By Human Rights Investigations Lab for the Americas at UC Santa Cruz and the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley
October 13, 2020
When protests broke out in October 2019 in Chile, many turned to social media to post about what was happening on the ground. As violent images and videos went viral, people outside of Chile were now witnessing the uprisings through computer screens and cell phones. But the Chilean government contradicted protestors’ account of events. What was the truth? This question informs the content of this report by comparing and contrasting the perspectives of protesters, including their experiences with state repression and violence, alongside the Chilean government’s narrative.
Students, staff, and faculty affiliated with the Human Rights Investigations Labs at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Santa Cruz organized the information contained in this ArcGIS StoryMap. The students relied on online open source information—which refers to material publicly available on the internet—and material sent to them by their peer networks. The students digitally verified user-generated content that appears in the report, even if it came from a trusted source. This report concludes with an overview of the most serious human rights violations that the research team was able to document and verify and considers how the existing social inequalities in Chile have been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
by Human Rights Investigations Lab for the Americas, UC Santa Cruz students Marian Avila Breach, Juan Castañon, Leo S. Fernandez, Kayla Gomez, Josue Perez-Hernandez, and Angie Valencia as well as the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley students Rachael Cornejo, Shakiba Mashayekhi, Gisela Perez de Acha, María Isabel Di Franco Quiñonez, Samantha Rubenstein, Danielle Cosmes, Lili Siri Spira, Lily Lucero, Kellie Levine, and Eliza Hollingsworth. Directed by Sylvanna Falcón at UC Santa Cruz and Eric Stover at UC Berkeley.
Related Reports
“Chile at the Threshold” by Human Rights Investigations Lab for the Americas, UC Santa Cruz students Yoselyne Cerros, Emma Chaidez, Monica Estrada Arias, Francesca Romeo, and Angie Valencia.
“Germán Aburto” by Monica Estrada Arias and research team Angie Valencia, Yoselyne Cerros, and Emma Chaidez and graduate student mentor Francesca Romeo.
Media
UC Santa Cruz Human Rights Lab investigates social unrest in Chile (UCSC NewsCenter)
University Forum Election Series 2020
