Outrage Over Police Abuse, Torture of Puerto Rican Students

Police attacks on University of Puerto Rico students participating in civil disobedience in

front of Congress sparked outrage Monday by social organizations denouncing «torture
and sexual aggression».

«It is unacceptable for a government that says it defends law and order to permit the torture of
young people with their hands cuffed behind their backs and the humiliation of detained females
students by openly molesting them and boasting impunity», various social organizations said in a
statement.

Political analyst Benny Frankie Cerezo warned Puerto Rican Governor Luis G. Fortuño that the
conduct of the police would lead the country to totalitarianism.

One of the founders of the ruling pro-annexation New Progressive Party (NPN), Cerezo urged
the people not to stay quiet, saying vido footage depicts the actions of a fascist government
similar to the Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet.

The students are protesting an 800 USD hike in enrollment fees, saying it will prevent about 10
000 students from attending university.

The Caribbean Project for Justice and Peace, the Shout of the Excluded from Puerto Rico, and
the Dominican-Haitian ProChildhood Committee demanded Fortuño and Police Chief Jose
Figueroa Sancha immediately rectify the abuse as a violation of human and civil rights.

Prensa Latina Translation Staff