The Impact of the Inter-American Human Rights System: Current Achievements and Future Challenges 

This briefing outlines the principal conclusions and policy implications of the inaugural workshop of the Inter- American Human Rights Network, held in Mexico City in October 2014. The workshop discussions suggest that while impact is shaped by a number of factors, the Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS) is likely to be most effective where its various mechanisms are employed in a coordinated fashion; where its decisions attract widespread media attention; and where domestic actors utilise its rulings and precedents to further their own efforts to bring about national-level policy change. In seeking to expand its impact in the future, the IAHRS will need to overcome challenges related to its financing and authority, address shortcomings in the collection of data on its activities, and effectively manage the potentially divergent interests of litigants and victims within the system. 

State violence against Mapuche -  Land as part of the psychical integrity of the Mapuche

The relationship between the Chilean State and the Mapuche nation has never been easy. Over 500 years, an uncountable number of battles have claimed lives, traditions and lands which previously belonged to the Mapuche. Nowadays, this conflict does not seem to change. During the last two decades, Chilean governments have claimed that Mapuche’s fight to recover their ancestral lands is a terrorist threat to the Chilean State. For this reason, arbitrary trials and omnipotent actions had been performed by the police and courts against the Mapuche. A particular example is what happened a group of Mapuche between 2002 and 2003, who were sentenced to long prison terms using anonymous witnesses under the anti-terrorist law. This situation was denounced to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), starting thus the trial known as Norin Catrimán et. al. vs. Chile.

Regarding this case, in 2014 IACHR condemned the Chilean State “for having used its antiterrorist legislation against members of the Mapuche people” (FIDH, 2015). However, it is not clear if the State of Chile will have a different approach to Mapuche’s demands, specifically with their ancestral defense of their lands. The Chilean State strongly argues that the Mapuche nation has the right to possess lands according to the Chilean legislation on private propriety, whereas the latter do not differentiate themselves from their lands – Mapuche literally means “Land-People”. In this way, it could be argued that the conflict between the State of Chile and the Mapuche nation has it basis on two radically different views of ownership of land. This paper will show that while the State of Chile would be intrinsically carrying its function of control using vertical mechanisms of power, the Mapuche nation uses aggression as a self-defense mechanism in order to protect their psychical collective integrity.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights and Truth Commissions 

The paper, starting from the Garcia Lucero case et al. v. Chile, discusses how the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in many other cases in the region, has granted a special value to the reports of the truth commissions as relevant evidence in the determination of the context and the facts as well as of the international responsibility of States.

Additionally, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has stated on many occasions that the truth commissions in Latin America have made a significant contribution to the construction and preservation of historical memory as well as to the determination of institutional, social and political responsibilities during certain historical periods of a country.

The value of the reports of truth commissions in the Latin American region has increased enormously and truth commissions have acquired a certain judicial character that they did not have before. The fact that the Inter- American Court assigns such a high value to the reports of truth commissions is an indication of the seriousness and reliability with which their work is regarded. This, in turn gives truth commissions unprecedented legal significance in the international arena.

Since truth commissions were initially created as non-judicial mechanisms, this was an unanticipated outcome. What the Latin American cases and, in particular, the Chilean case have revealed is that truth commissions, over time, have positively interacted with the courts, both at national and international level, thus increasing their impact in the fight against impunity.

Chile and the Inter-American System for the Protection of Human Rights 

This presentation details Chile's commitment to the Inter American Human Rights System and the challenges that the State faces to implement the decisions made by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Also a brief reference to the Karen Atala case is given noting the importance of the decision and the points that are still pending for compliance.