Action point based on findings

• Create/improve coordination mechanisms between survivors’ associations and institutions providing services to persons with disabilities.
• Approve a victims’ law that includes pensions and scholarships, and allocate resources to its implementation.

Victim assistance commitments

The Republic of Chile is responsible for survivors of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW). Chile has made a commitment to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty, Protocol V of the Convention on Conventional Weapons, and the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Chile ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 29 July 2008.

Casualties Overview

In 2014, no new casualties were reported in Chile. [1] This represents a decrease compared with 2013, when two casualties had been reported. Both were adult men, injured while crossing Chile’s border with Peru. One of the men wounded was a Peruvian national; the second was a Colombian national. [2] The two casualties reported by media in 2013 represented a decrease compared with 2012; a total of five casualties were identified through media reports in 2012.

However, casualties continued to occur in 2015. The first casualty was an adult Colombian man injured by an antipersonnel mine while crossing the border with Peru. [3] The second one was a Peruvian national who lost his right foot after stepping on an antipersonnel mine in the Gallinazo area, near the border with Peru. [4]

Prior to 2012, the last casualty reported in Chile was in 2007 when a man was killed by an antipersonnel mine while crossing the border with Peru. [5] The Monitor has identified 37 casualties (five killed and 32 injured) between 1999 and December 2014. As of June 2015, the National Humanitarian Demining Commission (Comisión Nacional de Desminado Humanitario, CNAD) recorded 180 casualties (39 killed and 141 injured) of mines/ERW. [6] In 2009, Chile had confirmed a total of 181 casualties (60% military and 40% civilian) since 1970. Sixty-eight were caused by antipersonnel mines, 57 by antivehicle mines, 20 by ERW, and 36 by unknown explosive devices. [7]

Victim Assistance

As of June 2015, there were 180 mine/ERW survivors registered by the CNAD. [8]

Victim assistance coordination

CNAD is the government focal point for victim assistance.

In 2011, a cooperation agreement between the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Health was implemented with the objective of setting guidelines for collaboration and coordination of medical evaluation and assistance of victims of landmines/ERW who are contributing members or beneficiaries from the National Health Fund. [9] As of 2013, 50 survivors were benefitting from this program, and 14 received evaluation. [10] In 2014, there were continued efforts to attend to the needs of the victims under this convention, and actions such as providing medical treatment, rehabilitation services and prosthesis were coordinated. Victims who needed to be transferred to Santiago for treatment also had their travel, accommodation, and food expenses covered. [11]

In 2014, CNAD signed a cooperation agreement with the National Defense Security Fund (Caja de Previsión de la Defensa Nacional, CAPREDENA), aiming at covering the health-related needs of military survivors contributing to CAPREDENA, which are additional to previous agreements for civilian survivors and military survivors covered by the public and the Army’s health systems. [12] In 2013, CNAD had signed an agreement with the health commission of the Chilean Army to provide comprehensive assistance to military landmine survivors. [13] Most civilians with disabilities, including civilian landmine survivors, qualify for free healthcare through the National Health Fund and social support managed by the Ministry of Planning. However, in 2009 the government recognized that in “many civilian cases” survivors have problems accessing services because of their poverty or remote location. [14] In addition, it was reported that the Group of Mine and Munitions Victims (GMMV) had found that a number of civilian victims were not receiving appropriate services as the CNAD mainly attends military victims. Over the course of 2014, the CNAD was undergoing an evaluation by the General Controller’s Office for alleged bad practices and continued not to be fully operational regarding victim assistance up to June 2015. [15]

In 2014, Chile and Argentina signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in order to provide medical assistance to deminers working in the southern part of the country who could potentially suffer an accident invloving mine/ERW explosions while on duty. The agreement was expected to enable access to medical facilities and transportation in both countries. [16]

Chile provided no update on victim assistance at the Mine Ban Treaty Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014. As of May 2015, it had not submitted its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for calendar year 2014.

Regarding coordination of general disability issues, the National Disability Service (Servicio Nacional de Discapacidad, SENADIS), which is linked to the Office of the President of the Republic through the Ministry of Social Development, oversees coordination of national disability policy under the auspices of the Interministerial Committee on Social Development. It also receives support from the Consultative Council on Disability, which is comprised of organizations and representatives of persons with disabilities amongst other entities. [17]

Victims needs assessment

CNAD is the victim assistance focal point and is responsible for maintaining and updating the registry of mine/ERW survivors that was developed between 2009 and 2012. [18] In developing the registry, CNAD conducted a needs assessment of identified victims, visiting their homes and working with local governments to register the victims with the social insurance system. [19] Over the course of 2014, the CNAD focused on the development and implementation of special programs to facilitate access to medical care for survivors. [20] There is no formal victim assistance coordination mechanism.

A draft victims’ law presented in September 2013 to the national congress provides for a national registry of victims. The instrument would be under the responsibility of the Ministry of National Defense. [21] While this law continues being processed, CNAD operates a program that aims to provide medical assistance to victims who have been identified as the most socially vulnerable. [22]

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

The GMMV, a national survivors’ network, actively advocates for increased attention to the needs of mine and ERW survivors and their families. [23] In 2014, they held various meetings to organize their representation before the Congress and the media in the context of the current negotiations of the victims’ law. However, as of June 2015, the group still did not have its own office because of a lack of financial resources. [24]

Through 2014 and into 2015, a number of mine/ERW survivors and family members participated in the discussions held at the Senate on the draft victims law that was being reviewed. [25] They requested before the Senate’s Defense Commission that the life pension and scholarships be included in the law. [26]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

In 2010, following the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Chile adopted the Equality Opportunities and Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities Act. The SENADIS is responsible for its implementation and has regional offices all over the country. Among the efforts deployed since 2010 are the updating of disability statistics and the 2010–2020 National Action Plan on Disability. [27]

Chilean law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities and the government actively enforced the law. However, in 2014, persons with disabilities still experienced some discrimination. The law provides for universal and equal access to buildings, information, and communications and allows the state to take affirmative action to foster non-discrimination and accessibility of cultural services, physical environment and transportation, education, training and employment, and communication. [28]

Rehabilitation

SENADIS’s Community Rehabilitation Centers Support Program has been in operation since 2007. The program provides family consultation, home visits, community information sessions, and support to community-based organizations in the design of workplans. The national system consists of 143 community rehabilitation centers, 96 comprehensive rehabilitation centers, and 19 rural units, as well as 60 community hospitals that have adopted the community-based rehabilitation strategy. In the metropolitan Santiago area, services providers include 150 basic physical medicine and rehabilitation units in public hospitals, two regional hubs at the Peñablanca and San José de Maipo hospitals, and the Pedro Aguirre Cerda National Rehabilitation Institute. However, it is considered that current capacity is not sufficient to cover the needs of all persons with disabilities. [29] In 2014, many survivors still lived in very difficult conditions, and some did not have their prosthesis replaced for more than 15 years, a situation that caused them more health problems. [30]

Social and economic inclusion

There is no specific disposition in the legal framework on disability for mine/ERW survivors. However, the draft victims law states the Norms on Equality of Opportunity and Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities, which provide for labor-market insertion and access to social security benefits for persons with disabilities, will also apply to mine/ERW victims.

In 2014, SENADIS, through its National Fund for Inclusive Projects 2014 (Fondo Nacional de Proyectos Inclusivos), funded 106 project in 15 regions. The Fund seeks to support initiatives throughout the country in the following areas: accessibility, culture, sport, education, employment, justice, legal reform or adaptation, participation for inclusion, rights promotion, and assistive technologies. There was no project designed specifically for mine/ERW victims. [31] In 2014, the National Training and Employment Service (Servicio Nacional de Capacitación y Empleo, SENCE) Social Programs Department continued to offer training for vulnerable groups and others who have difficulty joining the labor market, including to a large number of persons with disabilities. Various factors still interfere with job market insertion and employability of persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW victims, such as social and business prejudices, weak professional qualifications and level of education, continued presence of architectural barriers that prevent access to the workplace, and general reluctance by some companies. [32]

SENADIS has an active program, Sello Chile Inclusivo, to promote the integration of persons with disabilities into the workforce. [33] Each year, the program recognizes institutions that stood out for initiatives in accessibility and/or inclusion of persons with disabilities. In August 2014, the program’s annual call for proposals was launched and various private and public institutions qualified as inclusive organizations, including the National Rehabilitation Institute Pedro Aguirre Cerda. [34]

Laws and policies

In September 2013, the President of Chile introduced the draft victims’ law to the national congress. The law is designed to provide reparations and assistance in physical and psychological rehabilitation as well as social inclusion to mine/ERW victims as a means to comply with Chile’s international commitments under the Mine Ban Treaty, the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and Protocol V of the Convention on Conventional Weapons. [35] Representatives of various government ministries and civil society, including a representative of the GMMV, were involved in developing the draft law. [36] In August 2014, survivors provided testimony to the Human Rights Committee of the National Congress as part of the congressional review of the draft law. [37] In 2015, they requested before the Senate’s Defense Commission that the life pension and scholarships be included in the law. [38]

The law defines a victim as someone who has been wounded by a mine/ERW explosion or the family members of someone killed by such an explosion. Family members of survivors are not included in the definition or as beneficiaries. Benefits drafted under the law include one-time financial payments as reparations as well as reimbursements for medical care and rehabilitation. Article 5 of the law refers to assistance for social inclusion, but there are no specific provisions within the law regarding how victims would access this assistance. Article 10 establishes that the Norms on Equality of Opportunity and Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities also apply to victims of mine/ERW. [39]

On 20 October 2014, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet issued a letter calling for “urgency” in the review and processing of the draft victims’ law. [40] However, in 2015, the draft law continued to pass through the review process of the National Congress due to a disagreement between the government and the Senate on whether to include a life pension and scholarships as stated in the first drafts. [41]

In the years following the adoption of the Equality Opportunities and Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities Act in 2010, Chile approved a National Policy for the Social Inclusion of People with Disabilities for the period 2013–2020. The policy was elaborated by SENADIS and the Interministerial Committee of Social Development on Disability Matters after a broad public consultation held between 2010 and 2011. The policy is supported by an action plan that concretely engages all sectors of society (Plan de Acción de la Política Nacional para la Inclusión Social de las Personas con Discapacidad, PLANDISC). [42]