Human Rights Coalition Delivers 'No to Pardons' Letter to Kast, Convenes September 6 March for 53rd Coup Anniversary

On August 27, 2026, Alicia Lira, president of the Agrupación de Familiares de Ejecutados Políticos (AFEP), and Senator Fabiola Campillai, chair of the Senate Human Rights Commission, delivered a letter to President José Antonio Kast at La Moneda on behalf of the Coordinadora Nacional de Organizaciones de Derechos Humanos y Sociales ('Mesa de Derechos Humanos por una Vida Digna'). The letter demanded that the National Search Plan for the disappeared be enshrined in law, and categorically rejected pardons or sentence reductions for those convicted of crimes committed during the 1973–1990 dictatorship. It specifically targeted the Senate-approved bill (Boletín 17.999-07) allowing release or reduced sentences for elderly or seriously ill prisoners without distinguishing by crime severity — a mechanism organizations said could benefit roughly 738 inmates, including about 370 convicted of crimes against humanity and 365 convicted of other serious common crimes such as homicide and sexual assault. The coalition also announced a September 6 'romería' (pilgrimage march) to Santiago's General Cemetery ahead of the coup's 53rd anniversary, under the banner 'No a los indultos.'