Situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Chile

1. Commends the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Chile for his report, submitted in accordance with resolution 1982/25 of the Commission on Human Rights;

2. Reiterates its grave concern at the persistence of serious and systematic violations of human rights in Chile, as described by the Special Rapporteur, in particular at the subversion of the traditional democratic legal order and its institutions, through the maintenance and widening of emergency and exceptional legislation and the promulgation of a Constitution which does not reflect a freely expressed popular will and the provisions of which suppress, suspend or restrict the enjoyment and the exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms;

3. Reiterates also its deep concern at the inefficacy of the recourse of habeas corpus or amparo in view of the fact that the judiciary in Chile does not exercise its functions fully in this respect, except with considerable restrictions;

4. Once more urgently requests the Chilean authorities to respect and promote human rights in conformity with the obligations undertaken under various international instruments and, in particular, to adopt the concrete measures contemplated in resolution 1982/25 of the Commission on Human Rights, especially the lifting of the state of emergency and the state of exception and the re-establishment of democratic institutions, by ensuring the full enjoyment and exercise of the civil and political rights as well as the economic, social and cultural rights and fundamental freedoms of the Chilean people, as provided in those international instruments;

5. Urges once more the Chilean authorities to investigate and clarify the fate of all persons who have disappeared in Chile for political reasons, to inform their families of the results of such investigation and to punish those responsible for the disappearance;

6. Further urges again the Chilean authorities to restore the full enjoyment of trade union rights, in particular the right to organize trade unions, the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike;

7. Urges the Chilean authorities to respect, in conformity with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the right of Chilean nationals to live in and freely enter and leave Chilean territory, without restrictions or conditions of any kind, and to cease the practice of"relegation" (assignment of forced residence) and forced exile, in particular of those who participate in trade union activities, academic life or the defence of human rights;

8. Also urges the Chilean authorities to put an end to arbitrary detentions and imprisonment in secret places and the practice of torture and other forms of inhuman or degrading treatment which have resulted on occasion in unexplained deaths;

9. Requests the Chilean authorities to respect fully the economic, social and cultural rights of the Chilean population in general and of the indigenous population in particular;

10. Concludes, on the basis of the report of the Special Rapporteur, that it is necessary to keep under consideration the situation of human rights in Chile;

11. Calls again on the Chilean authorities to co-operate with the Commission on Human Rights and its Special Rapporteur and to submit the commentaries on his report to the Commission on Human Rights at its thirty-ninth session;

12. Requests the Commission on Human Rights to study in depth the report of the Special Rapporteur at its thirty-ninth session, with a view to taking the most appropriate steps, in particular the extension of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, and reporting on its consideration, through the Economic and Social Council, to the General Assembly at its thirty-eighth session.