Chile Human Rights
Human Rights Concerns
There have been slow advances in justice in Chile, despite some positive developments. Torture and ill treatment remained matters of concern. Indigenous Mapuche activists were subjected to human rights violations.
Chile submitted its third periodic report on the implementation of the UN Convention against Torture. In response, the UN Committee against Torture, while noting a number of positive developments, expressed concern that certain legislation, including the Amnesty Law, jeopardized the full exercise of fundamental human rights and entrenched impunity. It also criticized the definition of torture used in Chilean legislation and several aspects of the mandate of the National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture, set up by the government in 2003 to identify victims of torture under the military government and propose reparation measures.
Human rights violations continued to occur in the context of land ownership disputes, affecting the Mapuche community especially.
Relevant Links
Chile Newroom
April 1, 2020 • Press Release
Authorities In Chile Must Guarantee The Health Of The Prison Population Against COVID-19
Chilean authorities must speed up the implementation of measures to reduce prison overcrowding and provide all essential services to prevent cases of COVID-19 in the country's prisons, Amnesty International said today in an open letter to the Chilean authorities.
February 27, 2020 • Report
Countries cracked down on asylum and the right to protest in the Americas in 2019
As millions took to the streets to protest rampant violence, inequality, corruption and impunity, or were forced to flee their countries in search of safety, states across the Americas clamped …
January 30, 2020 • Press Release
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) Visit in Chile Represents a Historic Opportunity for the Defense of Human Rights
The in loco visit by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is fundamental for the protection and guarantee of human rights in Chile, said Amnesty International in response to recent statements by state authorities calling on the IACHR not to involve itself in the country’s internal affairs.
July 26, 2018 • Press Release
Chile: Life of imprisoned Indigenous leader is in imminent danger
In response to the dry hunger strike that Machi Celestino Córdova, a Mapuche spiritual leader who is currently imprisoned, convicted of homicide induced by arson, has begun in protest of …
April 1, 2016 • Press Release
Chile: Two-tier justice system allows police to get away with human rights violations
Chile’s outrageous two-tier justice system is allowing police officers to beat, ill-treat and in some cases even kill peaceful demonstrators and other individuals and only face a miniscule sanction at best, said Amnesty International in a new report today.
April 1, 2016 • Report
‘I Didn’t Know There Were Two Kinds of Justice’ Military Justice and Police Brutality in Chile
Chile’s outrageous two-tier justice system is allowing police officers to beat, ill-treat and in some cases even kill peaceful demonstrators and other individuals and only face a miniscule sanction at best, said Amnesty International in a new report today.
February 22, 2016 • Press Release
Amnesty International’s Annual State of the World Report Slams Governments, Including the U.S., for Global Assault on Freedoms
On the launch of its 2015 State of the World report, Amnesty International USA urged President Obama to use his last year in office to bring U.S. laws and policies in line with international human rights standards.
February 18, 2016 • Report
Amnesty International State of the World 2015-2016
International protection of human rights is in danger of unravelling as short-term national self-interest and draconian security crackdowns have led to a wholesale assault on basic freedoms and rights, warned Amnesty International as it launched its annual assessment of human rights around the world. “Your rights are in jeopardy: they are being treated with utter contempt by many governments around the world,” said Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
February 18, 2016 • Press Release
Your rights in jeopardy, global assault on freedoms, warns Amnesty International
International protection of human rights is in danger of unravelling as short-term national self-interest and draconian security crackdowns have led to a wholesale assault on basic freedoms and rights, warned Amnesty International as it launched its annual assessment of human rights around the world. “Your rights are in jeopardy: they are being treated with utter contempt by many governments around the world,” said Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
November 13, 2015 • Press Release
Chile: Urgent progress needed on right to decide after young woman arrested for a clandestine abortion
The arrest of a 22-year-old woman in Temuco for “consensual abortion” is yet another sign that the Chilean authorities have no time to lose with advancing legislation in the works to decriminalize abortion, Amnesty International said today.
