 appearances by state authorities, lawyers, security experts, academia and human rights organizations. To this is added ruling No. 33-20-IN/21 of the Constitutional Court regarding the regulation on the progressive use of force, which will be the common thread in the outline of the new law.
This Monday the 21st, the commission will vote on the text of the report and it will immediately be debated in plenary, according to the president, Ramiro Narváez (ID), who clarified that the Executive’s proposal on the organic law on comprehensive security and strengthening of the public force is more compatible with the Organic Code of Integral Security that is also in process and whose report for the first debate will be ready in March.
Legislator Jorge Pinto, from the CREO caucus, clarified that, in order not to delay the processing process any longer, some proposals regarding the progressive use of force will be incorporated into the Executive’s project. For example, the presumption of innocence of the police, military or penitentiary agent.
This, according to Pinto, will help a lot in the current circumstances because if they have to use the use of lethal force, the police and the military will be considered presumably innocent.
Narváez describes that the draft text establishes six levels of use of force, where the police and military will adapt the level according to the situation or threat they are facing, and these range from the demonstration of authority in the face of latent risk, use of communication, physical techniques, non-lethal defensive techniques up to potentially lethal force or firearms with lethal ammunition in order to neutralize the violent action.
This law will apply to the members of the National Police, the Armed Forces and the prison security and surveillance body, where the State is obliged to provide them with education, training and training; they also have the right to medical assistance, mental health and psychological care. Likewise, a police or military officer will have the protection of the State for legal sponsorship.
If a police officer in the performance of his duty to defend his life or the life of a third party acts and shoots a criminal, he cannot be sentenced, but that does not exclude him from an investigation process. What is happening today, explained Narváez, is that the prosecutors are unaware of the processes of the use of force, therefore, in the law under construction, the existence of specialized prosecutors is proposed to deal with cases of the use of force.
The draft report also establishes that in social protest it is prohibited to use lethal weapons against protesters, but the legislators want to incorporate an article where criminal acts are established outside of social protest, and the act must be neutralized.
Assemblyman Pinto specified that the use of lethal force would only be justified against the person who infiltrates a social protest to generate chaos, murder people or carry out looting, which cannot go unpunished.
There is a special chapter referring to the use of force with animals for human training, where it is forbidden for the elements of the public force to use animals for the restoration of public order and intervention and control in arbitrary occupations.
Narváez explained that this reform prohibits the use of horses and dogs, for example, to repel a demonstration, as well as the use of motorized vehicles such as motorcycles to hit protesters.
State of emergency
One of the debates that has not yet been exhausted in the commission is the proposal that an intermediate state be created, which is a state of emergency that does not imply a restriction of rights.
Jorge Pinto proposed that a state of emergency be incorporated into the law that is not one of exception, but rather a state of emergency that can be used twice after the first time it is requested, and this state of emergency would not have the same powers. of the state of exception, but it does empower the military to coordinate with the police the work to combat crime and violence in the country.
What is sought, added the CREO representative in Pichincha, is to provide a legal framework so that the Armed Forces can work in coordination with the Police, of course, always taking care of human rights, without abuse of force. Only the President of the Republic, after making an analysis, will be able to decree this state of emergency.
According to legislator Pinto Dávila’s approach, a state of emergency would last three months and could be renewed twice; therefore, the country could be in an emergency due to insecurity issues for up to nine months within a year. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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