Chile is what we called in our first report a “liberal” country for its support for international norms promoting and defending popular sovereignty and human rights. On the UNHRC Chile has consistently voted against human rights abuses in Syria, North Korea and Ukraine—along with other liberal states of Costa Rica, France, UK, Uruguay, and the United States—and regularly raises concerns over political and civil rights in the UPR process. In the region, Chile has cooperated with the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights and hosted the 157 hearing of the Commission and stepped up to contribute to the Commission in the midst of the body’s financial crisis in 2016. But while Chile voted in favor of a resolution demanding increase pressure on the Venezuelan government, Chilean representatives have been relatively silent and inactive in any broader collective action on the deteriorating human rights situation in Venezuela. Foreign Minister Heraldo Muñoz at the OAS General Assembly, the country has shied away from threatening any concrete actions should Venezuela not comply with the OAS decisions, or the Santiago Declaration.
Below is a breakdown of Chile’s actions and votes at the various venues we are monitoring. For more information click on each title and summary.
Scoreboard:
| Freedom House | |
| Freedom Status | Free |
| Aggregate Score (100 is perfect freedom and protection of rights) | 90 |
| Political Rights (scores out of 40, with 40 being the best) | 38/40 |
| Civil Liberties (scores out of 60, with 60 being the best) | 52/60 |
| Reporters Without Borders | |
| World Press Freedom Index (scores out of 100, with 1 being the best) | 27 |
| Transparency International | |
| Corruption Perception Index (CPI) | 67/100 |
| Global Rank | 26/180 |
| World Justice Project [1] | |
| Rule-of-Law Index | 0.67 |
| Regional rank | 3/30 |
| Global rank | 26/128 |
| UN Human Development Index | |
| Human Development Index | 0.851 |
| Global rank | 43 |
| Americas Quarterly (last report 2016) | |
| Social Inclusion Index | 80.95/100 |
| Regional rank | 3/15 |
United Nations System:
United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC or Council)
Chile finished their previous term on the Council in 2020 and previously served from 2012-2014 and 2009-2011. Chile has consistently voted to uphold human rights in Syria, Ukraine, and North Korea.
UNHRC’s Universal Periodic Review
As part of its mandate to promote human rights around the globe, the UNHRC has instituted a Universal Periodic Review, where, once every four years, each country’s human rights record is examined. Other countries are invited to review the record and make comments and suggestions for improvement. The country under review then acknowledges each comment by either “accepting” the comment, meaning typically that they agree to focus on improvements, or “noting” it, indicating that they disagree and will not be focusing on improvements in this area.
[expandableHeadline]Read more [/expandableHeadline][expandableContent]
Recommendations as a recipient
| Area | Received | Accepted | Noted |
| Civil society | 1 | 1 | – |
| Elections | – | – | – |
| Enforced disappearances | 1 | 1 | – |
| Extrajudicial executions | – | – | – |
| Freedom of association and peaceful assembly | 4 | 4 | – |
| Freedom of opinion and expression | – | – | – |
| Freedom of religion and belief | – | – | – |
| Freedom of press | – | – | – |
| Human rights defenders | – | – | – |
| Human rights violations by state agents | 9 | 9 | – |
| Impunity | 1 | 1 | – |
| Indigenous peoples | 29 | 29 | – |
| Internally displaced persons | – | – | – |
| International instruments | 35 | 34 | 1 |
| Justice | 17 | 17 | – |
| Migrants | 9 | 8 | 1 |
| Minorities | 4 | 4 | – |
| Racial discrimination | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Sexual orientation and gender identity | 4 | 4 | – |
| Torture and CID treatment | 10 | 10 | – |
| Women’s rights | 58 | 58 | – |
| Total | 190 | 185 | 5 |
Note: some comments are classified under multiple categories. Only selected topics are listed in the chart.
Recommendations as a commenter
Chile has been very active in the UPR process, with 525 comments made so far in the 2nd cycle (according to the available data).
| Regional Group | Comments by Chile | Distribution |
| Latin American and Caribbean States | 100 | 19% |
| Africa Group | 145 | 28% |
| Asia Group | 158 | 30% |
| Eastern European Group | 48 | 9% |
| Western European and Other States | 74 | 14% |
Note: This data is for the 2nd cycle of the UPR. However, the final round of countries were reviewed in November/December 2016, and that data is not yet available to include in our analysis here.[/expandableContent]
UN NGO Committee
Chile participated as a member of the UN NGO Committee from 1993 to 2006.
Inter-American System:
OAS Permanent Council
Under the new leadership of Secretary General Luis Almagro, the OAS has re-found its focus on defending democracy but is still bound by the wishes and will of its members. But the newfound leader’s commitment—and the challenges—were shown at a meeting in June 2016 where Almagro presented his report on the state of democracy in Venezuela and proposed invoking the Inter-American Democratic Charter.
In June 2016, Chile voted in favor of Secretary General Luis Almagro presenting his report laying out the evidence on how and why it was necessary to invoke the Inter-American Democratic Charter in Venezuela. Despite endless procedural hurdles thrown up by Venezuela and its allies, the Permanent Council eventually got to a vote, albeit on the procedural issue of the agenda and whether Almagro should present his report at all. Chile voted with the majority.
Similarly, at the 2017 OAS General Assembly Chile voted with the majority. It voted in favor of a resolution that urged the Maduro regime not to convene a constituent assembly that would rewrite the Venezuelan constitution. Although this resolution had a majority of votes in its favor, it did not have the 23 votes it needed to pass.
Inter-American Commission for Human Rights (IACHR or Commission)
Chile has been positively engaged with the Commission, even hosting its 157th hearings. It also stepped up its contribution to the body in the midst of its financial crisis last year.
Chile’s candidate to the IACHR was elected at the 2017 OAS General Assembly. Antonia Urrejola Noguera is a Chilean technocrat and human rights lawyer. She has held numerous human rights-related positions in the Chilean government and has experience with the OAS; Global Americans ranked her highly among the candidates.
[expandableHeadline]Read more[/expandableHeadline][expandableContent]
Hearings: [3]
| Hearing | Issue | Score |
| 174th | Situación de derechos humanos en el contexto de la protesta social en Chile (DE OFICIO) | |
| 172nd | Situation of migrants in Chile | |
| 171st | Situation of Environmental “Sacrifice Zones” and Consequences of Industrial Activities on the Right to Health in Chile | |
| 170th | Human Rights Situation in the Juvenile National Service in Chile | |
| 161st | Human Rights Situation of the Rapa Nui People in Chile (Ex-officio) | 3/3 |
| 161st | Case 12.956-F.S., Chile (Merits) | 3/3 |
| 161st | Independence of Justice Operators in Chile | 3/3 |
| 156th | Violence against Indigenous Children and Impunity | 2/3 |
Voluntary financial contributions to IACHR:
| Year | Contributions by Chile | Percentage of Total Contributions to IACHR |
| 2011 | $15,000 | 0.3% |
| 2012 | $55,000 | 1.4% |
| 2013 | $80,000 | 1.3% |
| 2014 | $85,000 | 1.7% |
| 2015 | $45,000 | 1.1% |
| 2016 | $80,000 | 2% |
[/expandableContent]
Electoral Missions
The OAS has never conducted electoral observation missions in Chile. In fact, Chile only shares this particularity along with Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, Trinidad & Tobago, and Uruguay.
Freedom of Information Laws
Since 2000 the right to information and freedom of information laws have expanded across the region. However, the existence of the laws on the books does not necessarily mean full enforcement.
[expandableHeadline]Read more[/expandableHeadline][expandableContent]
| Signatory/Participant in MESICIC* | Yes |
| Constitutional protection* | Yes |
| Specific law enacted* | Yes- enacted in 2008 |
| Is there a presumption of right* | Yes |
| Scope/Exceptions/Overrides* | No requesting procedure for legislature/judiciary; law trumped by state secrecy laws; no overrides |
| Received information under FOIA law?** | 71% |
| Received information within a week?** | 46% |
| Received the appropriate information?** | 69% |
*Data taken from the Global Right to Information ratings, provided by the Center for Law and Democracy.
**Information from the 2015 World Justice Project Open Government Index
[/expandableContent]
Women’s rights:
Protecting women against gender-based violence is a human rights issue often overlooked globally even though it crosses social, economic and national boundaries. And according to the United Nations Population Fund, gender-based violence undermines the health, security, dignity, and autonomy of its victims. Although 16 countries in Latin America had modified their laws to include a specific type of crime referring to the murder of women by 2015, they are not uniformly implemented, and practices to convict perpetrators of gender-based violence are still extremely weak. A 2016 report published by the Small Arms Survey found that Latin America and the Caribbean is home to 14 of the 25 countries with the highest rates of femicide in the world.
[expandableHeadline]Read more[/expandableHeadline][expandableContent]
Although the female homicide rate is 1.1 per 100,000 women, the femicide law in Chile created is not enough. The Femicide Act of 2010 rules gender-based violence femicide if the victim is or has been the spouse of the aggressor, or if the victim is currently cohabiting or has cohabited with the aggressor. The femicide law has no application when there is no existing bond between the murderer and the victim. This law disqualifies all other types of femicide apart from intimate femicide, or the killing of women by current or former partners and other family members. By doing so, it excludes other types of femicide.
[/expandableContent]
Indigenous rights:
7.8 percent of the population in Latin America, roughly 41,813,039 people, identify as indigenous, 49 percent of them live in urban areas and 51 percent live in rural areas.
The Labour Organization’s Convention 169 (ILO 169)
The Labour Organization’s Convention 169 (ILO169)—which has the status of an international treaty—establishes the right of indigenous and tribal peoples to be consulted when a policy or project affects their culture or heritage through what is commonly called “previous and informed consent.” The vaguely worded treaty has been a point of contention in some countries, among governments, investors and communities; and progress in implementing it has been uneven. The Convention has been interpreted, in particular, as applying to issues of national resource extraction and infrastructure development that affect communal lands. In Latin America 16 countries have signed ILO 169.
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People’s (UNDRIP)
Adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2007, all Latin American countries, except Colombia, which abstained, voted in favor of this declaration. The only four countries to initially reject this declaration were the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. While it is not a legally binding instrument, it is an “important standard” for the treatment of indigenous people. The declaration sets out the collective and individual rights of indigenous peoples, as well as their rights to culture, identity, language, employment, health, education, and other issues. It prohibits discrimination against indigenous peoples and promotes their full and effective participation in all matters that concern them and their right to remain distinct and to pursue their own visions of economic and social development. The end goal is to encourage countries to work alongside indigenous communities to solve global issues, like development, multicultural democracy and decentralization.
American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People
In 2016, the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) approved the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples after a long negotiation of 17 years. The declaration recognizes the collective organization and multicultural character of indigenous peoples, the self-identification of people who consider themselves indigenous and special protection for peoples in voluntary isolation or initial contact. However, the declaration was met with resistance by members of the indigenous community, who complained that they did not have full participation in the negotiations and that the declaration rolled back several rights recognized in UNDRIP. The declaration does not mention the right to previous and informed consultation.
Previous to the declaration, in 1990, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) had created the Office of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to devote attention to Indigenous Peoples in the Americas and to “strengthen, promote, and systemize the IACHR’s own work in this area. The current Rapporteur on the Right of Indigenous Peoples is Francisco José Eguiguren Praeli, Ambassador of Peru to Spain from 2012 to 2014 and Minister of the Office of Justice. He received a law degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru with a master’s degree in Constitutional Law and a PhD in Humanities. Former Rapporteurs include, Rose-Marie Belle Antoine a former IACHR Commissioner and Dinah Shelton an international law consultant for the World Health Organization, the United Nations Environment Programme among other organizations.
[expandableHeadline]Read more[/expandableHeadline][expandableContent]
There is no self-declared indigenous representative in Chile’s national legislature.
Projections from 2002 data predicted that in 2010, Chile would have around 788,935 indigenous people, representing 4.6 percent of the population. Sixty-five percent of indigenous people were living in cities according to the most recent data.
On September 2008, the Chilean government signed ILO 169, the last of the 16 countries in the region to do so. It also voted in favor of UNDRIP and the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.
[/expandableContent]