As the National Congress will be reviewing the budget bill for the coming year, the UDI caucus plans to introduce a proposal to allocate a symbolic fund of 1,000 Chilean pesos (US$1.70) to the institute.

  This move was announced by lawmaker Sergio Bobadilla, alongside deputies Alejandra Valdebenito and Hotuiti Teao, who demanded a “thorough and urgent review” of the INDH.

  The legislators accused the entity of manipulating information to claim that systematic violations of human rights guarantees occurred during the social unrest of October 2019.

  They claimed these events never took place—a statement contradicted by footage from the time and court convictions handed down against officers from the Carabineros police force and other public security agencies.

  According to official figures from the Chilean Public Prosecutor’s Office, there were 12,000 crimes involving violence perpetrated by state agents, including 464 cases of eye injuries caused by the impact of projectiles, pellets, or tear gas.

  The INDH filed 3,216 legal complaints regarding unlawful coercion, torture, or physical injury; of these, 959 involved women and 591 involved minors.    

  Despite this background, UDI deputies asserted that Congress has a responsibility to move forward with shutting down that agency or achieving what they term a modernization of its governance; until that happens, they stated, no resources should be allocated to it.

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