Chile's opposition benches are preparing an acusación constitucional (the Chilean Congress's impeachment procedure for public officials) against the minister of justice and human rights, Fernando Rabat, over decrees that shortened the sentences of 56 people convicted of sex crimes against children. The case could be filed this week with the Cámara de Diputados (Chamber of Deputies), according to the news site Nuevo Poder, which cautions that the date is still a plan rather than a settled decision.
The affair has become the worst crisis of José Antonio Kast's government, which took office in March. The president has acknowledged that a mistake was made, but is keeping Rabat in his post.
What the decrees show
The outlet Interferencia reported on 21 October 2026 that the Ministerio de Justicia (Ministry of Justice) had shortened the sentences of 56 people convicted of sex crimes against children: 27 for sexual abuse and 29 for rape. According to the same investigation, the ministry also used administrative channels to cut the sentences of three people convicted of human rights violations and of three Venezuelans who said they belonged to Tren de Aragua.
The benefit has existed since 2003 and subtracts months from the sentences of inmates with outstanding conduct. It works in three steps: a regional commission assesses the prisoner and proposes a reduction; the regional ministerial secretariat (Seremi) checks whether any legal bar applies; and the ministry, in Santiago, signs the decree approving or rejecting it. A 2022 amendment excluded people convicted of certain sex crimes, among them those committed against children.
Reviewing the decrees signed between March and September 2026, Interferencia found 22 rejections in cases where the Seremi had seen no legal impediment — nine signed by Rabat and thirteen by former deputy minister Luis Silva while acting as minister — and eleven approvals in files where the Seremi had warned that a bar might apply: seven carry Rabat's signature, three Silva's and one that of deputy minister Pablo Mira.
Two of those cases involve sex crimes against children. They are decrees 2075 and 2126, from July 2026, in which the Seremi for the Biobío region warned in writing that the 2022 prohibition could apply. The ministry dismissed the warning, arguing that the rule cannot govern crimes committed before it came into force.
The minister's defence
Rabat maintains that Congress failed to include a transitional provision clarifying whether the 2022 change was retroactive. He says the first habeas corpus petition was filed a week after the law took effect, that the courts ruled it was not retroactive, and that more than 430 rulings handed down through 2026 have applied the same criterion. He adds that he is obliged to comply with Corte Suprema (Supreme Court) judgments ordering the benefit to be granted.
In the Chamber on 28 October, the minister said: "Not a single violation of the law or of the Constitution has been charged against me." The broadcaster T13 reported that Rabat received at least three internal warnings — in February, April and May — recommending that he set a firm criterion or withhold the reductions, and that he did not inform the president.
The Chamber demanded his departure
That same 28 October, after a special session, the Chamber approved a non-binding resolution asking Kast to request the resignations of Rabat and two deputy ministers. Six Chile Vamos deputies and almost the entire PDG bench backed it; the UDI's president, Guillermo Ramírez, and RN deputy Ximena Ossandón abstained.
"They violated children's rights," said Frente Amplio president Gael Yeomans. Two days earlier, deputies Luis Cuello (PC) and Juan Santana (PS) had filed a criminal complaint against the minister for prevarication.
The impeachment text is being drafted jointly by lawyers from several benches, with deputies Raúl Soto (PPD) and Daniela Serrano (PC) acting as spokespeople. To pass it, the opposition needs votes beyond its own ranks and is negotiating with the PDG and with parts of Chile Vamos.
The political cost
A Cadem poll released on 27 October found 94% disagreeing with granting sentence reductions to people convicted of sex crimes against children, two points more than in the previous survey, and 90% saying they should never receive the benefit. Rabat's handling of the case is disapproved of by 77% and approved of by 12%; 64% reject Kast's decision to keep him.
The president's approval stood at 29%, his lowest since taking office and the first time it has fallen below 30%, with 66% disapproval.
Interferencia cautions that the decrees on their own do not establish that the reductions were unlawful: that is for the courts and Congress to determine.
With information from Interferencia, CNN Chile, T13, BioBioChile, Pauta, Nodal and Nuevo Poder.
