DOCSLIB.ORG

CASE of GARCÍA LUCERO ET AL. V. CHILE

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
CASE of GARCÍA LUCERO ET AL. V. CHILE INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS CASE OF GARCÍA LUCERO ET AL. v. CHILE JUDGMENT OF AUGUST 28, 2013 (Preliminary objection, merits and reparations) In the case of García Lucero et al., the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (hereinafter “the Inter-American Court” or “the Court”), composed of the following judges:∗ Diego García-Sayán, President Manuel E. Ventura Robles, Vice President Alberto Pérez Pérez, Judge Roberto F. Caldas, Judge Humberto Antonio Sierra Porto, Judge, and Eduardo Ferrer Mac-Gregor Poisot, Judge; also present, Pablo Saavedra Alessandri, Secretary, and Emilia Segares Rodríguez, Deputy Secretary, pursuant to Articles 62(3) and 63(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Convention” or “the American Convention”) and Articles 31, 32, 42, 65 and 67 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court (hereinafter “the Rules of Procedure”), delivers this Judgment structured as follows: ∗ Under Article 19(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the Inter-American Court applicable to this case, which establishes that “[i]n the cases referred to in Article 45 of the Convention, national Judges will be unable to participate in the hearing and deliberation of the case,” Judge Eduardo Vio Grossi, a Chilean national, did not take part in the processing of this case or in the deliberation and signature of this Judgment. TABLE OF CONTENTS I INTRODUCTION OF THE CASE AND SUBJECT OF THE DISPUTE 4 II PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COURT 6 III COMPETENCE 8 IV PRELIMINARY OBJECTION: LACK OF TEMPORAL AND MATERIAL COMPETENCE 8 A. ARGUMENTS OF THE PARTIES AND OF THE COMMISSION 8 B. CONSIDERATIONS OF THE COURT 10 B.1.) REGARDING THE LACK OF MATERIAL COMPETENCE 10 B.2.) REGARDING THE LACK OF TEMPORAL COMPETENCE 11 V EVIDENCE 15 A. DOCUMENTARY, TESTIMONIAL AND EXPERT EVIDENCE 16 B. ADMISSION OF THE DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE 16 C. ADMISSION OF THE STATEMENTS OF THE PRESUMED VICTIMS, AND THE TESTIMONIAL AND EXPERT EVIDENCE 17 VI FACTS 18 A. BACKGROUND: FACTS PRIOR TO THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE CONTENTIOUS JURISDICTION OF THE COURT 18 A.1) CONTEXT 18 A.2.) SITUATION OF LEOPOLDO GARCÍA LUCERO AND HIS FAMILY 19 A.2.1) Regarding Mr. García Lucero and his family 19 A.2.2) Detention, torture and exile of Leopoldo García Lucero (from September 16, 1973, to June 12, 1975) 20 A.2.3) Decree Law No. 2,191 or Amnesty Law 21 A.2.4) National Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Rettig Commission) 21 B. FACTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE ACCEPTANCE OF JURISDICTION 22 B.1. SYSTEM OF REPARATIONS ADOPTED BY THE STATE 22 B.1.1) Law No. 19,123 - National Compensation and Reconciliation Board 22 B.1.2) Laws that regulate the pension and special bonus payment for those “dismissed for political reasons” 23 B.1.3) Laws relating to Chileans who were exiled 23 B.1.4) Human Rights program “No hay Mañana sin Ayer” 24 B.1.5) National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture (Valech Commission) 24 B.2) MEASURES OF REPARATION GRANTED TO MR. GARCÍA LUCERO BY THE STATE 25 B.2.1) Benefit as a Person Dismissed for Political Reasons under Law No. 19,234 26 B.2.2) Special compensatory bonus payment under Law No. 20,134 27 B.3.3) One-time bonus payment under Law No. 19,992 27 B.3 CURRENT SITUATION OF MR. GARCÍA LUCERO 27 C. FACTS RELATING TO THE INVESTIGATION OPENED ON OCTOBER 7, 2011 27 VII JUDICIAL GUARANTEES AND JUDICIAL PROTECTION IN RELATION TO THE GENERAL OBLIGATION TO ENSURE HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE OBLIGATION TO ADAPT DOMESTIC LEGISLATION AND THE OBLIGATIONS TO INVESTIGATE AND TO PUNISH ACTS OF TORTURE AND TO GUARANTEE THEIR INTEGRAL REPARATION 34 A. INTRODUCTION 34 B. REGARDING THE INVESTIGATION OF THE FACTS 36 B.1) ARGUMENTS OF THE COMMISSION AND OF THE PARTIES 36 B.2) CONSIDERATIONS OF THE COURT 39 B.2.1) Regarding the immediate opening of an investigation ex officio 40 2 B.2.2) Regarding humane treatment 41 B.2.3) Regarding the measures taken in the investigation opened on October 7, 2011 42 B.2.4) Conclusion 44 C. REGARDING THE ALLEGED LEGAL OBSTACLES TO THE INVESTIGATION 45 C.1) ARGUMENTS OF THE COMMISSION AND OF THE PARTIES 45 C.2) CONSIDERATIONS OF THE COURT 46 C.2.1) Regarding Decree-Law No. 2,191 “granting amnesty” 47 C.2.2) Regarding article 15 of Law No. 19,992 48 C.2.3) Regarding articles 150 A and 150 B of the Criminal Code and 330 of the Code of Military Justice 49 D. REGARDING THE DOMESTIC PROCEEDINGS TO CLAIM MEASURES OF REPARATION 50 D.1) ARGUMENTS OF THE COMMISSION AND OF THE PARTIES 50 D.2) CONSIDERATIONS OF THE COURT 55 D.2.1) The administrative reparation programs and the rights to judicial guarantees and protection 58 D.2.2) Access to remedies to claim measures of reparation in this case 62 D.2.2.1) Measures of compensation and rehabilitation as “rights” to be protected in this case 63 D.2.2.2) The possibilities of filing claims in relation to measures of reparation 65 D.2.2.3) Conclusion 68 VIII FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT AND RESIDENCE 68 A. ARGUMENTS OF THE COMMISSION AND OF THE PARTIES 68 B. CONSIDERATIONS OF THE COURT 68 IX REPARATIONS (APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 63(1) OF THE AMERICAN CONVENTION) 69 A. INJURED PARTY 70 B. OBLIGATION TO INVESTIGATE THE FACTS AND TO IDENTIFY AND, AS APPROPRIATE, PUNISH THOSE RESPONSIBLE 70 B.1) ARGUMENTS OF THE COMMISSION AND OF THE PARTIES 70 B.2) CONSIDERATIONS OF THE COURT 70 C. MEASURES OF SATISFACTION AND REHABILITATION 71 C.1) MEASURE OF SATISFACTION: PUBLICATION AND DISSEMINATION OF THE JUDGMENT 71 C.1.1) Arguments of the Commission and of the parties 71 C.1.2) Considerations of the Court 72 C.2) REHABILITATION 72 C.2.1) Arguments of the Commission and of the parties 72 C.2.2) Considerations of the Court 72 D. GUARANTEES OF NON-REPETITION REQUESTED BY THE COMMISSION AND THE REPRESENTATIVES 73 D.1) ARGUMENTS OF THE COMMISSION AND OF THE PARTIES 73 D.2) CONSIDERATIONS OF THE COURT 73 E. COMPENSATION 74 E.1) PECUNIARY AND NON-PECUNIARY DAMAGE 74 E.1.1) Arguments of the Commission and of the parties 74 E.1.2) Considerations of the Court 74 F. COSTS AND EXPENSES 76 G. METHOD OF COMPLYING WITH THE PAYMENTS ORDERED 76 X OPERATIVE PARAGRAPHS 77 3 I INTRODUCTION OF THE CASE AND SUBJECT OF THE DISPUTE 1. Submission of the case and synopsis. On September 20, 2011, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Inter-American Commission” or “the Commission”), under the provisions of Articles 51 and 61 of the American Convention and Article 35 of the Court’s Rules of Procedure, submitted to the jurisdiction of the Court case No. 12,519 relating to García Lucero et al. against the Republic of Chile (hereinafter “the State” or “Chile”). 2. According to the Commission, this case concerns the State’s alleged international responsibility for the failure to investigate and to make integral reparation for the various acts of torture suffered by Leopoldo Guillermo García Lucero (hereinafter also “Leopoldo García Lucero,” “Leopoldo García,” “Mr. García Lucero” or “the presumed victim”1) from the time of his arrest on September 16, 1973, until June 12, 1975, the date on which he left Chilean territory by a decision of the Ministry of the Interior. Since 1975, Mr. García Lucero has been living in the United Kingdom. According to the Commission, Chile “has failed to provide integral reparation for Mr. García Lucero, from an individualized perspective and taking into account that he lives in exile, as well as the permanent disability he suffers as a result of the torture he endured.” In addition, it indicated that the State had failed to comply with its obligation to investigate the said torture, ex officio, and had kept Decree-Law No. 2,191, which was incompatible with the American Convention, in force. The Commission added that, while the facts of the case related to the failure to investigate and make reparation for the acts of torture began before Chile had accepted the contentious jurisdiction of the Court on August 21, 1990, these omissions had continued after that acceptance, and continued to this day. 3. The Commission asked the Court to declare the violation of the rights to judicial guarantees and protection and to humane treatment, in relation to the general obligation to guarantee human rights, as well as the obligation to adapt its domestic legislation (Articles 8(1), 25(1), 5(1), 1(1) and 2 of the American Convention) and the obligation to investigate established in Article 8 of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture (hereinafter also “the Inter-American Convention against Torture”), to the detriment of Leopoldo García Lucero and his family; also, the violation of the right to integral, adequate and effective reparation under the general obligation to ensure rights in keeping with Article 5(1) of the American Convention, in conjunction with Article 1(1) of this treaty, to the detriment of Mr. García Lucero. In addition, it asked that the Court declare the violation of the right to humane treatment established in Article 5(1) of the Convention, in relation to the general obligation to ensure human rights established in Article 1(1) of this instrument, to the detriment of Elena Otilia García (hereinafter also “Elena García”), wife of Mr. García Lucero, of her daughters, María Elena Klug and Gloria Klug, and of Francisca Rocío García Illanes.2 Furthermore, the Commission asked the Court to order the State to adopt specific measures of reparation.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Truth Commissions and Reparations: a Framework for Post- Conflict Justice in Argentina, Chile Guatemala, and Peru
    University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Honors Theses (PPE) Philosophy, Politics and Economics 5-2021 Truth Commissions and Reparations: A Framework for Post- Conflict Justice in Argentina, Chile Guatemala, and Peru Anthony Chen Student Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/ppe_honors Part of the Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, Comparative Politics Commons, Human Rights Law Commons, International Law Commons, International Relations Commons, Latin American History Commons, Latin American Studies Commons, Law and Philosophy Commons, Law and Politics Commons, Models and Methods Commons, Other Political Science Commons, Political History Commons, and the Political Theory Commons Chen, Anthony, "Truth Commissions and Reparations: A Framework for Post-Conflict Justice in Argentina, Chile Guatemala, and Peru" (2021). Honors Theses (PPE). Paper 43. This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/ppe_honors/43 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Truth Commissions and Reparations: A Framework for Post-Conflict Justice in Argentina, Chile Guatemala, and Peru Abstract This paper seeks to gauge the effectiveness of truth commissions and their links to creating material reparations programs through two central questions. First, are truth commissions an effective way to achieve justice after periods of conflict marked by mass or systemic human rights abuses by the government or guerilla groups? Second, do truth commissions provide a pathway to material reparations programs for victims of these abuses? It will outline the conceptual basis behind truth commissions, material reparations, and transitional justice. It will then engage in case studies and a comparative analysis of truth commissions and material reparations programs in four countries: Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, and Peru.
    [Show full text]
  • Deaths and Disappearances in the Pinochet Regime: a New Dataset∗
    Deaths and Disappearances in the Pinochet Regime: A New Dataset∗ Danilo Freire† John Meadowcroft‡ David Skarbek§ Eugenia Guerrero¶ 30 May 2019 Abstract This article presents a georeferenced dataset on human rights violations in the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile. We coded the personal details of 2,398 victims named in the Chilean Truth Commission Report and added geographical coordinates for all identiable atrocity locations. The dataset comprises 59 variables from 1973 to 1990 and is available as a stand-alone spreadsheet or as the pinochet package for R. As examples, we describe the major temporal and spatial patterns of the human rights abuses. We also discuss our coding procedures, show descriptive statistics, and conclude with suggestions for potential applications of the dataset. Keywords: Chile, georeferenced event data, human rights, Pinochet, truth commission ∗We thank Umberto Mignozzetti, Lucas Mingardi and Robert Myles McDonnell for their helpful comments. Replication materials and R source code are available at http://github.com/danilofreire/pinochet. †Postdoctoral Research Fellow, the Political Theory Project, Brown University, 8 Fones Alley, Providence, RI 02912, [email protected], http://danilofreire.github.io. Corresponding author. ‡Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, Department of Political Economy, King’s College London, [email protected], http://johnmeadowcroft.net. §Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and the Political Theory Project, Brown University, [email protected], http://davidskarbek.com. ¶Software Developer, Attest, UK. 1 1 Introduction On 11 September 1973, General Augusto Pinochet led a coup against Chile’s socialist President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the beginning of a seventeen-year military dictatorship which combined rapid economic liberalisation with large-scale political repression (Valdés 1995).
    [Show full text]
  • Chilean Media and Discourses of Human Rights
    Kristin Sorensen Department of Communication and Culture Indiana University Chilean Television and Human Rights Discourse: The Case of Chilevisión In this paper, I am looking at the manner in which Chilean television discusses human rights violations committed during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet from 1973 to 1990. During Pinochet’s regime an estimated 3,500 Chileans were “disappeared,” assassinated, or executed, and approximately 300,000 Chileans were detained, tortured, and exiled. This dictatorship constituted a rupture in the nation’s history, which has needed in some way to be addressed by families who suffered the trauma of torture, disappearances, executions, and exile. This historical rupture has needed to be addressed by the nation as well, as it struggles to move from a repressive totalitarian regime to a democracy. Through an intricate interplay of censorship, remembrance, and protest, television has played a key role in structuring how Chileans today conceive of this moment. It is with television’s role in alternately silencing and re-presenting trauma during times of social upheaval and flux, as well as with how audiences respond to these re-presentations, that my paper is expressly concerned. In October of 1998, Pinochet was placed under house arrest in London. Spanish Judge Baltazar Garzón wished to extradite Pinochet to Spain to be tried for human rights violations. This incident opened the floodgates to an international dialogue regarding the role of the international community in holding human rights violators accountable when they cannot be properly judged and punished within their own nations. This event also revived the global community’s awareness of the legacy of Chile’s dictatorship and the lack of progress the country has made in dealing with its recent past.
    [Show full text]
  • REPORT No. 402/20 PETITION 1549-11
    OEA/Ser.L/V/II. REPORT No. 402/20 Doc. 420 10 D ecember 2020 PETITION 1549-11 Original: Spanish REPORT ON ADMISSIBILITY JOSÉ DOMINGO ADASME NUÑEZ AND FAMILY CHILE Approved by the Commission electronically on December 10, 2020 Cite as: IACHR, Report No. 402/20, Petition 1549-11. Admissibility. José Domingo Adasme Núñez and family. Chile. December 10, 2020. www.iachr.org I. INFORMATION ABOUT THE PETITION Petitioner: Nelson Caucoto Pereira1 Alleged victim: José Domingo Adasme Núñez y familia2 Respondent State: Chile3 Articles 4 (life), 5 (personal integrity), 7 (personal liberty), 8 (fair trial) and 25 (judicial protection) of the American Convention on Rights invoked: Human Rights4 in relation to its Article 1.1 (obligation to respect rights) and 2 (domestic legal effects) of the same instrument. II. PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE IACHR5 Filing of the petition: November 3, 2011 Notification of the petition to the State: June 16, 2016 State’s first response: December 28, 2016 Additional observations from the September 8, 2017 petitioner: III. COMPETENCE Competence Ratione personae: Yes Competence Ratione loci: Yes Competence Ratione temporis: Yes Yes, American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man 6 (Ratification of the OAS Charter on June 5, 1953); American Convention on Human Rights (deposit of the instrument made on Competence Ratione materiae: August 21, 1990); Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture7 (deposit of the instrument made on September 30, 1988); and Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons
    [Show full text]
  • “There Is No Tomorrow Without Yesterday” an Analysis of President Lagos’ Proposal on Human Rights*
    CONFERENCE Translated by John Bell “THERE IS NO TOMORROW WITHOUT YESTERDAY” AN ANALYSIS OF PRESIDENT LAGOS’ PROPOSAL ON HUMAN RIGHTS* José Zalaquett In the following pages we reproduce the talk that Jose Zalaquett gave in the Centro de Estudios Publicos (the Centre for Public Studies) about the proposal on human rights announced by President Lagos in August 2002. At the same time we have included the opening words from the Director of the Centro de Estudios Publicos, Arturo Fontaine Talavera, and the conversations that took place with the public at the end of the conference. JOSE ZALAQUETT is a lawyer at the University of Chile. He won the National Prize for the Humanities in 2003. He is also President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a committee member of the International Commission of Jurists and on the board of various international and Chilean organisations to do with human rights. He has been a visiting Professor at the Universities of Harvard, Toronto and New York and is Professor of Human Rights in the Law School of the Universidad de Chile. He directed the Legal Department of the Commission for Co-operation for Peace in Chile (later known as the Vicaria de la Solidaridad). After being expelled from the country in 1973, he joined Amnesty International, where he later became Assistant General Secretary and President. He joined the Comision Nacional de Verdad y Reconciliacion (the National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation) between 1990 and 1991, and later on the Mesa de Dialogo sobre Derechos Humanos (the Round Table for Dialogue regarding Human Rights) from 1999 to 2000.
    [Show full text]
  • Terrorism and Political Violence During the Pinochet Years: Chile, 1973–1989
    REFLECTIONS AND REPORTS Terrorism and Political Violence during the Pinochet Years: Chile, 1973–1989 Verónica Valdivia Ortiz de Zárate Chile has historically viewed itself as atypical compared to other Latin American countries, especially because of the political stability achieved following indepen- dence and the marginality of the military from explicit involvement in politics. Con- vinced of this particularity, the country was shocked by the violence exhibited by the armed forces on the morning of September 11, 1973, and during the days and months that followed the unseating of the constitutional president, Salvador Allende. Seventeen years of one of the most cruel dictatorships in the memory of Latin Amer- ica brutally replaced Chile’s long history of civilian rule. Terror took control of a large part of the population, incapable of understanding and, least of all, responding to the violence that hovered systematically over it. As Norbert Lechner has put it to so well, Chilean society “was dying with fear.”1 The level of political and social polarization in Chilean society during the months and days leading to the military coup constituted one of the factors that, from the beginning, allowed the Pinochet regime to justify the violence it employed against the population at large. The high degree of concentration of power and social control in military hands also facilitated a hegemonic discourse about the causes of, and those responsible for, the final crisis: the Marxist left that made up the over- thrown Unidad Popular (Popular Unity). For seventeen years Chilean society had ample opportunity to internalize the messages emitted by the dictatorship.
    [Show full text]
  • Challenging Grants of Amnesty for the Human Rights Violations of a Prior Regime: Chile's New Model
    Fordham Law Review Volume 62 Issue 4 Article 4 1994 Will the Rule of Law End? Challenging Grants of Amnesty for the Human Rights Violations of a Prior Regime: Chile's New Model Robert J. Quinn Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Robert J. Quinn, Will the Rule of Law End? Challenging Grants of Amnesty for the Human Rights Violations of a Prior Regime: Chile's New Model, 62 Fordham L. Rev. 905 (1994). Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol62/iss4/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. It has been accepted for inclusion in Fordham Law Review by an authorized editor of FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Will the Rule of Law End? Challenging Grants of Amnesty for the Human Rights Violations of a Prior Regime: Chile's New Model Cover Page Footnote I thank the Fordham-MCI International Legal Fellowship for funding the research for this Note. I thank Carmen Rohland, Doris and Marcello Montealegre, Hernán Montealegre Klenner, and the many individuals in Chile and the United States who assisted me with interviews and guidance. I also thank Kenneth Anderson, Manuel DelValle, and José Miguel Vivanco for their advice on sections of the text. This article is available in Fordham Law Review: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol62/iss4/4 NOTE WILL THE RULE OF LAW END?* CHALLENGING GRANTS OF AMNESTY FOR THE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS OF A PRIOR REGIME: CHILE'S NEW MODEL ROBERTJ.
    [Show full text]
  • Chilean Arpilleras: Writing a Visual Culture R
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings Textile Society of America 2018 Chilean Arpilleras: Writing a Visual Culture R. Darden Bradshaw University of Dayton, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tsaconf Part of the Art and Materials Conservation Commons, Art Practice Commons, Fashion Design Commons, Fiber, Textile, and Weaving Arts Commons, Fine Arts Commons, and the Museum Studies Commons Bradshaw, R. Darden, "Chilean Arpilleras: Writing a Visual Culture" (2018). Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings. 1069. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tsaconf/1069 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Textile Society of America at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Published in Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings 2018 Presented at Vancouver, BC, Canada; September 19 – 23, 2018 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tsaconf/ Copyright © by the author(s). doi 10.32873/unl.dc.tsasp.0023 Chilean Arpilleras: Writing a Visual Culture R. Darden Bradshaw [email protected] Demonstration outside of a church, 00001; M. Dieter collection ©Museum of Memory and Human Rights, Santiago, Chile Arpilleras, historically created in the home and sewn by hand, are constructions of pictorial narratives in which bits of discarded cloth are appliqued onto a burlap backing. The art form has been historically practiced in Chile for some time but arose to global prominence during a period of intense political oppression; these works of art, created in response to the atrocities committed by the Pinochet regime from 1973 to 1990 have served, and continue to serve, as seditious and reconstructive forms of visual culture.
    [Show full text]
  • A/HRC/22/45/Add.1 General Assembly
    United Nations A/HRC/22/45/Add.1 General Assembly Distr.: General 29 January 2013 English Original: Spanish Human Rights Council Twenty-second session Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances Addendum Mission to Chile * Summary At the invitation of the Government of Chile, the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances visited the country from 13 to 21 August 2012. The Working Group recognizes that since the return to democracy, significant steps have been taken to secure truth, justice, reparation and to preserve memory in the face of the grave human rights violations committed during the military dictatorship. These achievements have been the result of initiatives undertaken, promoted or carried out mainly by relatives of the victims, civil society and some State actors. The Working Group noted that the State should assert its responsibility and leadership by ensuring that these initiatives are part of a comprehensive, consistent and continuous policy. Chile still faces other important challenges, including the fact that the Amnesty Decree-Law is still in force, the imposition of minor penalties on perpetrators, the slow progress of judicial proceedings, the continued use of military courts — even in cases of human rights violations — and the absence of a national plan to search for disappeared persons. * The summary of this report is being distributed in all official languages. The full report, which is annexed to this summary, is being circulated in the language of submission and English only.
    [Show full text]
  • Truth and Reconciliation Commissions and the Search for Justice: a Comparative Study of Chile, Argentina and Guatemala
    Claremont Colleges Scholarship @ Claremont CMC Senior Theses CMC Student Scholarship 2018 Truth and Reconciliation Commissions and the Search for Justice: A Comparative Study of Chile, Argentina and Guatemala Pastor Jose Arroyo Claremont McKenna College Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses Part of the Latin American Studies Commons Recommended Citation Arroyo, Pastor Jose, "Truth and Reconciliation Commissions and the Search for Justice: A Comparative Study of Chile, Argentina and Guatemala" (2018). CMC Senior Theses. 1783. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1783 This Open Access Senior Thesis is brought to you by Scholarship@Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in this collection by an authorized administrator. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Claremont McKenna College Truth and Reconciliation Commissions and the Search for Justice: A Comparative Study of Chile, Argentina and Guatemala submitted to Roderic Ai Camp by Pastor Jose Arroyo for Senior Thesis Fall 2017 December 4, 2017 Abstract During the mid to late 1900s many Latin American countries found themselves under the rule of violent military regimes and in civil war. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the atrocities committed in the late 20th century throughout Latin America and to discuss the ways in which these societies, affected by state violence, were able to overcome the past. In this paper, I will look at the purpose of truth and reconciliation commissions and their outcomes in Chile, Argentina, and Guatemala in order to find some similarities and compare and contrast the successes and failures of the different commissions in their respective settings.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 10 the Final Report and a Fterlife of a Truth Commission
    Click image for full publication Chapter10 10 The Final Report and Afterlife of a Truth Commission “The Final Report speaks of shame and dishonor, but its pages also record acts of courage, selfl ess gestures and signs of dignity that show us that human beings are essentially magnanimous. The report tells of people who did not renounce the authority and responsibility conferred upon them by their neighbors; who stood up to abandonment to defend their families, transforming their work tools as a weapons; who were unjustly imprisoned; who assumed their responsibility to defend the nation without violating the law; who refused to be uprooted and defended life. They are to be found in the core of our memory.” Preface, Final Report, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Peru, 2003 The Final Report and Afterlife of a Truth Commission Contents of a Final Report Th e work of a truth commission culminates in the publication of a fi nal report, the offi cial written record of the commission’s work and fi ndings. It should be an important reference tool for scholars, policy makers, and histori- ans for years to come. Th e majority of the report will consist of the commission’s fi ndings, that is, conclusions and descriptions of historical events. Another signifi cant section of the commission will be devoted to its policy recommenda- tions. Additionally, the fi nal report should include: • Th e commission’s mandate, terms of reference, authorizing charters, procedural rules and any other relevant laws • Background information on the commission members and an explanation of how they were chosen • A description of the role of the government or other public or private institutions in the establishment and operations of the commission • A clear explanation of the methodology used during testimony and investigations • A list of the documents and evidence that gave rise to conclusions, relevant laws, and analysis of the failings within the institutional and social structures that led to events.
    [Show full text]
  • General Assembly Distr.: General 29 January 2013 English
    United Nations A/HRC/22/45/Add.1 General Assembly Distr.: General 29 January 2013 English Original: Spanish Human Rights Council Twenty-second session Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances Addendum Mission to Chile * Summary At the invitation of the Government of Chile, the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances visited the country from 13 to 21 August 2012. The Working Group recognizes that since the return to democracy, significant steps have been taken to secure truth, justice, reparation and to preserve memory in the face of the grave human rights violations committed during the military dictatorship. These achievements have been the result of initiatives undertaken, promoted or carried out mainly by relatives of the victims, civil society and some State actors. The Working Group noted that the State should assert its responsibility and leadership by ensuring that these initiatives are part of a comprehensive, consistent and continuous policy. Chile still faces other important challenges, including the fact that the Amnesty Decree-Law is still in force, the imposition of minor penalties on perpetrators, the slow progress of judicial proceedings, the continued use of military courts — even in cases of human rights violations — and the absence of a national plan to search for disappeared persons. * The summary of this report is being distributed in all official languages. The full report, which is annexed to this summary, is being circulated in the language of submission and English only.
    [Show full text]