Justice Minister Fernando Rabat informed the Senate's Commission on Human Rights, Nationality, and Citizenship on Tuesday that there are currently 28 pardon requests awaiting resolution. The Secretary of State detailed that the vast majority of these cases are not related to the 2019 social unrest.
During his testimony, Rabat specified that approximately 20 of these requests have been in process since before March 11, 2026. According to the minister, the remaining eight requests were submitted after that date and cover various matters beyond the scope of recent social conflicts.
Evaluation criteria and legislative debate
Senator Fabiola Campillai (Ind.), chair of the commission, questioned the minister regarding the criteria used to evaluate pardons for state agents convicted of crimes committed during both the dictatorship and the social unrest. The lawmaker also inquired whether exercising this power could be interpreted as an act of impunity that contravenes Chile's international obligations.
In response, Rabat distinguished between current regulations and potential future reforms. The minister noted that the Executive branch evaluates each case individually based on existing law. “Currently, there is a law in effect that empowers the President of the Republic to issue rulings on individual pardons. These specific pardons will be processed by examining the merits of each case on an individual basis,” the Secretary of State stated, according to BioBioChile.
The minister also addressed the status of the sentence commutation bill, clarifying that the Government has not yet taken an official stance due to the high volume of proposed amendments. “As of today, we do not have a Government opinion regarding the sentence commutation bill because it contains more than 300 or 500 amendments,” Rabat maintained, according to CNN Chile.
The session was attended by other key figures, including Undersecretary of Human Rights Pablo Mira and representatives from victim advocacy groups, such as the Association of Relatives of Political Executed and the Association of Relatives of the Detained-Disappeared. Senator Campillai used the opportunity to request that President José Antonio Kast meet with the families of victims of human rights violations from both the dictatorship and the social unrest.
