PROTECTING MINORITY RIGHTS – A Practical Guide to Developing Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Legislation B. The Americas Article 2 of the American Convention on Human Rights establishes an obligation to adopt all “legislative or other measures as may be necessary to give effect to those rights or freedoms” protected by it. Article 1 (1) of the Convention establishes a general obligation to “respect the rights and freedoms recognized herein … without any discrimination for reasons of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, economic status, birth, or any other social condition”. Article 24 establishes the right to equal protection before the law and the entitlement, “without discrimination, to equal protection of the law”. As established by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, these articles, taken together, entail positive erga omnes obligations of the State to undertake all necessary measures (including enacting legislation) to ensure the effective and equal exercise of the rights and freedoms established in the Convention.86 The Commission has identified a clear obligation to “adopt anti-discrimination legislation”,87 citing a growing consensus in this area.88 To be effective, such legislative measures “must be comprehensive” and must cover both “formal and substantive, de jure and de facto,” discrimination.89 The Inter-American Convention against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance was adopted in 2013 and came into force in February 2020. Under article 7, “States Parties undertake to adopt legislation that clearly defines and prohibits discrimination and intolerance, applicable to all public authorities as well as to all individuals or natural and legal persons, both in the public and in the private sectors.” The Convention supplements and builds upon a range of ground-specific instruments, which impose specific (and complementary) obligations to adopt laws and policies designed to eliminate discrimination against women, ethnic and racial minorities, persons with disabilities and older persons.90 At the time of writing, 12 States from North, Central and South America have signed the Convention.91 Pursuant to their regional and international law obligations, a range of States across the Americas have adopted anti-discrimination legislation that ostensibly seeks to provide comprehensive protection; prohibiting discrimination according to an open list of grounds in diverse areas of life.92 CHILE: THE LAW ESTABLISHING MEASURES AGAINST DISCRIMINATION In 2012, the National Congress of Chile passed Law No. 20.609 establishing measures against discrimination. A draft of the Law was first introduced by the President of the Chamber of Deputies in 2005. The passage of the bill was accelerated in 2012 following the discriminatory killing of 24-yearold Daniel Zamudio, who was viciously assaulted and tortured by a group of alleged neo-Nazis in a Santiago park.93 10 86 See, for instance, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Atala Riffo and Daughters v. Chile, Judgment, 24 February 2012, para. 279; Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, San Miguel Sosa and others v. Venezuela, Case 12.923, Report No. 75/15, Merits, 28 October 2015, para. 144; and Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Norín Catrimán et al. (Leaders, Members and Activist of the Mapuche Indigenous People) v. Chile, Judgment, 29 May 2014, para. 199. 87 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Advances and Challenges towards the Recognition of the Rights of LGBTI Persons in the Americas, para. 82. See also Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Violence against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Persons in the Americas (OEA/Ser.L/V/II, Doc.36/15 Rev.2) (2015), p. 270 (recommendations, para. 25). 88 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Advances and Challenges towards the Recognition of the Rights of LGBTI Persons in the Americas, paras. 82–84. 89 Ibid., para. 94. 90 Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women, art. 7; Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance, art. 7; Inter-American Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities, art. 3 (1); and Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons, arts. 4–5. 91 Argentina, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Haiti, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Uruguay. 92 See, illustratively, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Law against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination, 2010 (Law No. 45); and Mexico, Federal Law to Prevent and Eliminate Discrimination, 2003. 93 See www.bcn.cl/historiadelaley/historia-de-la-ley/vista-expandida/4516.