This Week in Human Rights News

Chile scraps Pinochet-era Constitution 

Sources: BBC, The Guardian, The New York Times

• Following a referendum, Chile has voted in favour of rewriting the country’s constitution to replace guiding principles imposed four decades ago under the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet.

• The referendum asked Chileans two questions: firstly, if they wanted a new constitution, and secondly, what kind of body they would want to draw it up.

• An overwhelming 79% of Chileans voted in favour of the new constitution being drawn up by a body which will be 100% elected by a popular vote, with no active lawmakers (Congress) involved in the process. 

• Election officials said almost 7.5 million Chileans came out to vote in the referendum that was originally held in April but was moved to October due to Covid-19. 

• The special convention would begin drafting a new constitution that would be submitted to voters in mid-2022 in a new referendum.

Why was there a vote?

• Right-wing President Piñera agreed in November 2019 to hold the referendum after a month of almost daily protests spread across Chile saw more than a million people take to the streets in the capital, Santiago.

• The protests were triggered by an increase in metro fares, but spread into a movement against high levels of inequality and high costs of living.

• Demonstrations included episodes of violence and were met with police brutality, leaving more than 30 civilians killed and thousands injured. The Public Prosecutor’s Office also received over 8,000 reports of human rights violations.

• The protesters’ demands included reforms to the country’s privatised education, health, and pensions sectors, and a call to change the country’s Pinochet-era constitution, which entrenched inequalities.

• The vote was peaceful, despite high tensions in anticipation. 

Background on constitution

• The 1980 constitution was conceived during the dictatorship of Pinochet, which is guilty of political murder, torture and exile. 

• It enshrined neoliberal philosophies of the Chicago Boys, a group of Chilean conservatives mentored by US economist Milton Friedman, and advocated minimal state intervention, allowing private sectors to control public services.

What’s next?

• Now, political and social groups have a two-month window to nominate candidates to form the constitutional assembly.

• In April 2021, the public will elect 155 members, with equal numbers of men and women — significantly, the world’s first constitution to achieve gender parity.

• Political factions are still negotiating whether to reserve seats for Indigenous delegates.

• Once the draft is ready, voters must decide whether they accept the new charter in an obligatory exit referendum in 2022. The new draft must be approved by a majority to replace the 1980 charter.