Chile Must Drop Criminal Charges Against Feminist Arts Group

Special Rapporteurs of the UN Human Rights Council Monday asked the Chilean state to drop criminal charges against "Las Tesis," a feminist group that is the author of the “A Rapist on Your Way” performance, which has been reenacted by thousands of people around the world.

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“Chile should drop a criminal investigation against a group of human rights defenders whose performance art has inspired women around the world. UN experts fear prosecution of LasTesis could have a chilling effect on women standing up for their rights,” said Elizabeth Broderick, the chair of the UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls.

“Las Tesis has been key in denouncing police violence and violence against women in Chile… The State has an obligation to protect human rights defenders. It should not prosecute them for exercising their freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly."

"We call on prosecutors to drop criminal charges presented by the Police against them,” stated the UN special rapporteurs and working groups which are part of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council.

Las Tesis song “A Rapist on Your Way” was first performed on the International Day for The Elimination of Violence Against Women in November 2019.

Since then, the Chilean song and its line “the rapist is you,” have “become a symbol of the universal demand of women to be able to live a life free of violence,” the UN experts added.

In June, however, the military police, which became internationally famous for human rights violations during the dictatorship (1979-1990), accused the feminist group of inciting hatred and disobedience against authority.

Previously, on May 27, Las Tesis posted a video on social networks denouncing the violence that the Sebastian Piñera administration exercises against Chilean citizens.

“They release gases, beat, torture, rape, destroy, and leave us blind. The Government does not listen and renews the weapons of the police,” the video holds, as recalled by Radio UChile.