Justice and Human Rights Minister presents report by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child

On June 7, the Chilean government received the final report of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child containing the analysis by two experts following visits to Sename centers during January of this year.

The visit was scheduled in response to the complaint that then-Congresswoman Claudia Nogueira filed before the Committee on the Rights of the Child following the 2016 death of Lisette Villa in a Sename center. The complaint was accepted for processing in 2017.

After reviewing information provided by government representatives and institutions dating back to 2013, two Committee experts visited Chile in January of this year. They visited centers in the Metropolitan and Valparaíso Regions and held several meetings. In February 2018, the Committee issued an urgent request for the Playa Ancha CREAD institution to be closed due to issues with its infrastructure, a measure that has been taken.

The Justice and Human Rights Ministry presented the report along with an initial response and reported on the measures and proposals that it has developed under the current administration, given that, in general terms, it shares the Committee’s assessment. President Piñera’s administration has stated that the situation of children and teenagers in care has been serious for some time and requires radical changes, which have begun to be implemented since the new administration was installed, before the UN Committee’s report was released.

The government has made its commitment to children one of its main priorities. The President of Chile has therefore prioritized children since his first day in office. He called for a major agreement to be reached on childhood and the contents of this were published in early June prior to the UN Committee’s report. The “National Agreement on Childhood” contains a series of measures focused on providing adequate protection for children whose rights are at risk or have already been violated.

Links to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child Report, the government’s initial response and the document issued as part of the “National Agreement on Childhood” are provided below.

It is important to note that the Justice and Human Rights Ministry has been asked to present an initial report to the government with responses to the statements made and proposals for meeting its objectives. The Chilean government is required to submit a final response to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child within six months of the submission of the latter’s report.

In response to this new information that supports its initial assessment of the situation of children in the country, the government called on the nation, its leaders and its public and private institutions to make a commitment to at-risk youth and to quickly and forcefully back a government plan to ensure the fullest and most complete respect for the rights and guarantees of boys, girls and teens.