A/HRC/26/5
human resources and technical assistance, and in particular investing resources in water
management.
108. Despite the fact that a full consensus had not been reached on certain areas of the
consultation process with indigenous peoples, the relevant aspects of the procedures,
subjects, stages and deadlines had been agreed. The new regulation would enter into force
soon, which was a step forward. It would be different to the current regulation, in that it
would not only be the right to land which would be the subject of consultations.
Consequently, indigenous people, whose traditions, customs and religious, cultural and
spiritual practices had been affected, would also be entitled to a prior consultation process.
Likewise, the current regulation on the assessment of environmental impact – in force since
December 2013 – also incorporated special provisions for consultation when an investment
project had an impact on indigenous peoples, rather than on the environment.
109. The delegation noted that the Amnesty Law, although still formally in force, had not
been used by the courts since 1998. Currently, more than 1,000 legal proceedings
pertaining to human rights violations were ongoing and the Ministry of Interior was a
prosecutorial party in 800 of them. Additionally, since 2012, the Supreme Court had
decided to stay the use of the statute of limitations in cases of serious, massive and
systematic violations of human rights perpetrated during the dictatorship.
110. The Government had established several programmes of reparation for victims who
qualified for them: inter alia, pensions for the spouses, mothers, fathers or children of
victims, bonuses and scholarships for the children of victims and exemption from
compulsory military service. Also, on the fortieth anniversary of the military coup, the
Government had ordered the closure of a detention centre used exclusively by former
members of the security forces.
111. In recent decades, Chile had become a major destination of international migration.
To facilitate the integration of the immigrant community, the Government had encouraged
a process of regularization.
112. Moreover, in 2010 the Refugee Protection Act had been adopted, incorporating the
international commitments undertaken by Chile. In 2011, a law defining the smuggling of
migrants and trafficking of persons as a crime had been enacted and in 2013, a bill on
immigration had been sent to parliament after an extensive process of consultation between
the State and civil society. That bill, which should be adopted without delay, would replace
the Immigration Act of 1975.
113. Chile was about to establish the office of the undersecretary for human rights. A bill
was in its second legislative process in the Chamber of Deputies. Once established, the
office would be able to draw up a national human rights plan, fulfilling that commitment.
114. As for the national mechanism for the prevention of torture, the Government had
been working with the National Institute for Human Rights in order to implement it as
swiftly as possible. In addition, the draft of the Penal Code that the executive branch would
submit in March 2014 would incorporate a definition of the crime of torture.
115. The fight against domestic violence had been a priority for Chile. In 2010, the law
that defines femicide as a crime had been approved, increasing the penalties for former
spouses and partners of the victims. The programme “Chile acoge” (“Chile embraces”)
sought to reduce violence against women by paying more attention to the victims and to
prevention in children and adolescents. It also included the rehabilitation of men who used
violence against their partners and the protection of women who suffered sexual violence or
had been victims of the crime of trafficking. In this context, the number of femicides had
been reduced from 57 cases in 2008 to 34 in 2012 and 40 in 2013.
116. The State promoted the reconciliation of family obligations and work
responsibilities, as well as the sharing of responsibilities between parents in the care of
children, so that women would have more opportunities for work and personal
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