Bill Rights

The Centre for human rights of the Faculty of law of the Universidad Diego Portales made their apprehensions with regard to the processing of HidroAysen environmental impact study in its annual report on human rights in Chile 2009, published at the end of 2009. The investigation, one of the most important matter that takes place in the country, essentially points to shortcomings in ensuring the participation of the community in the framework of which is defined as one of the largest investment projects that have been presented in Chile. The document, which analysed various complex in terms of human rights cases, pointing within sixty days granted citizenship to make comments to the project, especially when documents are a considerable extension (over 10 thousand pages) given the high technical level that involves a study of this type, in addition to its magnitude, is insufficient and the bulk of people who face their contents are not understood nor experts in the topics covered. Is It recalls the report that this situation was even appropriated by citizens themselves who made comments on the initiative. In addition to the thousands of presentations that those affected were study, a total of 32 public services with environmental competence 3,150 observations made which gave standing to the Environment Minister to declare that the EIA of HidroAysen has not been at the height of the evaluation, information provided is not sufficient to time to make an environmental assessment of the magnitude of the project luggage Center in its report. Another relevant issue is pointed to is that the magnitude of intervention has generated a debate that transcends local, reaching national and even international sphere. In this sense the Diego Portales University researchers wondering: the right to participate who attends an aysenino does it also who lives at the other end of the country, or a foreigner that manifests from anywhere on the planet?, relieving that existing legislation does not recognize the equal participation of all these actors; However, changes to the environmental institutions that proposed Bill, the characteristic of the environment as a whole, and posture of wide dissemination that the own project managers have adopted indicate that the answer might be different.