Human Rights and Transitional Justice in Chile

‘Hugo Rojas and Miriam Shaftoe’s analysis of the human rights abuses of the Pinochet dictatorship and the transitional justice policies that have been implemented in Chile in the past thirty years sheds light on both the successes and failures of these policies and their implications for Chilean politics and society. By connecting the evolution of human rights to the power of Chile’s multiple political actors, the authors are able to provide an in-depth and detailed analysis of both the policies and the forces behind those policies. This book is essential to understand not only the human rights abuses of the Pinochet dictatorship and the policies that followed, but also the difficulties in achieving any substantial policy changes and success in a divided society.’

—Silvia Borzutzky, Professor of Polical Science, Carnegie Mellon University, USA
 This book offers a synthesis of the main achievements and pending challenges during the thirty years of transitional justice in Chile after Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship. The Chilean experience provides useful comparative perspectives for researchers, students and human rights activists engaged in transitional justice processes around the world. The first chapter explains the theoretical foundations of human rights and transitional justice. The second chapter discusses the main historical milestones in Chile’s recent history which have defined the course of the process of transitional justice. The following chapters provide an overview of the key elements of transitional justice in Chile: truth, reparations, memory, justice, and guarantees of non-repetition.
Hugo Rojas is Professor of Sociology of Law and Human Rights in the Faculty of Law, Alberto Hurtado University, and Researcher in the Millenium Institute on Violence and Democracy Research (VIODEMOS), Chile.

Miriam Shaftoe is Research Assistant on Human Rights and Transitional Justice in the Faculty ofLaw, Alberto Hurtado University, Chile. She studied Social Sciences in Conflict Studies and Human Rights at the University of Ottawa, Canada.