- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 26 January 1976 (19th Sitting) (see Doc. 3642 addendum, report of the Committee on Population and Refugees). Text adopted by the Assembly on 26 January 1976 (19th Sitting).
The Assembly,
1. Considering that very many persons wishing to leave Chile after the coup d'état of September 1973 have indicated a desire to be admitted to member states of the Council of Europe ;
2. Emphasising that Chilean nationals detained in their own country for political reasons have no intergovernmental protection, and that more than 2 500 of them can hope to regain their freedom only if granted admission to another country ;
3. Believing that many of those detained in Chile are subjected to rigorous and even inhumane treatment ;
4. Deeply concerned by reports published in Chile of the deaths of numbers of persons known to have been arrested ;
5. Being of the opinion that a certain number of persons leaving Chile for political reasons may not claim refugee status and would remain de facto refugees ;
6. Expressing its warm appreciation of the attitude of member states of the Council of Europe in granting diplomatic asylum in their embassies and legations in Santiago, and admission of considerable numbers of refugees from Chile to their territory ;
7. Recalling that many refugees from Chile still urgently need opportunities or better opportunities for admission and resettlement elsewhere,
8. Instructs its Committee on Population and Refugees, together with the Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations, to undertake such action as may persuade the competent authorities of member states :
a to grant those persons mentioned above and Chilean refugees at present in Latin American countries, together with members of their families, opportunities for admission and resettlement in member states of the Council of Europe ;
b apply to those de facto refugees the principles defined in
Recommendation 773, on the situation of de facto refugees;
9. Instructs its Legal Affairs Committee to study the problem of the right to asylum in general, including the right to diplomatic asylum, in view of the fact that, while this right is recognised especially in the Latin American countries, it could also be of considerable importance for member states of the Council of Europe ;
10. Expresses the hope that, in accordance with the continuing practice in Latin America, recognised as such by the International Court of Justice, the Chilean Government will continue to respect the right to diplomatic asylum in accordance with the provisions of the Convention on Political Asylum signed in Montevideo on 26 December 1933, whose provisions are binding on Chile as a Contracting Party.
