had heard hundreds of cases, most of those convicted did not serve prison sentences, and many victims continued to lack access to institutional mechanisms to demand reparation. Congress discussed a bill to make information gathered by former truth commissions available to prosecutors and parties to relevant judicial proceedings. In May the government filed a bill before Congress to establish a National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture. INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS In June the government announced the Plan for the Recognition and Development of Araucanía to promote Indigenous Peoples’ participation, economic development and protection of victims of violence. President Bachelet extended a formal apology to the Mapuche People for “errors and horrors” perpetrated by the state against them. A bill was under discussion to create a Ministry of Indigenous Issues. As part of the process of developing a new Constitution, scheduled to be completed in 2018, a consultation was conducted with Indigenous Peoples’ representatives. The process was criticized by some representatives for excluding some key issues brought forth by Indigenous Peoples. The Attorney General’s Office and the government continued to misuse the AntiTerrorism Law to prosecute Mapuche people in violation of due process guarantees. In 2014, similar applications of the AntiTerrorism Law against Mapuche activists were found by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights − in Norín Catrimán et al v. Chile − to be in violation of the American Convention on Human Rights. In October, 11 Mapuche people, including Machi Francisca Linconao, who had been charged with “terrorism” for a fire that killed landowners Werner Luchsinger and Vivian Mackay in January 2013, were acquitted. The 11 defendants had been held in pre-trial detention or under house arrest for 18 months. Upon appeal by the Attorney General’s Office in December, the trial and 124 acquittal were declared null and void. The trial was due to be repeated in 2018. The government and Attorney General’s Office also brought “terrorism” charges against four Mapuche men for a fire that destroyed a church in the city of Padre las Casas in June 2016. No one was hurt in the fire. The men were arrested, detained and indicted on the day of the incident and continued to be held in pre-trial detention at the end of 2017. After the four accused held a prolonged hunger strike, the government filed a request for reclassification of the crime. However, the prosecution decided to continue pursuing terrorism charges. In September the government implemented “Operation Hurricane”, arresting and charging eight people with conspiracy to commit terrorist acts in connection with burning and planning to burn dozens of cargo vehicles. No one was hurt in these incidents. The eight accused were held in pre-trial detention until October when the Supreme Court declared their detention unlawful and ordered their release, since the judge had not sufficiently justified the need for pre-trial detention. Investigation of the alleged crimes was ongoing. HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS In April, Rodrigo Mundaca and other leaders of the Movement for the Defence of Water, Land and the Environment (MODATIMA) in the province of Petorca received death threats. An investigation was ongoing into the harassment and intimidation that MODATIMA’s leaders had been subjected to for a number of years. In May the Temuco Public Prosecutor’s Office announced the closure of the investigation into the abduction and torture of Víctor Queipul Hueiquil, a Mapuche lonko (traditional community authority) in the Autonomous Community of Temucuicui in June 2016. He had been threatened with death if he continued his work as a leader and supporter of the Mapuche People. The Public Prosecutor said that the investigation could not proceed because Víctor Queipul did not collaborate with the investigation. In Amnesty International Report 2017/18