Chile: A human rights review based on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

Chile: A human rights review based on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

Comments:
Chile has submitted four reports to the Human Rights Committee since 1978. The first three in 1978, 1984 and 1989 were submitted by the military government of General Augusto Pinochet. The fourth periodic report on the status of implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) due in 1994, was submitted in December 1998. It was the first submitted under civilian rule. While the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was ratified by Chile in February 1972 and promulgated by Decree 778 in November 1976, the procedure to incorporate international conventions into the domestic legal framework was not completed until 29 April 1989. On that date the Covenant and the promulgation decree were published in the Official Gazette, giving thus the Covenant full validity in Chilean law. Equally, in July 1989 a number of amendments to the 1980 Chilean Constitution, adopted during the military government, were enacted giving constitutional status to international conventions ratified by Chile. A number of human rights conventions and protocols were ratified under the first civilian government of President Patricio Aylwin Azócar. In December 1990 and August 1992 respectively, it recognized the competence of the Human Rights Committee under Article 41 of the ICCPR and the Optional Protocol to the Covenant ratified in August 1992. Also, during 1990 Chile withdrew it's reservations to the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture and to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was ratified by Chile under the military government in 1988 but with reservations related to Articles 2(3), 3, 20 and 30. Reservations under Article 30 are still in force. Amnesty International's major concerns in Chile with regard to the implementation of the provisions of the ICCPR include torture and ill-treatment of detainees mainly by members of the security forces ( Carabineros, uniformed police, Investigaciones, civilian police and Gendarmeria, prison guards), the lack of thorough, independent and conclusive investigation into such reports, the jurisdiction of military courts in cases of prisoners charged with politically motivated offences, the application of the 1978 Amnesty Law to close cases of human rights violations committed during the military government and the application of death sentences by the courts. During the 65th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Committee held on 24 March 1999 the Human Rights Committee considered the fourth periodic report of Chile, related to the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. On 30 March 1999 the Committee adopted a number of concluding observations. The Human Rights Committee underlined the principal areas of concern, including the Amnesty Law of 1978, the reports of torture, the jurisdiction of the military courts and the right to a fair trial.

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