For 63 days Mapuche prisoners have been on a hunger strike in Chile, protesting the country’s use of a Pinochet era anti-terrorism law to arrest them along with “unjust political/judicial procedures” and military occupation of Mapuche territory, according to spokespeople for the protestors.
The Chilean government has arrested and prosecuted many Mapuche activists in the last decade, charging them in connection with arsons and illegal occupation of private properties.
By Aug. 24, some of the hunger strikers had lost between 12 and 25 pounds despite attempts to force feed them, but the protestors have expressed their willingness to continue with their liquid-only diet. Supporters in Mapuche territory and throughout the world are backing the protest, especially as it applies to the anti-terrorism law.
The controversial law was first enacted in 1984 by dictator Augusto Pinochet. This measure subjects arrested people to both civilian and military courts, allows the use of “anonymous” or unidentified prosecution witnesses, and allows for indefinite detention for people labeled as being terrorists. The United Nations Human Rights Council and Human Rights Watch, among other agencies, have condemned the use of the law against Mapuche protestors. In press statements issued in 2004 and afterwards the U.N. council has asserted that the law “does not guarantee a fair trial” and that there are numerous problems with it. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has stated that the law goes against international standards of justice and should be abolished.
The use of the anti-terrorism law against Mapuches has resulted in protests and hunger strikes on an almost yearly basis since 2000, and regional and international agencies have protested its application against the Mapuches, including what has been happening this summer.
In this recent incident the first group of five protestors started the hunger strike in the El Manzano Prison in Concepción along with 13 people at the Penitentiary Center in Temuco on July 12. By the end of July another 13 Mapuches and three other prisons had joined the strike.
The Mapuche activists publicized the reasons for their action in press statements released on the first day of the strike and then again in mid-August.
“The reasons for this drastic and extreme action is in response to. … situations that we have been denouncing unto the unjust political/judicial procedures we have been subjected to and violate all our rights as Mapuche and political prisoners,” the July 12 release from the El Manzano prisoners stated.
“In summary, we denounce that we have been part of media setups carried out by the Public Ministry through anti-Mapuche prosecutors and corrupt police forces. It is in this way that the Chilean state, in defense of corporate interests in the conflict with our people and in their urge to persecute and annihilate the Mapuche Movement, has criminalized the just cause of the communities, imprisoning and launching themselves against our people; imposing several dictatorial and fascist laws on honest social activists.”
According to Mapuche advocates the “criminalization” of the protests also included press statements made by the Chilean Public Ministry which released documents that allegedly showed connections between the Mapuches and the FARC, the most famous guerilla organization in Colombia that is also known to be terroristic. By Aug. 12, Mapuche spokespeople and their lead attorney responded to what they categorized as a media campaign against the protestors.
“Here there is clearly the intent of silencing a just cause being forwarded by the Mapuches,” said spokesman Jorge Huenchullan in a press conference Aug. 12. “It’s not convenient to the Chilean State that the world might know that in Chile they commit human rights violations.”
Mapuche attorney Alberto Espinoza denounced the actions by the ministry and the district attorney as being involved in an unfair media campaign against his clients.
“The Public Ministry plays its game and sometimes it is a very dirty game, where it manipulates information and works on the cases through the media that is then made known to the jurisdictional authorities,” Espinoza said.
Since the beginning of the hunger strike, protests have been held in Chile and throughout Latin America, the U.S., Canada and Europe on behalf of the Mapuche prisoners. In the meantime, Mapuche activists have asserted that most of the strikers are suffering from severe nausea, dizziness, low blood pressure and other conditions. The families of the strikers have petitioned that the International Red Cross be allowed to monitor the health of the prisoners and they have met with representatives of Chile’s Supreme Court in efforts to halt the use of the law against their relations.
In the last week of August, Dr. Berna Castro examined five of the prisoners at the El Manzano Prison and, according to Senator Alejandro Navarro who accompanied the physician, the prisoners had lost 25 pounds on average and were continuing to experience related health problems. Navarro urged the government to meet with the Mapuches to resolve the conflict. By Aug. 25, no changes in the prosecution have been announced by the Chilean authorities.
