41st Session of the UN Human Rights Council
Pro Acceso and CIVICUS welcome the government of Chile's engagement with the UPR process. We also welcome the government's progress in relation to the legislative framework governing freedom of association and progressive initiatives to strengthen the participation of civil society.
However, in our joint UPR Submission, we documented significant challenges with respect to the right to peaceful assembly both in law and in practice. In addition, the government has failed to create a safe environment for HRDs, particularly for indigenous people, who continue to face attacks and criminalisation.
We remain concerned by the lack of commitment of the government to amend legislation regulating peaceful protest, which contradicts the Chilean Constitution and international standards. The Supreme Decree 1,086, which came into force in 1983, regulates this right and establishes procedures that in practice functions as a system of prior authorisation.
In practice, civil society has documented cases of excessive use of force by the police, including the use of teargas bombs, rubber bullets and hydrant trucks. Between June 2016 and March 2019, the CIVICUS Monitor received several reports of police repression of protests, especially protests by students and members of the Mapuche community.
In addition, we are concerned by the misuse of the Anti-Terrorism Law (Law 18,314 on counter terrorism policy) against members of the Mapuche indigenous community advocating for land and environmental rights. The legislation has been used in a "total of 19 emblematic cases, involving 108 individuals, mostly related to situations of Mapuche protests.”
Mr President, Pro Acceso and CIVICUS call on the Government of Chile to take proactive measures to address these concerns and implement recommendations to create and maintain, in law and in practice, an enabling environment for civil society, including signing and ratifying the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean known as the Escazu Agreement, whose negotiation process Chile lead since 2012, and which establishes specific obligations for the protection of environmental defenders.