Subtitles section Play video
-
This video includes scenes of graphic violence.
-
It's a chaotic day in Santiago, Chile.
-
A photographer is using black-and-white film to capture a large anti-government protest and the authority's response.
-
He's near the center of the city when he faces a group of soldiers.
-
I got closer to see what was happening.
-
People started getting closer to the soldiers and throwing rocks at them.
-
The soldiers start shooting in the air.
-
I didn't realize that one of them had a shotgun.
-
I started taking photos of him.
-
Moments later, he's shot in the leg by pellets.
-
There's video of how the incident unfolded.
-
Chilean government rules say there must be a physical threat in order to use this type of ammunition.
-
But here's Palavecino Escobar with his camera.
-
Clearly, he's not a threat.
-
Here's when he's shot.... then hobbles away.
-
The 29-year-old says he wasn't doing anything wrong.
-
I never expected that a soldier would shoot at me for taking a photo.
-
It probably bothered him that I was taking a photo so close to him.
-
But this doesn't justify his action.
-
This is just one scene from the anti-government protests that have gripped Chile.
-
At least 20 people have died and hundreds injured.
-
Chile's security forces have been accused of misconduct and human rights violations.
-
We examined the police and military responses by reviewing videos and photos and talking to witnesses.
-
Some protesters have rioted.
-
But many more have been peaceful.
-
Early on, the president declared a state of emergency.
-
We are at war against a very powerful and relentless enemy who does not respect anyone or anything.
-
In our analysis, we saw instances of people being beaten, tear-gassed, and brutally arrested.
-
And one pattern: security forces shooting pellet rounds - or rubber bullets - against nonviolent crowds, like in the case of the photographer we mentioned earlier.
-
There's at least 400 of these pellet-related incidents, according to Chile's Human Rights Institute.
-
This kind of ammunition isn't intended to kill, but when fired at extremely close range, it can still cause serious or even fatal injuries.
-
Here's what some of them look like.
-
I was shot at close range.
-
On Oct. 22, journalists from Argentina's "Todo Noticias" were covering the protests in Santiago.
-
We see police being pelted by rocks and firing back at protesters.
-
And while on air, one of the reporters is shot by a member of Chile's national police.
-
Here you can see an officer taking aim.
-
Are you O.K.?
-
They just shot me with a rubber bullet.
-
They shot me with a rubber bullet.
-
That same day in Concepción, this man is out after curfew.
-
As the soldiers find him, the camera is rotated.
-
We've adjusted the footage to keep it level.
-
It appears he's told to stand still.
-
But the man continues walking towards a soldier.
-
A second camera then shows the soldier shooting the man in the leg at close range.
-
We spoke to police conduct and human rights experts, who said the man's refusal to surrender when confronted by the soldiers is grounds for arrest.
-
But they did not see a justification for the soldier to shoot the man.
-
As he is led away, a camera captures the bloody wound in his leg.
-
But it's not just journalists and protesters getting injured.
-
Back in Santiago one week later, a human rights observer was also wounded.
-
He was from the same group that has been documenting alleged misconduct by security forces.
-
And he was hit by six pellets.
-
The injuries were not severe.
-
But the fact that he was shot while wearing a bright yellow observer jacket shows that anyone at Chile's protests could be at risk.
-
The United Nations and other human rights groups have launched an investigation into the conduct of security forces.
-
Chile's president welcomed them, saying he has nothing to hide.
-
Hi. This is Nilo, and I'm one of the producers who worked on this investigation.
-
We spent weeks watching hundreds of videos on social media and connecting with sources in Chile.
-
The gravity of the situation hit me when we found a video showing a photographer who is shot at close range by the military.
-
He continued taking photos during the incident, even after he was injured.
-
We do this kind of work to dig into stories that are undercovered.
-
To continue supporting work like this, subscribe to the New York Times.