CAT/C/CHL/CO/5
page 3
Punishment of international crimes
11. The Committee welcomes the bill which would define crimes against humanity, genocide
and war crimes as offences, and particularly welcomes article 40 of the bill, which would
establish the imprescriptibility of all such crimes. However, the Committee is concerned at the
delay in adopting the bill (art. 2).
The Committee urges the State party to pass into law the bill establishing the
imprescriptibility of the above-mentioned crimes.
Amnesty Decree-Law No. 2.191
12. The Committee notes that the Chilean courts, and in particular the Supreme Court, are
handing down judgements in which they rule that the Amnesty Decree-Law (under which people
who committed human rights violations between 11 September 1973 and 10 March 1978 cannot
be punished) is inapplicable, citing international human rights instruments as the legal basis for
that finding. Nonetheless, the Committee feels that, in line with the ruling of the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights in the case of Almonacid Arellanos y otros of 26 September 2006, the
fact that this decree-law remains in force leaves the application of the amnesty up to the
judgement of the domestic courts. The Committee has learned of recent Supreme Court decisions
that appear to take the existence of that decree-law into account, particularly in reducing the
applicable penalties for serious crimes committed during the dictatorship (art. 2).
The Committee recommends that, in keeping with its earlier recommendations, the
State party abrogate the Amnesty Decree-Law. The Committee draws the State
party’s attention to paragraph 5 of its general comment No. 2 on the implementation
of article 2 of the Convention by States parties, wherein it considers that amnesties or
other impediments which preclude or indicate unwillingness to provide prompt and
fair prosecution and punishment of perpetrators of torture or ill-treatment violate the
principle of non-derogability. The Committee also recommends that all necessary
steps be taken to ensure that cases of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment be thoroughly and promptly investigated in an impartial
manner, that the culprits be subsequently tried and punished, and that steps be taken
to compensate victims in accordance with the Convention.
Allegations of torture
13. The Committee is concerned about continuing allegations that serious crimes have been
committed by on-duty police officers and regrets that efforts to publicize such acts are subject to
legal restrictions, which are a contributing factor to the failure to punish such crimes (arts. 2
and 12).
The Committee recommends that the State party introduce legislative reforms
relating to supervision of the police force as soon as possible with a view to ensuring
that no action on the part of the police force that is contrary to the Convention goes
unpunished and that the investigations of such acts are effective and transparent.
The State party should reinforce educational programmes in order to ensure that all
law enforcement personnel are fully aware of the provisions of the Convention.