The Reparations Policy for Human Rights Violations in Chile

Source: (2006) In Pablo De Greiff, ed., The Handbook of Reparations. Oxford, New York, USA: Oxford University Press. Pp. 55-101.

“This chapter describes the reparations programs implemented in Chile from 1990 to 2004. These programs are addressed to victims of violations of human rights committed during the military regime (1973-90): the relatives of disappeared and executed persons; people who were dismissed from their jobs for political motives; peasants who participated in the land reform and were expelled for political reasons from the land; and Chilean exiles returning to the country. Political prisoners and torture victims were considered only in 2003. The creation of the Commission for Political Imprisonment and Torture (2003-5) was followed by a law that provides pensions to political prisoners and torture victims identified by the Commission. Created with different kinds of victims in mind, these programs have been based on pensions, social services, educational benefits, public recognition of the violations of the victims’ rights, monuments, sites of memory, and health assistance, mainly in the form of mental health services. The Program for Reparation and Integral Health Assistance for Victims of Human Rights Violations, created in 1991 and reinforced by a law at the end of 2004, has provided health services to all kinds of victims of human rights violations, including third-generation relatives.” (excerpt)