Transitional justice in Chile: 50 years after.

• In Event: New Knowledge, Perspectives, and Approaches of Atrocity Crimes Research (ECACTJ Working Group)

Abstract

In 2023, Chile commemorated half a century since the military coup that ushered in a harsh dictatorship under Augusto Pinochet. Seeking accountability, Chile has adopted transitional justice
approaches like truth commissions and reparations alongside punitive measures have seen more than 100 individuals implicated in crimes from the dictatorship being sentenced. This presentation focuses on the different forms that transitional justice has taken in Chile in recent years using the four pillars of transitional justice (truth, reparation justice, and non-repetition). I will explain how alternatives to restorative justice have been used to repair the intergenerational damage created by the atrocities committed by the dictatorship but also how these measures have been contested by part of the Chilean society that denies the impact of the dictatorship on different levels. This denial is explained using Cohen’s (2001) paradigm of states of denial. However, I will expose how implementing places of memory has contributed to healing a divided society and how alternatives to punishment play a relevant role in moving forward without undermining the use of domestic laws to punish these crimes.

Author

• Daniela Andrea Mardones Bravo, Manchester Metropolitan University