Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said on Thursday that the police may have broken protocols in responding to a month of protests, and prosecutors will investigate whether they violated human rights.

During a meeting with media, Pinera said, “If those protocols were not met, and I think it is possible that in some cases they were not met, that will be investigated by the prosecutor’s office and will be sanctioned by the courts of justice”.

His comments came after Amnesty International released a report denouncing a “deliberate policy” of wounding protesters during the unrest that broke out last month and has so far resulted in 22 deaths.

According to the National Institute of Human Rights, there were about 2, 0000 injuries, while health organizations claim that more than 280 people have suffered eye damage from shotgun pellets.

No police officers have been killed in the demonstrations but the human rights institute said some 1,600 officers have been wounded.

In October, the prosecutor’s office reported that around 1,089 criminal investigations have been opened into allegations of police violence, 24 for alleged instances of torture and nine for cases of alleged sexual abuse or rape.

On Monday, thousands of protesters took to the street across Chile to mark the first anniversary of the most serious civil unrest in the country and show their distrust of both the social agenda announced by the government and the parliamentary agreement on a new constitution.

The President also praised the agreement reached by parliamentary forces on November 15 to convene a plebiscite in April 2020 so that citizens can decide if they want a new constitution and which body should write it. He also acknowledged for the first time that there have been abuses and excessive use of force by security forces, which he promised to sanction.

Earlier in the month, Pinera had announced plans for a dialogue with the citizenry, but the protesters show little interest in talking with the government.

Violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces broke out only hours after Pinera announced a cabinet reshuffle.

Foreign Minister Teodoro Ribera had said that the Chilean government would ask the UN to send human rights observers to monitor the nationwide protests.

In Antofagasta in northern Chile, local television broadcast footage of a driver running down a group of people who were protesting, then fleeing the scene.