Torture Incidence and Prevention in Chile: 1985-2014

Abstract

During the 30-year period covered in this chapter, the political, social, and indeed economic factors that shape the effectiveness of institutions, laws, regulations, and policies that may have a bearing on torture and its prevention, have been subject to both dramatic changes and continuities. During the period of dictatorship (1973-1990), severe torture was used systematically to punish and intimidate opponents. The transition to democracy in Chile meant that torture was no longer practised as a systematic government policy. Still, the democratic transition did not eradicate torture in Chile. Over the course of the last 25 years of democracy in Chile, there is ample evidence of torture and ill-treatment. Groups that are vulnerable include prisoners and other detainees, members of indigenous Mapuche communities involved in land conflicts, and social protesters.

These continuities can in part be explained by the legacies of dictatorship and the political bargains of the transitional period. In the context of the transitional justice policies adopted by successive Chilean governments, torture has been a neglected area of human rights policy. In the absence of political leadership and mobilisation, combined with the persistence of authoritarian attitudes and institutional enclaves in Chilean society, torture has been of limited political salience. As a result, successive democratic governments have not prioritized prosecution and punishment of torture, and the criminal justice system lacks adequate legal instruments to deal with torture offences.

Yet, in the absence of leadership at the higher levels of Chile’s political system, progress can be seen in recent years within state institutions and in the judicial system, particularly following the reform of the criminal justice system in 2000. Moreover, legal reforms in the last decade have strengthened the legal protection of detainees. This indicates that changes in law and institutions can be important in bringing about improvements in the incidence of torture. This is particularly important when considering the impact that institutional and legal reforms may have on key actors within institutions. In addition, there are indications that Chilean societal attitudes are also changing, as evidenced in the form of a more confrontational politics such as large scale student protests and youth mobilisation, as well as an increasing willingness of parts of state institutions to challenge abusive institutional practices. The creation of the National Institute of Human Rights (NIHR) in 2010 might be particularly important in this regard.

This chapter seeks to map changes and continuities in torture, and assess the effectiveness of a range of torture prevention mechanisms in Chile. Section I provides a brief overview of the political and social contexts in which torture has historically occurred and continue to be observed in contemporary Chile. The following section examines the changes and continuities of torture practices over the course of the period studied in this chapter. Section III assesses the main institutional, legal, and policy mechanisms relating to the law and practice of detention, prosecution and monitoring, respectively.

Keywords: Chile, human rights, torture, torture prevention