On Monday, the Human Rights Center of the Universidad Diego Portales Law School launched its Annual Human Rights Report (available for download here) for the eighth consecutive year. The Annual Report is a comprehensive review and analysis that highlights the major human rights issues of the past year. This year’s report touches on the diverse themes of: social protest; military justice; criminal justice; freedom of expression; violence against women; Indigenous peoples; migrants and refugees; sexual orientation; children affected by the earthquake; the right of disabled persons to vote; environment; labor; corporate responsibility; and human rights institutions in Chile.
The chapter on Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples focuses primarily on the jurisprudence related to ILO Convention 169 since its ratification in September of 2008. The Report praises several decisions that have come from Appellate Courts in southern Chile that have applied ILO Convention 169, elaborating in particular on the right to consultation. At the same time, the Report highlights a concerning trend observed in decisions from the Supreme Court that undermine the progress made in the Appellate Courts and that fail to appropriately apply the principles of Convention 169. (You can read about three of these cases on Indigenous News: Comunidad Pepiukelen (Supreme Court Ruling), Comunidad Puquiñe, and Comunidad Chilcoco.)
Prior to the Report’s official release, media coverage focused on the critiques being made against the Supreme Court for failure to uphold Chile’s international human rights obligations by routinely reversing the progressive decisions being made at the Appellate Court level. These sharp critiques received a response from Sebastián Donoso, the Presidential Advisor on Indigenous Affairs, who defended the jurisprudence and pointed out other advances that the Government has made with respect to Indigenous rights.
The right to consultation, and legislation for its implementation, remains a hotly-contested issue in Chile. Immediately after ratification of ILO Convention 169, the Ministry of Planning issued Decree 124, which thus far is the only domestic instrument that attempts to provide regulatory guidance on the right to consultation. The Human Rights Report offers a critique of Decree 124, discussing the various shortcomings it suffers when compared to the relevant articles of ILO Convention 169.
The Report also includes a brief discussion of the prolonged Mapuche hunger strike that took place between July and October of this year, and the legal reforms to the Antiterrorism Law and Military Justice Code that finally occurred in the wake of the strike.
The chapter on Indigenous Peoples closes with a few brief recommendations to achieve greater recognition and respect of Indigenous rights.
