contains several provisions that are not in line with international human rights law. In January, a law entered into force establishing a new Undersecretariat on Human Rights under the Ministry of Justice. The first Undersecretary was appointed in September. In April, the government announced that plans to reform the law on migration were postponed indefinitely. In December it was announced that the bill would be filed in January 2017. POLICE AND SECURITY FORCES Allegations of unnecessary or excessive use of force by the police, especially in the context of public protests, continued to be reported. Children, women, journalists and employees of the National Human Rights Institute acting as observers were among the victims. Human rights violations involving members of the security forces continued to be dealt with by military courts. However, a new law entered into force in November that expressly stated that civilians, whether accused or the victims of crime, were excluded from military jurisdiction. In January, the National Human Rights Institute filed a lawsuit to push for further investigation by the ordinary courts into the enforced disappearance of 16-year-old José Huenante; he was last seen being detained by policemen in September 2005. Following the lawsuit, a military court also reopened an investigation. However, at the end of the year, José Huenante’s fate and whereabouts remained unclarified and neither investigation had established the facts of the case or identified those responsible. IMPUNITY During the year, several convictions for past crimes under international law and other human rights violations committed during the military regime were confirmed. In September, the Supreme Court confirmed the four-year sentences of two former military officials for the torture of General Alberto Bachelet in 1973. Amnesty International Report 2016/17 Victims, their relatives and civil society organizations opposed several attempts to obtain the early release on parole of people convicted of human rights violations during the military government under Augusto Pinochet. At the end of the year, a bill was before Congress to deny the possibility of parole for those convicted of crimes against humanity. A law establishing the crime of torture in Chilean law came into force in November. In September, Chile was one of the countries listed by the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture as having delayed complying with the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture, because of the absence of a national mechanism for the prevention of torture. INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS In January, Congress established a commission to investigate violence in Araucanía, the region most affected by land conflicts involving the Mapuche. The commission focused on crimes allegedly committed by the Mapuche as a form of protest. However, continued allegations of excessive use of force and arbitrary detentions during police operations against Mapuche communities were not investigated as they did not fall within the commission’s mandate. The Chamber of Deputies approved the commission’s conclusions in September. In May, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights extended the precautionary measures ordered in October 2015 in favour of Mapuche leader Juana Calfunao. These measures sought to protect additional members of her family living in the community of Juan Paillalef in the south of Chile from threats to their life and integrity related to a land dispute. In August, photographer Felipe Durán and Mapuche community member Cristián Levinao were found not guilty of all charges. The two men had been accused of illegal possession of weapons and drug offences and held in preventive detention for over 300 days. 117

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