Background
In February, Chile signed the 2023 Ljubljana – The Hague Convention on International Cooperation in the Investigation and Prosecution of the Crime of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes and Other International Crimes.
Right to truth, justice and reparation
In August, for the first time, two members of the Carabineros (police force) were convicted for acts of torture committed against a protester during the 2019 protests. Criminal proceedings regarding eye injuries sustained by Gustavo Gatica continued. Criminal charges were brought in October against three members of the former high command of the Carabineros for their failure to prevent human rights violations committed by their subordinates during the protests. Despite these developments, impunity remained for human rights violations and crimes under international law perpetrated during that period, and several political authorities unduly questioned the actions of the prosecution, particularly in relation to the investigation of the Carabineros’ former high command.
The government rescinded grace pensions granted to victims of human rights violations committed during the protests in cases where the beneficiaries had been convicted of crimes prior to that period. No bill was forthcoming regarding reparations to victims of violations committed during the protests, despite the extensive conclusions of the Roundtable for Comprehensive Reparations delivered to the government.
Complaints arose in August about possible serious irregularities in the implementation of the National Search Plan for people forcibly disappeared during the regime of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990). The irregularities related to the software used for the search of detained disappeared people. As a result, one of the main experts resigned and family members of the disappeared expressed their concerns about the situation. Meanwhile, measures ensuring the plan’s permanent operation were not approved. The government’s limited support for memorial sites relating to this period remained a source of concern and its continuity was at risk.
Sexual and reproductive rights
Barriers in accessing abortion services persisted in government healthcare facilities, even when lawful abortion was allowed. Healthcare institutions and professionals refused to perform abortion services because of their moral or religious views, undermining pregnant people’s right to access abortion services. In five public hospitals all obstetricians refused to provide abortions in cases of pregnancies resulting from rape, which could amount to torture or other ill-treatment.
In May, the government presented changes to regulations governing abortion services. The proposed amendments aimed to require healthcare institutions to maintain lists of professionals who refused to perform lawful abortion services because of their moral or religious views and to specify the circumstances under which they refused to participate in abortion procedures. The proposals further mandated that patients be informed of a healthcare professional’s refusal to provide lawful abortion services for moral or religious reasons, where applicable. As of December, the Controller General had not approved the amended regulations.
In June, the president committed to presenting a bill on lawful abortion to Congress before the end of the year, but he failed to fulfil this commitment.
In January, a woman at the Iquique Penitentiary Centre gave birth in one of the facility’s cells. The Chilean Committee for the Prevention of Torture stated that this event highlighted significant and urgent issues requiring immediate attention, including the need to improve prenatal care to pregnant detainees, and ensure access to adequate nutrition and the constant presence of qualified personnel to attend childbirth.
Freedom of expression and assembly
Authorities continued to require prior authorization for public gatherings in public spaces, forcing protesters to notify them and be subjected to barriers to exercise their right of freedom of assembly. Throughout the year, Congress failed to discuss the elimination of the prior authorization requirement.
Excessive and unnecessary use of force
Congress continued discussing a bill to regulate the use of force by security officials, enshrining in legislation current protocols and regulations issued by the Ministry of the Interior and Public Safety and the Ministry of National Defence. There were concerns over the lack of clarity in the proposals for the regulation of the use of force and its imminent approval.1
Despite the procurement of projectile electric-shock weapons for the Carabineros since 2019, and in 2024 for the Gendarmería (penitentiary police), the Ministry of the Interior and Public Safety had not issued a protocol for their correct use. No authorized use of this weapon had been recorded, but a pilot project was announced to be implemented near the end of the first quarter of 2025.
Refugees’ and migrants’ rights
Throughout the year, Congress continued to discuss bills proposing the criminalization of refugees and migrants. Of particular concern was the proposal to impose prison sentences on people found guilty of irregular entry or stay in the country.
In September, the Pensions Superintendency asserted that Venezuelan workers in Chile could not withdraw their pension funds because it was not possible to verify the validity of their required documentation. Meanwhile, xenophobic rhetoric and attacks continued against Venezuelan refugees by some of the general public and some public figures.
Indigenous Peoples’ rights
Carabineros and other enforcement agencies continued to detain Indigenous women for selling their products in public spaces, creating significant barriers to the exercise of their ancestral traditions and cultural rights. A particularly troubling case involved the detention and handcuffing of an Aymara woman in Pica, a commune in Tarapacá region in northern Chile, for selling coca leaves. She was subsequently released after her defence argued that this activity was a cultural and traditional practice of the Aymara People.
Mass surveillance
Facial recognition technology was implemented for policing purposes without the establishment of clear and explicit regulatory frameworks defining its limitations.
A bill aimed at regulating personal data collection was approved and its implementation pending.
In December, amendments to anti-terrorist legislation were approved that would allow for the deployment of technology for intercepting messages, calls, metadata and mass geo-referencing without establishing appropriate safeguards on its use and access to it.
