Program Information

Click below for the full Chile Report

The Center for Human Rights Studies at Universidad Central de Chile in Santiago, the Monterey Institute of International Studies and Global Majority hosted a delegation of students January 5th – 20th, 2009 for a seminar-practicum on Chile’s history of democracy and dictatorship, human rights abuse and transitional justice, with particular focus on the role of the judicial system in the process of transition and the ongoing protection of the rights of indigenous and other vulnerable populations. Various topics within these themes will relate to grassroots development, conflict management and environmental policy.

The Chilean government’s treatment of its Indigenous population has come under criticism from the Inter American Commission on Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, World Organization against Torture, International Federation of Human Rights, and various UN human rights groups. Over the past century, due largely to invasion, mistreatment and persecution by the various regimes ruling Chile, these indigenous groups have experienced great losses of population and land. The indigenous people of Chile are known to be victims of political violence, false charges of crimes, and disproportionate application of anti-terrorism laws, resulting in open discrimination as well as criminalization of legitimate political protests and social demands.

Chilean society as a whole has suffered great trauma since the demise of democratic government in 1973. Recovery, since 1990, has been gradual and challenging. This onsite course will draw upon the learning experience of Chileans of a variety of professions and circumstances. It will also deal with the collateral damage of dictatorship to institutions of civil society and to lower income groups and will promote opportunities for students to work with NGOs and communities in need of assistance.

The program was run by Hon. Juan Guzman Tapia, Director of Universidad Central’s Center for Human Rights Studies; Dr. Jan Black, professor of international policy studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies; and Global Majority.

Students engaged in a 3-day orientation at Universidad Central’s campus in Santiago, before traveling to a Mapuche community in the south of Chile for training and experience in community outreach and needs assessment, interview techniques, and documentation of human rights situations of indigenous and otherwise underserved Chilean people. The deliverable of the 4-hour credit course will be a report assessing the current human rights protection needs of a particular Chilean group or community and suggesting means of meeting those needs. Data and insights obtained onsite will be shared among students during 3 days of debriefing in Santiago, and papers will be prepared and presented after return to MIIS during the spring semester.

Program Outline

• Research, design and preparation - choosing a focus topic (conflict resolution, human rights, social and/or economic development, micro-finance, gender issues, etc.)
• Briefing, background knowledge, case studies and lectures by Hon. Judge Juan Guzman, Jan Black and professors of UCentral
• Ground work of first-hand field research in a community of Chile's largest indigenous population (Mapuche represent 85% of the Chile's indigenous people or a population of apprx. 800,000 - 900,000)
• Project development based on focus topic
• Final product preparation and presentation with the complete group (during the spring semester)

For more information, contact us at seminar@globalmajority.net

For most up-to-date information on January 2010 Chile Practicum, visit the student blog 

Report, written by the 1st year participants (January 2009), is available at: http://issuu.com/chilepracticum/docs/chile_report/

You can also view a trailer, produced by the 2009 participants http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzWjSbiBPTM