Press Release: presentation of an alternative report on Chile to the Committee Against Torture

PRESS RELEASE Geneva, May 13, 2004 In the framework of the “prevention of torture” project, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) has prepared, jointly with four Chilean NGOs - Cintras, La Morada, Instituto de la Mujer and Opción - and with the International Women’s Human Rights Law Clinic in New York, an alternative report which was submitted to the Committee against Torture (CAT) during its 32nd session. These organisations have expressed their concern over the slight progress achieved in the field of human rights in the past 14 years of democratic transition. The coalition of NGOs welcomed the creation, in November 2003, of the Comision Nacional de Prisión Política y Tortura, which was created on the initiative of President Lagos in the context of the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the coup in Chile and whose mandate is to find a remedy to the situation of former political prisoners who have survived torture or other forms of ill-treatment. However, despite the official statistics counting for approximately 104’000 people subjected to torture or other forms of ill-treatment between 1973 and 1990, less than 25’000 people presented themselves before this Commission, which is in charge of adopting recommendations to guarantee compensation to the victims. The lack of information, the stigmatisation and the trauma of victims as well as the short period of time during which the Commission is competent to gather and document the relevant information, impedes on the success of this initiative, unprecedented since the beginning of the democratic transition. In the same time, the coalition of NGOs expressed their deepest concern regarding the Chilean Parliament’s approval of a special law allowing the government to grant special procedural privileges to people involved in crimes against humanity, perpetrated under the dictatorial regime, reaffirming the culture of impunity in the country. NGOs which are particularly active in the fight against violence against women highlighted the difficulty encountered by women who testify in cases of sexual violence, considered as torture or other forms of ill-treatment, carried out under the dictatorial regime, due to the fact that this type of violence is still considered banal in Chilean society. Moreover, these NGOs condemned practices comparable to acts of torture or other forms of ill-treatment against women who turn to public health services when suffering complications following abortion, which remains illegal in Chile. In several cases, these women received delayed medical treatment or only received them after admitting to having undergone an abortion, subjecting them to criminal procedures. Regarding children and adolescents, these NGOs realised that in spite of legislative reforms, efforts remain inadequate to ensure the implementation of international instrument regarding the rights of the child. In particular in the field of juvenile justice, the deprivation of liberty has not diminished in any significant way since Chile’s ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and many cases of ill-treatment by the police or in detention facilities have been reported. Moreover, the coalition of NGOs remains concerned by the ongoing judicial statute allowing the trial of minors who were admitted to have acted with discernment, considering them as adults, by the incarceration of minors in prisons where their separation from adults remains precarious, and by the general tendency to resolve problems of juvenile delinquency in an increasingly repressive manner. Notwithstanding that, the coalition shares the view that the recent reform of the criminal procedures will contribute to diminish abuses and ill-treatment to which men and women in detention are subjected to, and considers that this process will allow the reinforcement of the prevention of torture. To this end, the coalition call upon Chile to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court, although this remains improbable considering the present limits of the Chilean political system. Contacts : OMCT : Patrick MUTZENBERG : pm@omct.org Cintras : Simona RUY-PEREZ : dire@cintras.tie.cl La Morada : Laurena FRIES : lfries@lamorada.cl Instutito de la Mujer : Ximena ZABALA : xzavala@insmujer.cl IWHR : Rhonda COPELA : rcopelon@aol.com Opcion :Julio CORTES : politicapublica@opcion.cl